Unless, like me, you're a Red Sox fan, there really wasn't too much to cheer about during last night's Rangers game at The Ballpark in Arlington. The team got beat badly, losing 13-2.
Still, there were at least some moments when the home crowd seemed rather entertained last night. Most of those came courtesy of a new should-be fixture at the park -- a faux Rangers batboy by the name of BBoy McCoy -- that was making its Rangers debut.
His first appearance came somewhat early in the night, when the park P.A. announcer noted to the crowd that there appeared to be some sort of conflict between the Rangers' mascot and a ball-boy between innings. Down on the field, the two could be seen tussling over a bat. The P.A. announcer suggested a dance-off determine who got the it and -- boom, just like that -- a semi-star was born.
McCoy, who handled a few actual batboy duties throughout the night too, started popping and locking and putting the mascot's running man dance to shame. Later, he got on top of the dugout and danced to a dubstep remix of the Inspector Gadget theme song, which apparently exists. I think he reappeared another three times to perform, at one point showing off some Michael Jackson-aping as a greatest hits megamix blared over the park's sound system. It was kind of awesome.
But, turns out, though it was his Major League debut, this kind of display is nothing new for McCoy.
McCoy, who was born Kenneth Paryo and who even had a short stint on America's Got Talent, has been doing the same bit -- tug-of-war over a bat with the mascot and all -- for a while now in the minors, most recently with the Rangers' Triple-A affiliate in Round Rock. Seems Nolan Ryan recently caught his act at a Round Rock game and was so impressed, he called McCoy up to the bigs.
McCoy, who'd never before heard of Ryan, is admittedly not a baseball fan, and who still can't get Ryan's name right (Noland?), made the most of his opportunity, hugely pleasing the crowds (and earning some of the loudest cheers of the night), getting highlighted by the Rangers' local TV broadcast and, this morning, getting some shine on MLB.com, which has some video today of his performance courtesy of the Ranger broadcast to boot.
In other words: If the Rangers go deep into the playoffs, this guy could be huge. Like, rally monkey huge.
Hey, it's a goal.
Anyway, keep an eye out for the 21-year-old performer next time you're at the park. He'll be the one dancing on the dugout. Kind of hard to miss.
