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Russell Wilson practices with Rangers 11 miles from where he lost Super Bowl

Russell Wilson practices with Rangers 11 miles from where he lost Super Bowl

SURPRISE, Ariz. – "Russ-OHHH!" the little girl cried during batting practice.

"Russ-OHHH Weeel-SON!" she begged. "I'm yer biggest FAAAAAAN!"

Then her little sister popped her one in the tummy, a shriek followed, mommy stepped in and neutral corners were assigned.

The soundtrack Saturday morning at Texas Rangers camp had turned noticeably 12th man-ish, as Seattle Seahawks quarterback and accidental Ranger Russell Wilson took ground balls at second base and a few rounds in the cage, then delivered the lineup card for an exhibition game against the San Diego Padres.

Eleven miles from where the whole thing came up a yard short two months ago, there sprung Seahawks jerseys and chants and signs, along with the unshakeable optimism Wilson seeps. And if it occurred to you a yard short in the Super Bowl isn't much different than a strike short in a World Series, then you know where a lot of the conversation went Friday night, when assistant general manager Thad Levine hosted a barbecue for Wilson and many of the Rangers' younger players, and into Saturday morning.

Russell Wilson practiced with the Rangers 11 miles from where he lost the Super Bowl. (USA Today)
Russell Wilson practiced with the Rangers 11 miles from where he lost the Super Bowl. (USA Today)

The difference, of course, is the Seahawks have won a Super Bowl with Wilson as their quarterback. The Rangers lost a World Series in 2010 in five games, turned around and lost in seven – agonizingly, horribly, I'm-never-getting-outta-bed-again in seven – in 2011, and while the organization did not go completely in the tank immediately afterward, it did find its way there by 2014.

Plenty of the names have changed along with the Rangers' fortunes, but the road back still has a starting point, that being a two-strike, two-out, bottom-of-the-ninth pitch to David Freese. It's some kind of accomplishment to stand out there with a pitch to win the World Series, just as it is to have the ball in your hand with a yard to win the Super Bowl. Maybe you get over that sort of thing and maybe you don't, and the Rangers' 95 losses last season had everything to do with their being snake-bit and atrocious, but if anyone could understand what the Rangers might have felt like once, it is Wilson. And if Wilson ever required a commiserator, he has the Rangers.

"How do you get back to that opportunity again?" Wilson pondered. "Ultimately, the perspective never changes."

Wilson's first love was baseball. His father was a ballplayer, and they played plenty of catch when Russell was a boy. Wilson was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in 2010 and he played two minor-league summers – one in Pasco, Wash., and the other in Asheville, N.C. – before he became a Seahawk and, except for occasionally, gave up the game. The Rangers claimed him in the Triple-A Rule 5 draft two Decembers ago and this was the second time he's come out for a day with the fellas. He returned last March as a champion, this March as a champion with a bit of a longer story to tell.

Wilson dressed Friday morning between Rougned Odor and Jurickson Profar. The only difference, near as could be told, neither Odor nor Jurickson had a sound man roughly unbuckle their belts, unsnap their pants and unzip their flies in order to adequately string a microphone wire. Wilson did not complain and simply put himself back together again, all part of the show.

The Rangers are selling Russell Wilson's jersey at spring training. (Marcus Vanderberg)
The Rangers are selling Russell Wilson's jersey at spring training. (Marcus Vanderberg)

It hadn't been that long ago in this clubhouse that manager Jeff Banister had given his players a full 24 hours to mourn the loss of Yu Darvish's season, and possibly a relevant season in the AL West, before getting back to the goal of relevance in the AL West. Then it was next man up.

Now, a day alongside Russell Wilson wasn't going to make the Rangers pitch better, but there was a message to be had for those who listened. Just 26, he has a story and a special ferocity. He's worn the uniform, if not exactly this one. He's won big and lost heartbreakingly. As they were coming off the field after batting practice, Prince Fielder, the veteran of four playoff teams and zero rings, asked Wilson, "What's it like to win a Super Bowl?"

Pretty cool, you'd think.

"The Rangers got punched in the gut," Banister said. "I think there's a message that can go both ways."

Two months after his own experience with that, Wilson said, "No matter if you've lost on the 1-yard line, you have to believe you'll get there again."

The Rangers haven't yet.

On they go, the Rangers to opening day and the Oakland A's, Wilson to next fall and whatever that brings. Maybe Wilson will try baseball, really try it, again – "Never say never," he said – but one day would do for now. His plan is to have a 15-year career in the NFL, full time. He did ask a former Cincinnati Reds beat writer, "How'd Deion do it?" – if more out of curiosity than for the script.

"It's fun being out here, man," he said. "Awesome. An honor."

His father died the day after the Rockies drafted him. Asked if a day in uniform reminded him more of his days as a minor leaguer or those summer evenings in his backyard, Wilson smiled and said, "A little of both actually."

So everybody gets a little something.