Home     News     Obituaries     Sports     Dallas Cowboys     Features     Entertainment     Opinion     Classifieds

SPORTS Local Baseball Basketball Dallas Cowboys Football Golf Motor Sports Outdoors Recreation Soccer Tennis Tiger Woods Track and Field Other Sports

PRINT THIS PAGE | E-MAIL THIS PAGE Tuesday, January 20, 1998 Sele makes first appearance at The Ballpark ARLINGTON (AP) - Aaron Sele hopes his trade to the Texas Rangers means a new start. The Rangers hope only that he can solidify their pitching rotation. The 27-year-old, obtained in a five-player trade with Boston last Nov. 6, made his first appearance at The Ballpark on Monday. Sele is expected to join Darren Oliver, John Burkett and Bobby Witt, whose one-year, $3.25 million contract signing was announced Monday, in the Rangers' starting rotation this season. "We expect him to be a big contributor," saud general manager Doug Melvin. "With Aaron here and signing Bobby Witt, we feel we have certainly solidified our pitching staff." Seles arrived from Boston along with catcher Bill Haselman and relief pitcher Mark Brandenburg in a trade that sent catcher Jim Leyritz and outfielder Damon Buford to the Red Sox. Sele was 13-12 with a 5.38 ERA in 33 starts last season and has a career mark of 38-33 with a 4.41 ERA in five seasons. After winning his first six starts and posting a 7-2 record as a rookie in 1993, Sele was projected into greatness. But he fell out of favor with the Red Sox and their fans in recent years. Sele said he expected to be left unprotected in last year's expansion draft before the trade. "There is a lot of pressure on you as a baseball player in Boston," Sele said. "Year in and year out the fans expect a winner and are very vocal when you don't. "But now I feel like I get a chance at a new start. I'm excited because I'll be playing in a great area with a great ballpark and with great players." Witt's signing came a month after the righthander accepted the Rangers' 1998 offer of salary arbitration. Witt was granted free agency on Oct. 27, but accepted arbitration on Dec. 19. Witt was 12-12 with a 4.82 ERA in 34 games last season and was the team leader in innings (20) and tied for the staff lead in starts (32) and complete games (3). In 11 seasons, Witt has a 124-131 record and ranks second on the Rangers' all-time list in wins (99), innings (1,611.1) and strikeouts (1,375). Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: Enter their email address below: texnews.com Reporter OnLine Local Sports Texas Sports Copyright ©1998, Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications Send the URL (Address) of This Story to A Friend: Enter their email address below:

Search current site:        Search archives for:

© 1995- The E.W. Scripps Co. and the Abilene Reporter-News. All Rights Reserved. Site users are subject to our User Agreement. We also have a Privacy Policy.