Awful story.

If I recall, there were some clubhouse issues with him because he tended to be the extremely judgmental type of Christian. I think he also went full looney-bird 8-9 years ago with a possible suicide attempt or something.

Disgusting and sad.

Tap the brakes a bit, please. This is an allegation that was said to have occurred well over a decade ago to someone who just now came forward about something that happened to him when he was 4-6. That doesn't mean it didn't occur but it will be difficult to prove. There is no indication as of yet as to who this person is or why he was with Wetteland at the time.

Why would they charge him if they didn't have enough to proceed with the case?

Old Tom Morris said:

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If I recall, there were some clubhouse issues with him because he tended to be the extremely judgmental type of Christian. I think he also went full looney-bird 8-9 years ago with a possible suicide attempt or something.

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I think you are thinking of Chad Curtis, who is...also...a sex offender. Had no idea until I googled him. Man, I just looked up Curtis' history, and that guy is a huge POS. Just a complete scumbag all the way through.

Something always seemed a little off about Wetteland...can't remember if he was an aggressive Christian evangelist or not. Still, he's a total scumbag assuming this is true, which it certainly looks like.

Ags #1 said:

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Why would they charge him if they didn't have enough to proceed with the case?

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It's about the seriousness of the charge

as an aside...why is Wetteland in the Rangers hall of fame? He only played 4 years in Arlington

While it was just 4 years, he put up 150 saves and retired as the organization's all-time saves leader, which also made him integral to 2 of the first 3 times the franchise ever made the playoffs (97 and 99, which happened after their first ever appearance in 96). In 2005, it was a 30 year old franchise where about the only real success it had was during the time he was there. So yeah, kind of a weak candidate to have in a team hall of fame, but the timing/context played a role.

In the Rangers first playoffs (1996), Mariano Rivera was still the 8th inning guy for NY, and Wetteland was the closer. Wetteland joined the Rangers in 1997. I remember this because I'll never forget that against NY in 1996, Darren Oliver spun an 8 inning gem and was sent out to pitch the 9th because Texas didn't have an effective closer. NY came back and won the game, and won the series 3-1. If Wetteland had been a Ranger one year sooner, Texas perhaps wins that series, gets over its mental block against NY, and history would have been very different.

Fast forward 15 years to game 6. Who else but a decrepit Darren Oliver trots out of the Rangers' pen, surrenders singles to two slap hitting lefties and a sac bunt to the pitcher, setting the stage for Lance Berkman's wet newspaper, game-tying single (you know, the guy who quit trying in Houston, tried for a year in STL, then took some money from TEX before quitting again).

Anyway, that's what John Wetteland makes me think about.

W said:

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as an aside...why is Wetteland in the Rangers hall of fame? He only played 4 years in Arlington

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He is the rangers all time saves leader.

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I remember this because I'll never forget that against NY in 1996, Darren Oliver spun an 8 inning gem and was sent out to pitch the 9th because Texas didn't have an effective closer. NY came back and won the game, and won the series 3-1.

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What I remember most was that Rivera was so dominant as a setup man, I was actually relieved when they brought in Wetteland.