Texas Rangers third baseman Travis Metcalf dives but can't field a ball hit by Kansas City Royals' Ross Gload in the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 27, 2007, in Kansas City, Mo. Gload picked up a single on the hit.

Kansas City, Mo. ? It’s just minutes after 4 p.m. in the refreshingly cool visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium, and a few of Travis Metcalf’s Texas Rangers teammates are getting antsy.

Rapping fingers on the table, shuffling and re-shuffling a deck of playing cards, Marlon Byrd and Joaquin Benoit are waiting for Metcalf, a rookie third baseman, to finish interviews so they can get on with the game.

It’s one of the sport’s locker-room traditions – playing cards to relax before stretching and taking batting practice. The games, such as “Pluck” and “Casino,” are mostly known only in baseball circles.

In the meantime, veteran Frank Catalanotto argues with Byrd over who has been the biggest mentor for Metcalf, Kansas University’s all-time home run leader, since his initial call-up from AA Frisco on May 18, who Friday was preparing for his 33rd game as a major leaguer.

Metcalf, 24, seems to be a pretty popular guy.

A combination of a tireless work ethic, genuine personality and recent on-field production have transformed him from being a rookie filling in for an injured starter during a disabled-list stint to just one of the guys.

What a year

Given the season Travis Metcalf had in 2006, it makes what he’s done in 2007 seem that much more surreal.

In 2005, his second professional season after being an 11th-round selection by the club following his junior season at KU, Metcalf became the Rangers organizations’ golden child of sorts. He was the Minor League Player of the Year in their system, hitting .291 with 22 home runs and a prolific 94 RBIs for the Bakersfield Blaze, the Rangers’ Single-A affiliate.

The Texas Rangers' Travis Metcalf strikes out during the seventh inning of a 6-5 loss Saturday to the Royals in Kansas City, Mo. Many of the former Kansas University standout's family members and friends attended the series in K.C.

He seemed to be on the fast track to the big paydays and state-of-the-art ballparks, but then something got in the way when he was promoted to AA Frisco for the 2006 campaign.

Make that multiple somethings.

“That last year, I think all that was is there were a lot of people tweaking that swing, tweaking this, tweaking that,” said his father, Anthony Metcalf.

As different coaches and instructors began tinkering with Metcalf, his numbers faltered, as he was no longer doing things his way, but rather someone else’s. His average dipped to .221 by season’s end, and his power numbers (eight home runs and 37 RBIs) had suffered accordingly.

But Metcalf, an eternal optimist, didn’t let himself get thrown into the vast heap of baseball’s “never was” prospects.

“The year I was struggling, I knew why I was struggling, and it was actually a good year,” he said. “The struggle was a good part of the game, because you have to learn and find out what it takes to step up and do something different. So it was having a good year in ’05, then a not-so-good year in ’06 and then being up here in ’07 shows that you can overcome some of the struggles and get to the point where I wanted to be.”

His initial promotion came after he started the ’07 season in ’05 fashion. In 55 games this year with Frisco, he hit .280 with seven homers and 34 RBIs.

Entering Saturday’s game, he was hitting .245 with the big club, driving in six runs on one home run (coming off of former KU teammate and close friend Tom Gorzelanny on June 14 in Pittsburgh).

Texas Rangers third baseman Travis Metcalf dives but can't field a ball hit by Kansas City Royals' Ross Gload in the sixth inning of a baseball game Friday, July 27, 2007, in Kansas City, Mo. Gload picked up a single on the hit.

More important, though, is that he has provided the team with stability at third base with veteran Hank Blalock having been out since late May after having a rib removed near his right shoulder.

Metcalf started 11 of Texas’ last 13 games, with the highlight of that stretch being a 9-for-15 performance at the plate as the Rangers swept Seattle in a four-game set, July 23-25.

‘He’s : performing’

On the final day of that series, manager Ron Washington stated that Metcalf is no longer a platoon player.

“He’s been in the lineup for the last three weeks performing at a major-league level,” Washington said. “I think he’s beginning to figure things out, and it shows in the way he goes about his business out there. In just the past week, he’s started catching up to some of the mistakes that the pitchers are making. The kid has only been as high as AA, never played AAA, and here he’s in the big leagues performing, so he deserved it.”

Metcalf more than appreciated the gesture.

“That helps out with confidence a lot, knowing that hopefully I can come to the field every day and not have to look at the lineup, or guess the night before whether or not I’m going to be playing,” he said. “It’s a sign from him that he’s got a little bit of confidence in me, so it helps out a lot.”

He quickly found a friend in Byrd.

“You get a little intimidated, you don’t know who to talk to, who to ask, and I just put it out there,” said Byrd, who has extended his knowledge and friendship to Metcalf the same way Jimmy Rollins did for him as a Phillies rookie in 2002. “I’m one of the guys to get to the field really early, so we talk a little bit, but God, he’s a great player, bright guy, so he’s figuring it out quickly,”

Coming home

Stting in their home in Wamego earlier this week, Andrea and Anthony Metcalf began to reminisce when they came across an old photo of Travis. He stood in the back yard in a diaper, wearing a Royals batting helmet, swinging a plastic bat.

