Richard Durrett of ESPNDallas.com has posted a list of current, future (i.e. minor leaguers), and former Rangers players and coaches who will be in attendance at the Fan Fest event held on January 22-23. Of course, the list is subject to change at any time without notice, so be flexible. There's a chance more could be added as well, so I'll make a note on the blog if anybody else is confirmed. No word yet on who will be signing autographs on Saturday and who will be there Sunday. Here's the list, in no particular order, as far as I can tell:
Engel Beltre - minor league outfielder, considered one of the team's top prospects
Derek Holland - left-handed pitcher
Darren O'Day - right-handed reliever
Thad Bosley - new hitting coach
Tommy Hunter - right-handed starter
Darren Oliver - lefty reliever
Nelson Cruz - All-Star outfielder...boomstick
Ferguson Jenkins - Hall of Fame pitcher, former Ranger
Gaylord Perry - Hall of Fame pitcher, former Ranger
Chris Davis - first baseman
Ian Kinsler - All-Star second baseman
Gary Pettis - first base/outfield coach, former Ranger
Cody Eppley - right-handed minor league pitcher
Michael Kirkman - left-handed pitcher, 2010 Rangers Minor League Pitcher of the Year
Arthur Rhodes - new lefty reliever
Jose Felix - minor league catcher
Colby Lewis - right-handed starter, 2010 playoff hero, only Ranger to win a World Series game
Nolan Ryan (!) - nuff said
Craig Gentry - minor league outfielder
Mike Maddux - pitching coach
Jim Sundberg - former Rangers All-Star catcher, Rangers Hall of Fame, 1985 World Series champion (Royals)
Tom Grieve - former Rangers outfielder and general manager, current TV analyst
David Murphy - outfielder
Matt Treanor - catcher
Matt Harrison - left-handed pitcher
Jackie Moore - bench coach
Ron Washington - manager
Mike Henneman - closer of the 1996 AL West Division Champion team
Pete O'Brien - former Rangers first baseman
CJ Wilson - left-handed starter
Note that CJ Wilson has already said he will sign for an hour at the tables the Rangers have set up, then for another hour at his foundation's table, so plan accordingly. They usually have multiple players signing at different places at the same times, so many times you'll need to choose between your favorite players and just get one autograph. You might be able to avoid that with CJ if you just plan to go to his foundation booth when he signs there, though the Rangers tables might have some other big names set up at that time, too. We'll just wait and see.
That's a pretty dang good list, and I'm excited that I should be able to add at least one or two big autographs to my collection. I've already got more than a handful of those players' autographs, so that will help me make those tough decisions when picking who I want to target. I'm also going to try to get autographs from Oliver and Hunter at a Winter Caravan stop after Fan Fest, so that will factor in, too. I'm only going Saturday, so here's hoping that all the juicy names don't end up being there just on Sunday.
As for the minor leaguers, it's not a bad idea to get their autographs now, even if you have no idea who they are. One year I got Michael Young, Mark Teixeira, and Hank Blalock to sign for me, before they became the faces of the franchise, and their lines were not very long at all. After that, they became much harder to track down, so I'm glad I struck when I did. Also, Jamey Newberg will be setting up a booth with his own guests signing, which usually include some of the top Rangers prospects that might not be signing at the Rangers tables. I'll let you know when Jamey sends out his list, which will probably be at some point next week.
Here's the direct link to Durrett's post if you want to see it for yourself:
http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/texas-rangers/post/_/id/4859438/a-gaggle-of-rangers-will-be-at-fan-fest
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