Texas Rangers have a Super Bowl champion in camp
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Surprise, Arizona looks a lot like the rest of the Phoenix area. It’s beautiful, with desert and bare mountains surrounding us. Like the rest of this part of the state, it is very hot and to last a day in Spring Training, the players learn to hydrate throughout the day.
Here in Surprise the Texas Rangers manager, Jeff Banister, only wants happy surprises, like their star hitters being healthy for opening day. In camp and looking good are Prince Fielder, Adrian Beltre and Elvis Andrus. The rangers will be expecting a lot from these three players this season.
The other not so big of a surprise was seeing Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson suit up and get a day of Spring Training in.
Baseball is the first sport Wilson ever played and he loves it. The Rangers drafted him in the Triple A Rule 5 draft off the Colorado Rockies restricted list in December 2013. They don’t expect Wilson to drop his very successful football career for baseball, or to even be a two-sport star. They just like having him spend a day or two in camp with the players, to bring his drive and ambition to win into the Rangers organization. Needless to say, the day was all about the once aspiring second baseman.
After watching him perform with the team, I can say Russell Wilson has some excellent baseball skills. But that shouldn’t be a surprise, here in Surprise. No matter what he does, Wilson gives 100 percent every day. Even though he only spent a day in camp, he worked like he was trying for a spot on the roster, like every other player in camp.
Here is the video from my day with the Texas Rangers.
(All photos by Claudia Gestro)
Claudia is of Peruvian and Italian descent, having been born in a small town, in the North of Peru, South America. She was raised by her grandmother from an early age, living in poverty until Claudia’s mother brought her to America. She landed in Miami, FL and started her new life, playing high school basketball and eventually becoming a United States citizen. Claudia completed her education at Florida International University with a BA in Broadcast Journalism and became a model to supplement her income. Since graduating from FIU Claudia has worked with many of the Spanish Language broadcasting companies, including Telemundo, Univision and most recently Spanish Language channels on SiriusXM satellite radio and PasTV Deportes in Venezuela.She encourages you to follow her on Twitter and Facebook. Her content appears here under a shared content agreement with her Spanish television clients.