One-hit wonder: Rangers manager Jeff Banister a survivor

Jeff Banister will spend a lot more time as a manager in the major leagues than he did as a player.

Of course, if Banister makes it past the Rangers' April 6 opener against the Athletics at Oakland, then the man hired in October to replace Ron Washington will have surpassed the number of games that he played.

Though Banister appeared in only one game, on July 23, 1991 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, it would be unfair to look at that solitary game as just another box score.

Anyone present that night at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh likely will never forget Banister's pinch-hit single off Atlanta Braves veteran Dan Petry in his lone plate appearance.

"I still get choked up when I think about it," said Jim Leyland, then with the Pirates and in the sixth season of a 22-year career as a major league manager.

There were few dry eyes in the dugout when Banister reached first base. That hit was a culmination of a remarkable journey in which Banister twice cheated death to live to see a day in the major leagues.

"There are a group of people who prop you up and take care of you, try to motivate you on a daily basis when it's tough to be motivated," Banister said. "To be able to walk into a major league game when everybody told you that you couldn't, you shouldn't, you wouldn't then you get an opportunity to do it, it happens, you're on top of the mountain for one day, one moment in time and you carry those people with you, it's the best thank you that you can give. That's what it meant."

Banister will soon depart for Surprise, Ariz. and Rangers training camp, where pitchers and catchers will hold their first workout Feb. 21. For the first time since 2006, it won't be Washington addressing them to start the new season.

That will fall to Banister, whose life experience ensures he will not lack for motivational messages.

'Baseball was everything to me'

During his sophomore year of high school, Banister noticed swelling in his ankle and initially wrote it off as nothing more than a football injury. However, on Jan. 15, 1980 - his 16th birthday - Banister learned that he had osteomyletis, a form of cancer caused by bacteria eating bone marrow.

The doctors gave Banister the most horrible news imaginable to a teenager with dreams of catching in the major leagues: He would need to have his leg amputated above the knee, or risk death.

Banister, though, persuaded doctors to try to save his leg.

"Baseball was everything to me and if I couldn't play, I didn't want to live anyway," Banister said.

It took seven surgeries over the course of 18 months, but doctors were able to save the leg and Banister matriculated to Lee College, a two-year school in Baytown, Texas.

While trying to avoid an opposing baserunner from scoring in a game during his first year at Lee, Banister blocked the plate - which was still legal in college baseball. The runner tried to hurdle Banister in an attempt to score but his knee struck Banister in the head and caused fractures of three vertebrae in his neck.

Banister was paralyzed from the neck down and doctors told him he would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. His situation was so critical that doctors feared that a cough, sneeze or sudden jerk might stop his breathing and kill him.

However, Banister again beat what seemed to be insurmountable odds. Doctors were able to repair Banister's spinal cord by performing three operations in a 10-day span.

Banister not only put on the catcher's gear again, but did so at Division I University of Houston. The Pirates drafted him in the 25th round of the 1986 draft, and he played eight seasons in their organization.

"He's an inspiration to anyone familiar with his story," Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said.

Ready to inspire

Texas management believe Banister is the man who can inspire the Rangers team following a disastrous season in which they had the worst record in the American League at 67-95 - their poorest finish since 1985 - while using the disabled list more than any team in major league history.

"Jeff really impressed us across the board during the interview process," general manager Jon Daniels said. "From people that he worked with recently with the Pirates, the people that used to work there, and players that he's had recently and some years back, stars as well as role players, and everyone came back with the desire to win, a love for the game, the love for people, the ability to reach people, the ability to connect with a variety of people, an interest in learning more."

In an era when it has become trendy for teams to hire managers without managerial experience, Banister, 50, is a throwback.

He managed in the Pirates' farm system for five years, served as the organization's minor league field coordinator for eight years and spent two separate four-year stints on the major league coaching staff.

"From the day that I stopped playing, I truly dreamed of an opportunity like this," Banister said.

Pirates manager Clint Hurdle was the Rangers hitting coach in 2010 when they made the first World Series appearance in franchise history; he gave Daniels a glowing recommendation of his bench coach.

"Jeff Banister was a good coach before I got to Pittsburgh and we had a fun four years together," Hurdle said. "He made me better. Hopefully, I was able to impact him and help him get a little better as well. The relationship was significant and special, and he's joining a good group of people.I will definitely be pulling for him from afar."

And as Daniels and the rest of the Rangers have quickly found out, it is impossible not to pull for Banister, owner of 1.000 career batting average in the big leagues.

"He's a winner, he's a survivor, in every sense of the word," Daniels said.

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