Thomas O. Hicks: In Memoriam

By Richie Whitt Wed., Dec. 16 2009 at 8:00 AM

Categories: Texas Rangers

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With his decision to sell the Texas Rangers to Pittsburgh sports attorney Chuck Greenberg, long-time owner Tom Hicks will willingly, yet grudgingly step into the shadows of Metroplex baseball.

But how will he be perceived?

While Greenberg, 48, and his group seek approval from Major League Baseball, Hicks might actually be ending on a high. By choosing Greenberg, Hicks is, in turn, choosing Nolan Ryan. Neither co-bidders Dennis Gilbert or Jim Crane would have kept Ryan out front and hands-on as team president.

The new ownership will apparently include seven local families as investors, with Hicks' family the second biggest. He'll be around. He just won't be ...

Firing Johnny Oates and Doug Melvin, signing Chan Ho Park and Alex Rodriguez or leading the Rangers to two of their three playoff appearances.

Hicks bought the Rangers in 1988 for $250 million; he'll sell them in 2010 for more than $500 million.

So I ask you, Rangers fans: How will you remember Tom Hicks?

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Baseball, Chuck Greenberg, Nolan Ryan, Tom Hicks

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i'd like to know why everyone is so sold on nolan ryn.what the hell has he done to make the rangers better?all i see him do is sit in the front row with his old lady and drink ice tea?f him too
Yeah Washhater I agree, that is the moment the Hicks lost his way...too much money for Arod, but how do you look yourself and all the ticket buyers in the face when you trade him to the M-effin F-in Yankees and pick up the part of his salary that you overpayed him to come to Texas? I hate the Yanks far more than Scott or Dr.g..effin Yankees suck more than Zerou
Now, here's hoping the new owners will wise up and cut loose Washington and give this team a manager who isn't constantly torpedoing the efforts of his own team. That said, I have mixed memories of Hicks. He was just fine, if slightly misguided, until the day he traded A-Rod. Signing A-Rod was arguably asinine. But trading him and justifying it by saying he was a big problem because of his contract, THEN continuing to pay a huge chunk of his salary after he was on the Yankees? That's lying to your fan base at worst, just plain stupid at best. I swore that day I would not return to the Ballpark until Hicks was gone. Hicks simply went to extremes. He was alternately too loose with money, then when he got burned, he became too tight with it. I look forward to attending games again this coming Summer. (Hicks with no controlling interest is close enough for me.)
Two thinks I think I think: the Washington Natties are the Pirates of UNT or somesuch..Dirtyp1 doesn't like the redshoed rangers very much.
Just off the top of my head: Since Hicks bought the Rangers, I'm pretty sure the Pirates have been the UNT of baseball.
To paraphrase Rhyner's line on Bill Parcells, Tom Hicks is nothing more than the Park Cities con man.
DIRTYP1 = DOUCHE BAG
@Wash and the other Homers... Seriously you guys? My point of throwing those teams out there is that those franchises have skins on the wall, the Rangers have NONE. The Rangers players complain if there's not at least 25k fans in the seats, yet they can't look at themselves in the mirror and realize they're the problem. This thing, unless there's a big cash infusion, will not compete next year for the World Series, and half of those teams might end up with better records. How many expansion teams do you have to see win the World Series before you realize this thing sucks. Your Kool Aid sucks, bitches. The Rangers ARE the UNT of baseball.
The Rangers may have a better chance of winning a game in December than the Cowboys.
Don't fret over Hicks remaining as an owner, he'll have no final say over roster and salary decisions, he'll have a seat but he won't represent the Rangers at any meetings. His investment now is akin to a stockholder. Another example is Don Carter kept a small portion (I want to say 1% but it may be 2%) of the Mavericks when Cuban purchased them. And I've always said the Rangers will win a playoff series before the Cowboys win a playoff game. Nothing against the Boys, I'm a fan, but with the Rangers I get the impression they care whether they win or lose late in the year. With the Boys I have to wonder.
"Which happens first - Rangers win a World Series - OR - Cowboys win another Super Bowl?" UNT wins BCS National Championship.
There's no way in hell the Cowboys are winning a SB...so I'm going to have to say the little red shoed Rangers..and I agree that Jonboy was well into the rebuilding process prior to Nolan's arrival...but I sleep better at night, knowing that Nolan is looking over Jon's shoulder. Wish Nolan had been here prior to the Danks/McCarthy trade..That's really the only trade I hated..can't believe Tom signed off on it..A homegrown lefty from Texas ready to break in..?? still puzzling to this day
Down with the bitches, LOL. Tom Hicks.....mehhhh....all used up. Get the broke bum outta here. The team was heading in the right direction before Nolan with Jon Daniels' restocking of the farm system. But,with Nolan in charge of all, I get a comfort that I've never had with the Rangers before. Dare I say this - what must I be smokin' - but I actually see a World Series in the not too distant future for our beloved little Rangers. Pass me another round of that kool aid. Which happens first - Rangers win a World Series - OR - Cowboys win another Super Bowl?
