Baylor alums in the field, front office and owner’s box for back-to-back AL champion Rangers

When the Texas Rangers open the 2011 World Series in St. Louis Wednesday night, Baylor alum David Murphy will likely be in the starting lineup once again after hitting .412 and starting four of six games in the ALCS. (The Rangers are an impressive 5-1 this postseason when Murphy starts, but just 2-2 when he is on the bench.)

Murphy’s first inning in the field will make him just the second Baylor alum to appear in consecutive World Series, and I doubt anyone reading this remembers the first. That would be Mule Watson, who played at Baylor from 1913-17 and pitched in the 1923 and 1924 Series for the New York Giants.

Besides Murphy and Watson, only two other Bears have ever appeared in a World Series game: Dave Danforth, who pitched one inning in relief for the Chicago White Sox at the Polo Grounds in 1917, and Lee Tunnell, a reliever who appeared in two games for the 1987 St. Louis Cardinals.

Of course, Murphy isn’t the only Bear invested in the Rangers’ success; new owner Bob Simpson, BBA ’70, MS ’71, earned two degrees from Baylor. Simpson and Dallas billionaire Ray Davis were the lead investors in a group that purchased the team in August 2010; the Rangers have now made the World Series twice in Simpson’s two years as owner.

And there’s yet another Bear serving in Texas’ front office: CFO Kellie Fischer, BBA ’95. This team’s Baylor ties run deep!

Sic ’em, Rangers!