Kevin Mench, HNS 2000, the two-time America East player of the year while at the University of Delaware, had a solid rookie season in the majors in 2002 with the Texas Rangers.

An outfielder, Mench batted .260 with 15 home runs and 60 RBIs in 110 games for the Rangers. He became a full-time starter in late April and was one of the few bright spots on the last-place Rangers. For his efforts, Mench finished in seventh place in the voting for American League Rookie of the Year in 2002.

"I really didn't expect to do so much so soon, to be honest," Mench says. "I truly came into last spring thinking I'd be a late-season call-up, hopefully get a chance in August or something. The whole year was a big surprise."

A fourth-round pick of the Rangers in the 1999 baseball amateur draft, he spent slightly more than two years in the minor leagues. Most prospects take at least three or four years to develop, but Mench was on the fast track.

He's been on the fast track most of his life. Mench grew up just a good outfield throw away from the University campus in Newark, Del. The youngest of three brothers, Mench would tag along to his brother's games and always try to get in on the action. Older brother David Mench played for Bob Hannah at the University in 1986-87.

"When Kevin was a kid, he'd be climbing up on the backstop, he was so eager to be a part of things," current University baseball Coach Jim Sherman recalls. "He was just in such a hurry to grow up."

"My whole childhood, I was getting tennis balls pitched at me by my brothers. That really taught me to keep my eye on the ball and all the good baseball fundamentals," Mench says. "I lived and breathed baseball."

All that experience paid off when Mench entered St. Mark's High School [in Wilmington], where he began to grow into his 6-foot frame. Mench was a high school star at St. Mark's, but he knew he wanted to play for UD no matter who came calling.

"I'd kind of made up my mind to stay home, where my family and friends and everybody could watch me play," Mench says. "Plus, everybody knew Coach Hannah and how good he was."

Mench's career at the University took off like a meteorite. As a freshman, he immediately went into the starting lineup and hit 19 home runs for a top-25 Blue Hen team. He continued to progress in his sophomore (33 home runs) and junior seasons. In 1999, Mench hit .373 with 19 homers and 70 RBIs, pretty astounding since by then all the college pitchers knew of his reputation and tried to pitch around him. In one series against the University of Maine during his sophomore year, Mench hit eight home runs in four games.

"Sometimes, if the game was out of reach, the other team would throw him a straight fastball just to see how far he could hit the ball," Sherman recalls, laughing. "He was a naturally phenomenal hitter, who always got the fat part of the bat on the ball."

Mench was drafted by Texas in the fourth round of the 1999 draft, and decided to forgo his senior year at the University. He immediately continued his success, becoming the Most Valuable Player of the Class A Florida State League in 2000 and moving up to Double-A ball and Triple-A ball in 2001.

"The great thing about the minors was getting exposed to so many of these coaches who've been around major league hitters their whole life and know what to tell you to do," Mench says. "You hear stories about a lot of guys who get to the minors and coaches try to change their swings and stuff like that, but they left my mechanics alone."

After a great spring training in 2002, Mench was invited to join the big league club after the first week of the season. He remembered that in his first major league at-bat, he was struck out by Oakland A's ace Barry Zito. But, things improved after that, and in his third game, he hit his first major-league home run.

"It was even more exciting because my brothers were there to see it," Mench says. "Going the yard in front of your family--it was awesome."

Of course, being on the Rangers has plenty of perks, one of which is getting to play with Alex Rodriguez, the Texas shortstop who is considered one of the best players in the game today.

"He's even better than the public thinks he is," Mench says. "He's so baseball-obsessed, he's like a human dictionary. If you ever have a question about a pitcher or a situation, he has instant recall."

Mench also got to meet President George W. Bush, the former owner of the Rangers. But, his main focus was on baseball. He was sent down to AAA Oklahoma City for a few weeks in late May 2002, when he was struggling, but he was called back up on June 9 and stayed in Arlington for good. He slugged seven homers in June and became a fan favorite in Texas, with many female fans holding up "Will you marry me, Kevin?" signs.

"Those were kind of cool. I never expected the fans to take to me like that," Mench says. "It was tough losing so much, but the fans were great and I appreciated that."

Sherman, who has seen and heard about lots of great home state baseball players in his time, says he believes Mench will one day surpass the trio of Dallas Green, Chris Short and Delino DeShields and become the best state of Delaware baseball player of all time.

"He's a power hitter with a good eye who doesn't strike out too much, which is rare," Sherman says. "And, he's been very quick to adapt to big-league pitching, as far as remembering what pitches he's been put out on and then adjusting next time up."

Mench struggled toward the end of the season when he suffered two bone bruises on his hands, making it difficult for him to take his normally ferocious cuts at the ball. Still, under the tutelage of veteran Rangers like Alex Rodriguez, Rafael Palmiero and Ivan Rodriguez, he says he never got down on himself.

"The older guys were terrific about keeping my confidence up, giving me tips on different things I could do," Mench says. "They've really helped me a lot."

With one year under his belt, Mench says he's working hard to impress new manager Buck Showalter and to prove to the big league scouts that he's not a one-year wonder.

"Everything's gone great. Now if I could only find a good cheese steak shop here in Texas," Mench laughs. "Some things about home, you always miss, even if you're in the big leagues."

--Michael Lewis, AS '97