Long-Time Texas Rangers Farmhand Finally Gets his Major League Shot

The Texas Rangers called up Blaine Crim to play first base on Friday, an opportunity nearly seven years in the making.

Mar 9, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Texas Rangers first baseman Blaine Crim (74) bats against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the second inning at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images | Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

ARLINGTON — Blaine Crim knew something was up on Thursday in Sugar Land. It’s not often the entire team gathers around his position on the field.

“Everyone was being weird,” he said.

But, there they were, long before their game, greeting a new player who was wearing a catcher’s mitt. One of the coaches told the new player that he needed to get a first baseman’s glove because Crim was going up to the big leagues to join the Texas Rangers.

Then, right on cue, another coach played Crim’s walk-up song, Top Back by T.I., and Crim finally put it all together.

“Seeing some of my buddies cry was kind of crazy,” he said before his first game on Friday against the Seattle Mariners. “I had plenty rolling too.”

The team knew 30 minutes before Crim did, so it allowed them to make a bit of production out of his call-up.

A moment he’ll never forget 🥹@Bcrim23’s going to The Show!#Rockin25 | #RRExpress pic.twitter.com/voivTZKvFm

— Round Rock Express (@RRExpress) May 2, 2025

It’s been a long time coming. The Rangers drafted Crim in the 19th round in 2019 out of Mississippi College, a Division II school in Clinton, Miss.

He’s played at Triple-A Round Rock since 2022, and he’s hit well everywhere he’s been in the system. In 2,259 career minor league at-bats the 27-year-old slashed .296/.372/.507 with 110 home runs and 420 RBI.

This season he’s slashed .313/.365/.565 with seven home runs and 25 RBI.

He was in Friday’s lineup, batting eighth and playing first base for Jake Burger, who was optioned officially on Friday so he could work on his swing as he’s batted under .200 for the first month of the season.

The Rangers expect Burger to return. But president of baseball operations Chris Young stressed that Crim earned this opportunity.

“We take no credit for the opportunity — it’s all Blaine,” Young said. “He’s earned it.”

The Rangers’ offense has scuffled for most of the season. The team’s key offensive numbers are near the bottom of the Majors entering Friday’s series. The Rangers aren’t looking for Crim to fix it, because one player cannot.

But their hope is that he continues to hit the way he’s hit at Triple-A the past couple of years. Crim says that means keeping his approach the same.

“A lot of it is just simple, simple routine, simple pregame, everything like that,” Crim said. “Then just step in the box at seven (o’clock) and be ready to go.”

Crim expects his wife and parents to be at the game. His wife, Katie, is the head soccer coach at North Greenville and had already driven back from Austin to South Carolina to do exit interviews with her players. His parents had checked into their lodging in Destin, Fla., on Thursday and turned right around to see their son make his debut.

As for Blaine, he drove up from Houston to Arlington in a thunderstorm that snarled traffic for most of his drive.

Now, Crim gets to live out the dream he’s had for so long, one that he wasn’t quite sure would come true.

“There were always glimpses of hope, but I never really thought that I would be right here in this moment,” Crim said. “Yesterday was crazy. I had a stomach ache all night and I had a stomach ache this morning. But when I came in here (the clubhouse) it kind of went away. I’m sure it’ll come right back, right around seven o’clock. But, yeah, I think it finally settled in when I walked in the room.”