ARLINGTON, Texas – Tony Beasley lives by a saying.
“Be yourself,” he’ll often say with his signature smile, as he did before the Rangers’ 10-3 win over Oakland on Thursday, “because everyone else is already taken.”
It’s a philosophy that’s worked for the 55-year-old throughout his entire life, including over 30 years in professional baseball. Which is why, over the last few days, he could tell something wasn’t working.
That signature smile of his – the one he’ll flash to everyone from the owner, to security workers in opposing ballparks, to the bat boy on any given day – had lost its luster, he said. His mind, usually fixated on two things – Christ and baseball – had been clouded in overthought. Stress, he diagnosed, had come to the forefront.
And how could it not? On Monday, he was surprised with the news that he would take over for Chris Woodward as the interim manager of the Texas Rangers. Two days later, when he thought things were about to become normal again, he was surprised with the news that Jon Daniels was out, too. Hours later, after majority owner Ray Davis explained the logic of the decision, it was Beasley up at the podium, answering questions about the direction of the franchise.
“I don’t take any joy in speaking about this today,” a stern-faced Beasley said Wednesday after Daniels was fired. “Usually I don’t mind answering questions, but today I do.”
On Thursday, before the Rangers’ final game of the series against Oakland, Beasley strolled into that same press conference room with a pep in his step and that signature smile back on his face.
“Today is the first day I feel like myself,” Beasley proclaimed, “to be honest with you.”
Getting back to this point, after the stress and emotions of this week, wasn’t easy. Beasley said it was a fight, but like all successful battles, he didn’t go through it alone.
It began serendipitously before sunrise. In the offseason, Beasley said he leads a prayer group back home in Virginia. It happens at 6:30 in the morning EST on Tuesdays and Thursdays. During the season he doesn’t lead it, but Thursday morning, he randomly woke up at 5:30 a.m. in Texas and saw a notification, asking if he wanted to join.
“The message this morning was about keeping your eye on the prize,” Beasley recalled.
He needed it, considering there’s been a season’s worth of distractions in just the previous 72 hours.
“Keep my eyes focused on what keeps me centered,” he continued, “and keeps me being who I am.”
It proved to be a similar message throughout the morning. His aunt told him to be himself. Trent Jewett, a Carrollton R.L. Turner alum who was once an interim manager – just like Beasley – of the Washington Nationals, also gave Beasley some advice.
“He said ‘The situation here sucks and it’s terrible, but it’s fun. Enjoy it. You’re more than capable of making a difference,’” Beasley recalled.
Being a difference maker is a core part of what makes Beasley who he is. As a coach, he wants to impact. As an interim manager the last few days, his duties went beyond that. He was asked to be a calming force in a storm, and the stress of it drew him toward becoming a person he doesn’t care to be. He admitted he was losing himself.
On Thursday, he wouldn’t allow that to happen.
“I’ve seen many people in this job change. They change who they are, and I don’t want to do that,” Beasley said. “While I’m here for the remainder of this season, or beyond, I have to stay true to who I am. If it changes me, and I allow it to change me, maybe I don’t even want it, to be honest with you. Because I like me. I like who I am.”
Besides, everyone else is already taken.
