Tony Barnette had given up on playing in Major League Baseball until a breakout season in Japan. Now he’s in the Texas Rangers bullpen ready to pitch in a season-opening series against the Mariners.
SURPRISE, Ariz. — Tony Barnette stands by his locker near the middle of the clubhouse and watches teammates scurry to morning meetings.
New players are directed to one area, the rest to another, but the Jefferson High School of Federal Way product hesitates and wonders where he really belongs. At age 32, he is older than the other new players.
“I’ll see a bunch of guys much younger than me and I’m not sure I should be with them,” he says.