A baseball mascot’s faith–straight from the horse’s mouth

Posted: 9/02/05

A baseball mascot's faith–
straight from the horse's mouth

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

ARLINGTON–Jim Tennison can offer only a nonverbal Christian witness when he's in uniform at his workplace, but it's not due to timidity. It's because horses don't talk.

Tennison portrays Rangers Captain, the costumed mascot for the Texas Rangers baseball team.

“I'm an ambassador of good will for the team,” he explained. As Rangers Captain, he performs at all home games and selected games on the road, and he makes public appearances on behalf of the Rangers.

Rangers Captain performs at a ballgame. (Photo courtesy of Texas Rangers Baseball)

When it comes to choosing which appearances he accepts and which he rejects, Tennison keeps two things in mind–his personal Christian witness and his responsibility as a representative of the Texas Rangers organization.

“As a mascot–a public figure out in front of kids–people automatically measure you,” he said.

“Being a baseball team mascot can be a hot and frustrating job where ethics and morals can be overlooked since you can't talk in costume. Management wants a person they can trust to be an ambassador for the team. They want to know he won't make any lewd gestures, that he will consider what is appropriate in handling children and that he'll represent the team in deciding where to go.”

When he came to the Rangers, Tennison discovered public measurement is not limited to character issues. Standing 6 foot, 4 inches tall in stocking feet–and 6 foot, 8 inches in horse hooves–he is significantly taller than the team's previous mascot. In fact, the costume had to be altered substantially to fit him.

“Some people noted the Rangers mascot grew during the off-season,” he said. “But let the record show that while he gained height, he lost weight. Rangers Captain is steroid-free.”

When he's not wearing a horse suit in the Texas summer heat, Tennison–who holds an undergraduate business administration degree from East Texas Baptist University and a master's degree in sports administration from Mississippi State University–works in the team's front office as assistant to the promotions director.

In that capacity, he schedules musicians to perform the national anthem at Ameriquest Field, helps supervise employees who distribute promotional giveaways at games and manages the Jr. Rangers Kids Club.

In costume, the most direct expression of his faith Tennison can offer is occasionally signing autographs with an accompanying Scripture reference.

He enjoys the opportunity to be more direct in his front-office position.

“I hope my co-workers see (Christ) in my day-to-day dealings with them,” said Tennison, who attends First Baptist Church in Keller.

Tennison grew up in Orangefield, and he names two men as key influences on his spiritual development–his father, who was a teacher, coach and Baptist layman, and his high school youth minister, Vince Blankenship, who went on to become dean of admissions and marketing at ETBU.

“I know that I would not be where I am today if my youth minister had not taken our youth group to a camp at ETBU. His encouragement helped me to hear God's calling to attend the university,” he said.

“I am so proud of my days at ETBU because the professors and staff took the time to care and treat (students) as individuals. When I hear about other people going to schools and being in a class with 300 to 500 people, I am just appalled.”

Tennison came to ETBU on a theater scholarship, and he majored in marketing and minored in management.

“Looking back, it seems like I was preparing to be a mascot without even knowing it,” he said. “It combines my interest in drama, sports, marketing and business administration.”

Early in his career, he only knew he wanted to work in some capacity on the business side of a baseball team. His first big break came one day when he was working with the Lafayette Bayou Bullfrogs minor league team and the team mascot passed out.

“He had been the mascot for a hockey team, so he was used to working two or three days a week in an air-conditioned arena. In the Louisiana summer heat, he dropped like a fly during Game 6. And when he came to, he quit. That's when I was offered the job,” he recalled.

From there, he moved to the Carolina Mudcats before joining the big leagues as Dinger the Dinosaur, mascot for the Colorado Rockies.

Major League Baseball mascots form a small fraternity, and Tennison became friends with Patrick Titsworth, the previous Texas Rangers mascot.

“If a schoolteacher needs a mentor, he can look down the hall,” he said. “It's not that way with mascots. There are only a few of us in the business.”

When Titsworth died of a heart attack during the off-season, Rangers Promotions Director Sherry Flow contacted Tennison and offered him the position.

“I believe just saying I'm a graduate of a Texas Baptist university helped me get my job,” he said. “I think it gave me a foot in the door. I think the idea was, 'You can trust this guy to be a good ambassador for the team because he's an ETBU graduate.'”

Mike Midkiff of East Texas Baptist University contributed to this article.