Finally.....Dallas has a reason to scoreboard the city of Liverpool!!!
wash's ashtray = jon daniels tex192 = the golden unicorn on hicks' lawn TODAY IS A GOOD DAY, bitches!
I agree that the Rangers are headed in the right direction. It only happened once Nolan was brought in though. Hicks did nothing right before that. We all bitched about this guy, yet some of you seem to be letting him off the hook. He brought in Nolan. He's selling the team. Those are the two best things he's done. Period.
GREAT SUCCESS! The only negative is that Hicks will remain on as a minority owner. The further away he gets from that franchise, the better chance they have of returning to the late-'90s glory days of AL West titles and rapid-fire playoff exits.
RW did you run the Rock on Sunday? Did I miss something? Updated please if I did?
Thong that's a tough one pal...I would go with Broke ass Tommy, atleast his team is pointing upwards and he's letting the baseball people (not himself) do the heavy lefting (currently) ..and Jerra hasn't had the best track record since Jimmy left and free agency began..to put it mildly. The Rangers have won one more playoff game than the Cowgirls in the last 12 years also..and everyone on the Rangers wear their hat pointed towards the front..gimme BrokeassTommyboy, and I hate to say that..shoot me, shoot me now
did you like those three playoffs??? DID YOU LIKE THOSE THREE PLAYOFFS??????????????
The question remains�would'ya? Pick one: Jerry Jones the GM/coach/owner or Tom Hicks the broke billionaire
I always thought Hicks was a vegetarian until you posted this pic of him wolfing a hotdogtwinkie?
@ Dirty P1 I know all those franchises won World Series. But do you honestly think they are more competitive now than the Rangers? Watch some baseball, bitch.
@Dirty P1 Sure I would have loved to have been the D-Backs in 2001, the Reds in the 70's or any of those other teams 10, 20, 30...70 or 80 years ago. The fact is that the little club out in Arlington is in WAAAY better shape than anyone else on that list. I'll take hope, promise, and current state over memories any day. So yeah I'm with Wash and his nasty ass ashtray, and I too will partake in some Kool-aid...Bitch
Say what you want...he did bring in Nolan Ryan and this thing is in a better place than it has been for a long long time. He learned how to get out of the way and let baseball people make decisions instead of going out and signing big name players. I just wish another local owner who owns the big stadium right next door would do the same thing.
@Wash's World series wins: Arizona--1(2001) KC--1(1985) A's--4(72-74,89) Reds--5('19, 40, 75,76, 90) Pitt-- 4(25,60,71,79) Texas--0(0 Appearances) Drink that Kool-Aid bitch.
fuck tom hicks
wash, the last 18 months???????????? that dude has been screwing up for ever!!! who are you, his atty??? anyway, richie broke news long ago about that fool's financial woes. the prosecution rests its case, holmes!
Everyone is so quick to bash this organization. Everything is criticzed from the announcers, to the stadium, to the owner, to the players themselves. Of course some of the criticism is warranted. Yes Im the first to admit the franchise has never won a damn thing. But the franchise appears to be going in the right direction. Look at teams like KC, Oakland, Cincinnatti, Arizona, Washington, and Pittsburgh and then re-evaluate the state of the Rangers. Im just saying things could be a helluva lot worse. Who else wants some Kool-Aid?
I admit I wear the Ranger Red colored glasses as well. I agree with Bradford, until the last 18 months I think we were all pretty happy with Hicks. Sure, there were some bad signings but at least moves were being made.
Hicks was the guy who bloated baseball contracts???? I think Scott Boras and George Steinbrenner might have some something to say about that.
How will he be remembered? As THE GUY who ruined the salary structure in baseball giving A Rod the biggest and STUPIDEST contract in sports at the time. I don't call the last 10 yrs the Steroid Era, I call it the Bloated Contract Era. 10 yr deals, hundreds of millions GUARANTEED!!! Just crazy! Sure there were huge deals before it, but NONE for HUNDREDS of MILLIONS and averaging north of $20 mil per year!!! Just threw EVERYTHING out of whack! Thanks, Tommy! Don't know how his fellow owners didn't have him killed years ago....unless he was guaranteed protection from the MLBPA for making their salaries SKYrocket!
I'll remember the great feeling of anticipation back when we went to the playoffs in 97 and 99..just needed to add a bit and we would be all over the World series...and when Chan Ho and Arod were signed..hope springs eternal when baseball is involved I guess. I was sure we were on the right track every single off season..because I look at the hometown team through RangerRed colored glasses. I didn't agree with running off Melvin, but I must say up until the Big 12lb'er ran out of cash..I was on board with most everything else..paid Arod too much, but to get the superstars to come on down here..you have too. My current wish is that Greenberg is approved early enough to cherry pick some of the remaining free agents..if free agency plays out like last year, when there was still big time guys available during spring training.
Another one of Hicks' toys tanking. A owner that continued to drive a wedge between the club and the fan's, two soccer club's and a baseball team. Given time, a hockey club will be added to that list. "The new ownership will apparently include seven local families as investors, with Hicks' family the second biggest. He'll be around." WTF? what a disgrace.