Rusty Greer to enter Marshall Co. Hall of Fame

Published 4:21 pm Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Former Texas Ranger and University of Montevallo standout Rusty Greer will be inducted to the Marshall County Sports Hall of Fame in May.

Greer, who is Montevallo’s only Major League Baseball player, prepped at Albertville High School before going to UM. He was drafted by the Rangers in 1990.

He played nine seasons with Texas before retiring in 2005 and was inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame in August 2007. His .305 career batting average is seventh in Rangers’ history and ranks in the franchise’s Top 10 with 1,166 hits (6th), 543 runs scored (5th), 119 home runs (10th), 614 RBI (5th), and 258 doubles (tied for 5th). Greer helped lead the team to American League West Division Championships in 1996, 1998, and 1999, batting a career-high .332 in the 1996 campaign. He set career highs with 112 runs scored, 193 hits, 42 doubles, and 26 home runs in the following season and drove in a career-best 108 runs in 1998. He finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year balloting in 1994 and 22nd in the 1997 AL MVP vote.

Greer is currently an assistant baseball coach at Texas Wesleyan College in Ft. Worth, Texas and resides in Colleyville, Texas. He began his coaching career in 2007 as manager of the Colleyville Lone Stars and coached the Dallas Baseball Academy of Texas in 2008.

The 2009 induction banquet is scheduled for May 30 at 6 p.m. at Lake Guntersville State Park Lodge.