Over the weekend I was reminded of the most failed DFW sports marketing attempt this side of the Mavericks’ Trey J’s.
Anyone remember DVD?
Along about 2004 – before the arrival of Jon Daniels – the Rangers gushed over their young pitching prospects, two of which were acquired with Top 10 picks in the draft. Their names could be configured into a cutesy, relevant acronym – this was also before the arrival of iTunes and Netflix – and, voila, DVD was born.
John Danks. Edinson Volquez. Thomas Diamond. The future of Rangers’ pitching.
It was catchy. It was sellable. It spawned hope. It … won a combined three games for Texas.
The memories rushed back as I watched highlights of Volquez dominate and shut out the Yankees for his third win of the season for the Royals. Even after all these years, he’d look good in a Rangers’ uniform right now.
But DVD never materialized beyond a marketing campaign.
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Danks, the 9th overall pick in the ’03 draft, struggled with control in the minors and was traded for Brandon McCarthy in ’06.
Volquez was traded to the Reds for a slugger named Josh Hamilton in ’07.
And Diamond, the 10th pick in ’04, underwent Tommy John surgery in ’07, causing a significant loss in velocity and, eventually, his outright release.
A decade after the trio created hope, Diamond is long out of baseball with just one Major League win (with the Cubs in ’10), Danks is still a solid starter with the White Sox and Volquez – who produced the only three Rangers wins of the group – is still effective in Kansas City after a career highlighted by an All-Star appearance in Cincinnati and 13 wins last year with the Pirates.
The style was there. But the DVD's substance was grossly absent.
A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
