Monday, September 30, 1996

Rangers' title cancels decades of disappointment for team workers

By Associated Press

ARLINGTON (AP) - If Texas Rangers players think they've waited a long time for a championship, they should talk with some of the club's other employees.

Some veterans in the Rangers' front office have been waiting longer than even the team's most veteran player.

There's Charlie Wagner, 63, who in his 36 years with the franchise moved up from temporary accountant to senior vice president for administration.

And visiting clubhouse manager Joe Macko, 68, was hired 25 years ago when the Washington Senators moved to Texas for the 1972 season.

Director of major league administration Judy Johns, 46, joined the organization as a switchboard operator a year after the move to Texas.

All are ecstatic that the decades are paying off in a playoff appearance. The Rangers clinched the American League West division title late Friday. They open the playoffs Tuesday against the New York Yankees.

"To go out like this, it couldn't have been better timing," said Wangner, who is retiring after this season. "Everyone's goal is to go out a winner, to get that ring on their finger and know they've got a championship. I'm so pleased for the players, coaches, (team general partners) Rusty Rose and Tom Schieffer, that it got to this."

Macko watches the Rangers religiously, but has the tough task of containing his enthusiasm because he also works for the visiting team.

"I'm so happy for the Rangers. I'm going to have tears in my eyes when they get in the playoffs, and I'll be just thrilled to death if they get in the World Series," said Macko, the organization's only remaining employee hired from the area's previous minor league team, the Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs.

Ms. Johns has worked for four owners and seen promotions such as Hot Pants Night, Farm and Ranch Night and Pantyhose Night. She's predicting a Rangers-Atlanta Braves World Series and sees the Rangers winning it all in the sixth game at The Ballpark in Arlington.

"I always wanted to meet Jane Fonda and Ted Turner, and I'm sure I'm going to get my wish," she said, referring to the Braves' owner and his movie star wife. "When we play in the World Series here, it will be a Saturday in October. It's going to be wonderful. It's going to be a fall classic."

Ms. Johns has noticed an explosion in the number of ticket requests and interview requests for general manager Doug Melvin. Through it all this year, she has tried to temper her expectations.

"I hate disappointment. You just get conditioned to it after awhile," she said. "Having been here this long and not been in postseason play, it's hard to imagine what that's going to be like."