Dave Nelson, former Texas Rangers All Star, has died

Dave Nelson, former Texas Rangers second baseman and a longtime baseball coach in his post-playing career as well as an announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers in recent years, has passed away at the age of 73.

Nelson is one of those players who stuck in my head as a kid. He played before I was old enough to really remember and register that he was around, but one of the enduring bits of trivia that stayed with me from obsessing over Ranger minutia in the late 70s and early 80s was that he was the only player in Ranger history to steal second, third and home in the same inning, something he accomplished on August 30, 1974, against the Indians.

Nelson was a regular from 1972-74 for the Rangers, and was named to the All Star team in 1973, when he put up a .286/.325/.378 slash line, with 43 steals in 59 attempts. He ended his career with a 5.2 bWAR and a .244/.305/.312 slash line, having played mostly with the Rangers organization (including two seasons with the Senators), but also logging time with the Royals and Indians.

Nelson also coached for two decades with various major league clubs, as well as having a stint as a coach with TCU, and had been an announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers for the last decade.