Rangers' World Series trophy visits Cleburne

Jan. 26—The Texas Rangers Winter Caravan rolled through Cleburne on Wednesday night, giving fans a chance to see the team's coveted World Series Commissioner's Trophy up close and personal. Over 600 people walked through the doors at La Moderna Field and took their quick moment to snap a photo with the trophy.

The trophy, which is made of sterling silver, weighs about 30 pounds. It features 30 gold-plated flags, one for each Major League team. The flags rise above a silver baseball with latitude and longitude lines, symbolizing the world. The baseball also has 24-karat vermeil stitching and the signature of the commissioner.

"I would like to thank the Cleburne Railroaders for bringing the trophy to Cleburne for the community to experience this," Angela Reynolds of Cleburne said. "As a lifelong Texas Rangers fan it was so exciting to see the trophy in person. I think I watched most of the games this last season and I am so happy and proud to see their hard work come to fruition. It's been a long time coming and was very well deserved."

Garey Wylie, who is called the Railroaders' biggest fan by many, was the first person to purchase season tickets during the inaugural season. He was also in line Wednesday to see the Rangers' trophy.

"Having the World Series trophy here in Cleburne for us to see was awesome," he said. "Most baseball fans will never get to experience it in person. We are very fortunate to have the Cleburne Railroaders here and the World Series Champions, Texas Rangers, just up the road in Arlington. A dream come true!"

Another longtime season ticket holder, Vance Wakeland of Cleburne said it was a great night to be a Texas Rangers fan.

"What a thrill it was to see the World series trophy in person," he said. "Thanks to the Cleburne Railroaders organization we got to be a part of it."

In addition to getting to see the trophy, fans were able to get autographs from Pete Incaviglia, a former Texas Ranger who is now the Cleburne Railroaders' Club Manager.

Incaviglia has more than 35 years of experience in professional baseball, including a 12-year Major League career that began with the Texas Rangers (1986-90). He had a successful tenure with the Rangers to start his career, hitting 20-plus home runs in each of his five seasons with the club. He finished with 206 career home runs in his MLB tenure from 1986-98.

"I am incredibly grateful to be named the next manager of the Cleburne Railroaders," Incaviglia said. "I could not be more excited to return to the state of Texas, which has played an important role in my baseball career. I look forward to connecting with the Cleburne community and can't wait to build on the success that the team has had in recent seasons."

The line to get into La Moderna Field wrapped around the building even one hour before doors were set to open. The Times-Review sat down with Incaviglia to see what he thought about the trophy visiting Cleburne.

"I think it's really a neat experience," he said. "I don't think there's any other indy team that has a relationship with a Major League organization so this is kind of a new avenue in independent baseball."

He said he doesn't think it will be the last either, as he expects more Major League teams to begin affiliating themselves with an independent league as Minor League baseball teams keep dwindling.

Part of the partnership is in thanks to Railroaders Baseball Partners LLC, who assumed majority ownership of the team in mid-June.

REV Entertainment, the official events partner of the Texas Rangers, will oversee marketing, brand, sales and strategy aspects of the team and stadium.

Hopes are that Rangers players, both current and former, will take time to visit the ballpark this season.

"I still have a lot of relationships that I played with that still live in the area," Incaviglia said. "There is a tremendous amount of players who played here that live here. I hope a lot of my guys will come see me because it's good for my players to be able to rub noses with some Major League players. What I like about it is I like my players to pick those guys' brains."