“I finally went out there and said, ‘Aren’t you getting tired?'” Anthony recalled, proudly sporting a new Rangers cap. “And he said, ‘I’m practicing.’ So we were joking, I said, ‘What are you thinking about doing when you get older?’ He said, ‘I’m gonna play baseball, Dad.’ I said, ‘No, what are you going to do for a job?’ He said, ‘No, I’m gonna play baseball, Dad.’

“We had one conversation the night he got called up,” Anthony continued. “It was kind of deja vu, almost brought tears to my eyes. He called me on the phone, he said, ‘I’m getting called up tonight.’ I said, ‘Oh, man, wow, we’re comin’. Mom and I are comin’, you know, we’re comin’. No matter what it costs, we’re comin to Houston.’ And he goes, ‘You remember all those nights in the backyard? ‘ I said, ‘Yeah.’ (He said) ‘Well, I made it.’ I said, ‘Yeah, you did. Yeah you did.'”

This weekend’s Rangers-Royals series in Kansas City, Mo., had been in the minds of KU baseball fans and Metcalf supporters far and wide since his initial big-league promotion.

As Andrea sat in the dugout suite, she was glad-handing family, friends and well-wishers while Travis took batting practice merely 15 feet away in the stadium she’d taken him to numerous times growing up.

Also on hand were his brothers Tyler (20) and Zac (14), his grandmother and great-aunt, high school baseball coaches and even neighbors.

“At least half of Wamego is going to be here,” she said. “If not the whole town of Wamego sometime this weekend.”

With everything going on, Andrea couldn’t help but conjure up memories of her own.

“I remember pulling up to the (Hoglund Ballpark) parking lot when he was an all-star in high school,” Andrea said, recalling the summer of 2000. “He said, ‘You know what? I better hit one out tonight, because I don’t think I’ll ever be back.’ And what did he do in the all-star game but hit one out.”

KU record setter

Metcalf had good reason to think he wouldn’t be back. He had already signed with Butler County Community College, had an apartment and was figured to be on his way. After that all-star game, then-KU coach Bobby Randall came up with an offer to play for the Jayhawks, and Metcalf, a two-time all-state selection who owns just about every offensive record in the Wamego High books, took it.

It was the start of a record-setting run at KU. He set the KU single-season and career marks in homers, and he also was regarded as the Big 12’s top defensive third baseman by “Baseball America” following his sophomore season.

On hand Friday were some KU teammates, such as Kevin Wheeler and Matt Tribble. Tribble has been one of Metcalf’s biggest supporters.

Tribble was watching the Rangers-Pirates game online, calling shortly after Metcalf’s home run to josh him about smirking back and forth with Gorzelanny. He’s one of the first to call and laud Metcalf’s successes. But he’s also there for Metcalf’s 0-fers.

“He was actually joking around the other night, he said it’s funny, when he plays a great game, he gets a lot of phone calls, and when he doesn’t play a great game, no one calls,” Tribble said. “So I’ll start calling him when he has a bad night and give him a little bit. I think going through college allows you to have great relationships and continue those relationships throughout your whole life. That’s what I’m thankful for, and I know he’s thankful for it, too.”

That he is.

“It’s always good to have your friends back you,” said Metcalf, who will be standing in Gorzelanny’s wedding this November. “Even when you go through the hard times and people are booing you or telling you you can’t hit or something, you always have your friends who believe in you.”

He just might stick

When Metcalf sat down to play cards in the clubhouse Friday – something Tribble says Metcalf was not known for being talented at in college – it was only for a little while. Before talking to reporters, he was in the batting cages. After a couple of games, he was the first Ranger on the field, stretching and running.

“Unbelievable work ethic, gets to the field early, and he’s not to the field early just to sit around and eat,” Byrd said. “He’s working the whole time, studying pitchers. He took this leg kick that he started working on, and it just clicked with him very quickly, which was a real surprise. Usually takes a guy a week or two, but he got it right off the bat.”

While Metcalf has been a suitable plug-in at third base, there’s still the chance he could get sent down to AAA Oklahoma City in the coming weeks, with Blalock and second baseman Ian Kinsler both close to returning from the disabled list.

Thus, the next few weeks could serve as an audition. If he’s not going to supplant Blalock, who is just two years older than Metcalf and locked into a multi-million-dollar deal, it’s a chance to garner interest from other clubs.

“I wouldn’t say I’m completely settled in yet by any means, and I wouldn’t say by any means that I get nervous anymore or anything,” Metcalf said. “It’s one of those things where it’s each and every day another adjustment, and it’s just kind of the different things you’ve had to deal with at this level.

“It’s just one of those things where I just kind of work here, I’m ready to play every day.”