Rangers Induct John Blake Into Hall of Fame
ARLINGTON, Texas — Praised as the “best possible baseball media relations person in the last 25-plus years” by Texas Rangers owner Ray Davis, long-time Rangers executive John Blake was inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Blake, now the Rangers’ executive vice-president of public affairs, has worked as a baseball public relations professional since joining the Baltimore Orioles in the late 1970s. But he has spent the bulk of his professional career with the Rangers, where he has crafted the team’s message and promoted the team’s players, including that of Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan, Ivan ‘Pudge’ Rodriguez and fellow inductee Ian Kinsler.
Former Rangers general manager and current television analyst Tom Grieve inducted Blake. Grieve will retire from the booth after this season.
Grieve said that baseball has been one of the constants in Blake’s life and praised his hiring back in the 1980s as instrumental to the franchise’s rise out of the doldrums of a losing franchise. He also said that the way that Blake and his staff handled Ryan’s milestone 5,000th strikeout in 1989 was one of the reasons Ryan decided to extend his stay in Arlington beyond his intended one season. He played for the Rangers until 1993.
“Back in 1985, the Rangers were a struggling franchise,” Grieve said. “(former owner) Eddie Chiles was trying to change that. One of the first things he did was hire John Blake.”
Along with the traditional plaque, Blake received a power-blue bat with his name on it. Like the rest of the Hall of Famers, he received a blue Rangers Hall of Fame blazer.
Blake was accompanied by his wife and his two kids. He thanked them and the Rangers organization for his induction. He referenced the mural painted on the first-base side of Globe Life Field, one that depicts many of the great players and milestones that have happened to the franchise. He said it was fitting that his induction was in the franchise’s 50th season and that he’s honored to have witnessed many of the players and the milestone depicted on that mural.
“It all comes down to relationships and the people I met along the way,” Blake said.
There were several video messages for Blake during the ceremony, including from Rangers Hall of Famer Charlie Hough, former Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus, former Rangers manager Ron Washington, Ryan, former president and former Rangers owner George W. Bush,
Blake is in his 44th year in pro baseball. He joined the Rangers as the team’s media relations director. Previously, he served as the assistant public relations director and media information director for the Baltimore Orioles from 1979-84.
He served 20 years with the Rangers from 1984-2004, spending part of that time in a concurrent position with the Dallas Stars, when the two teams were owned by Tom Hicks. After spending three seasons with the Boston Red Sox from 2006-08, Blake returned as the Rangers’ vice president of media relations.
Blake is already a member of the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame, where he was inducted in 1995.
Blake is the fifth front-office executive inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame. The first was Grieve. After that, former team president Tom Schieffer was inducted in 2014, and then Chuck Morgan, known to most as the Rangers’ public address announcer but holds the title of executive vice president, ballpark entertainment, promotions and production.
Ryan, who served as the team’s president and CEO from 2008-13, was an inaugural member of the Rangers Hall of Fame from his time as a player from 1989-94.
Other Rangers Hall of Famers in attendance included Jim Sundberg (2003), Ferguson Jenkins (2004), Tom Grieve (2010), Eric Nadel (2012), Ivan ‘Pudge’ Rodriguez (2013), Tom Schieffer (2014), Michael Young (2016), former Arlington Mayor Richard Greene (2019), Adrian Beltre (2021), Chuck Morgan (2021) and Victor Vandergriff, the son of former Arlington Mayor Tom Vandergriff (2004). Vandergriff is credited with helping to lure the former Washington Senators to Arlington before the 1972 season.
Other former Rangers in attendance were Frank Catalanotto, Chris Davis, Craig Gentry, Colby Lewis, Doug Melvin and David Murphy.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard
Catch up with Inside the Rangers on Facebook and Twitter.
