Evans' Greene catches on in Texas

Former Evans High School star Todd Greene made quite an impression on his new Texas Rangers' teammates Saturday night.

In his first start with his new ballclub, Greene had a 2-out RBI single in his first at-bat, and the 210-pound catcher later kept a Texas rally alive with another base hit in the eighth inning.

After recording the single, Greene was lifted for a pinch runner, and the Rangers probably wish they hadn't have made that move, because Greene's replacement behind the plate, Bill Nasselman, struggled quite a bit.

While Nasselman was behind the plate, the Tigers stole two bases, and both runners scored. Texas eventually lost to Detroit 8-7, and Greene finished 2 for 4 with an RBI.

With superstar catcher Ivan Rodriguez out until June (and possibly all season, if he need surgery) with a herniated disk in his lower back, Greene has a chance to prove himself valuable to the Rangers.

Also, Rodriguez likely will be traded, if he can come back and show other teams that his knees and back are stable. General manager John Hart isn't afraid of unloading star players, as he parted ways with Albert Belle and Manny Ramirez while in Cleveland.

If the trade is made, Greene's main competition for the catching job could be Nasselman, who turns 36 this Saturday, is hitting .271 with two homers and 11 RBI in 96 at-bats.

During his recent short minor league stint with Las Vegas, Greene hit .352 with 11 home runs and 41 RBI in 32 games.

Texas is Greene's fifth big league team (he also has played for Anaheim, Toronto, Los Angeles and the New York Yankees) since breaking into the majors in 1996.

Greene marked his 260th game in the major leagues last Saturday, and in 100 games at catcher, he committed only one error.