Paciorek Staying Around Just for the Fun of It

Tom Paciorek hit a home run Friday night. It was the 84th in his 15-year major league career.

It was also most likely his last.

Paciorek spent four months on the disabled list this season with a pulled hamstring. Now, Paciorek is no pup, but even 40-year-old tendons don’t take 16 weeks to get better.

The Rangers--in this instance, anyway--listened to their hearts and not their accountants. Tom Paciorek’s career hasn’t been of the Hall of Fame variety. He has played with six clubs--the Dodgers, Braves, Mariners, White Sox, Mets and Rangers--and his career batting average is .282. But if they could somehow capture his love for the game and innocent enthusiasm, the exhibit would be worth a whole wall at Cooperstown.

So the Rangers gave Paciorek the option of retiring or staying on the disabled list and helping the youthful Rangers stay loose. Paciorek agreed to stay, but figured if he kept in shape that just maybe some team would need a veteran right-handed pinch-hitter for the stretch run.

One last hurrah, you might say.

It appears now that Paciorek will have to settle for Friday night’s two-run homer in the first inning off John Candelaria as a farewell celebration. It was his first homer in exactly one year, and Paciorek made the most of it.

“I’m sick of appearing on these postgame ‘Star of the Game’ shows,” he announced to the clubhouse as he made his way back out to the dugout for an appearance on the Rangers’ radio broadcast.

“I didn’t realize my last home run came on Sept. 11 last year,” he said later, running a hand through his silver hair, “but I had almost forgotten how fun that trot can be. It’s a great feeling.”

Paciorek has been chasing that feeling a long time and he’s reveled in it like few others whenever he got the chance. Like this summer, when he decided to keep working, lifting weights and taking hours of batting practice when he knew the chances of his being activated weren’t very good.

“I could have just hung it up and gone home, but I stayed because I love this game and I viewed it as an opportunity,” he said. “This team’s in the midst of a youth movement. I understood that there just wasn’t a slot for me on the Rangers’ 24-man roster.

“But I’ll have to admit that I was disappointed that no one was interested in me. I’m convinced the team did all they could to make a deal. Another team could have had me for virtually nothing. I was counting on a trade and when it didn’t happen, I realized there was no interest in me as a player. You’ve got to be realistic.”

So Paciorek hopes to do what he considers the next best thing to playing baseball: talking about baseball. He filled in on Ranger radio broadcasts six times this season. “We were the only team in the majors who carried a spare broadcaster,” he said, smiling.

“I don’t think I’ll be around to hit another homer next Sept. 11,” he said. “But I feel good about this now. I didn’t want to quit in the middle of a season. The game will go on without me, but at least I ended up my last season with a uniform on and a chance to help the club.”

If you believe Manager Bobby Valentine, one of Paciorek’s closest friends, Paciorek has done more than that. He has helped the young Rangers keep their minds on the game and the game in perspective at the same time.

“They wanted me here, they were paying me and I was glad to do whatever I could . . . on the field or off,” Paciorek said. “I’ve had a great time with these kids this year.”

“Hey Tommy,” Valentine whined at Paciorek, who was getting a couple of high fives from teammates, “let some of these younger guys get a chance to be on the radio once in a while, will ya?”

Some of those kids will make more appearances on postgame radio shows than Paciorek ever did, but few--if any--will have any more fun playing a game for a living.