Episode 219 - Woolly Wranglin

We have Brett Lander on the podcast this week. He's the GM of the Waco Woolly Wranglers, a new team in a new summer collegiate league, the Cowboy Collegiate League. Brett talks about the team and the league. He shares a little about his background and why Waco is a good place for a summer baseball team to play. He shares his favorite Texas Rangers players and his Proffitt & Loss.

Makes sure to follow the Woolly Wranglers online.

Waco Woolly Wranglers - 

Website: https://www.wacowoollywranglers.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wacowoollywranglers

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wacowoollywranglers (@WacoWoollyWranglers)

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/wacowranglers (@WacoWoollyWranglers)

Earned Fun Average -
 
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Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/earnedfunavg/ (@EarnedFunAvg)

Blue Sky: https://www.bsky.app/profile/earnedfunavg.bsky.social  (@EarnedFunAvg.bsky.social)

Threads: https://www.threads.com/@earnedfunavg (@EarnedFunAvg)


Curved Brim Media -

Website: https://www.curvedbrimmedia.com/

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Transcript

0:17

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of the You're In Front Average podcast. I'm your host, Eric Prophet, coming to you from Wichita, Kansas. And with me, as always, I have Johnny Bolin, Lake Charles Gumbo Gator super fan, coming tonight from the beautiful Bayou Broadcast Center in downtown Calhoun City. Well, Johnny, it was like in the 50s on Friday, and it was up to the mid-80s today, so we're kind of jumping around. But it's about to be summertime and gonna have summer collegiate ball. So we do have a special guest with us today. We have Brett Lander with us. How are you, Brett? Good. Thanks for having me on, guys. I really appreciate it. Yeah, appreciate you joining us. So, Brett, I believe you work in, uh, summer collegiate ball. Would you mind sharing who the team is and what you do with the team? Yeah. So the team is the Waco Wooly Wranglers, and my role with them is the general manager. All right, I love it. Well, that's quite the, quite the name there. Is that Do we call that alliteration with all the Ws there? Is that how that is, Johnny? Beautiful alliteration. I, I'm a, I'm an alliteration guy, Brett, so beautiful, beautiful a- alliteration there. Well, so Brett, one of the segments we do to kind of kick off is talk about a favorite hat. Now, you'd mentioned didn't quite have the Wooly Wranglers hats yet, so I don't know if you wanna have an idea of what the hats are gonna look like, but maybe, uh, any other favorite hat you wouldn't mind describing for us? Yeah. Man, as of right now, my other favorite hat would have to be the new, uh, being from Texas, the new City Connects for the Texas Rangers. Okay. Yeah. The, the Tejas hats. I mean, those are hard to beat right now. I really enjoy those. Yes, for sure. Yeah, I kind of like the... Almost looks like just a kind of retro old school tee- Mm-hmm that the Rangers have, so yeah, I, I know exactly what you're talking about, so very sharp there. Uh, Mr. Bolin, what hat do you have today, sir? Are we surprised? When I, when I came on this Zoom call and you saw my face and you saw this hat, you knew this was coming. This arrived Friday, and, I, I was in a little bit of a dilemma, guys. My wife's been wanting family pictures made for, well, 12 years. And so for a Mother's Day gift, we had family pictures made Saturday at 5:00. It's a beautiful weather, unbelievable weather this weekend. And I negotiated all week long before the hat got here, Can we take a couple with the new hat, with the Gators hat?" I even tried at the last moment as I'm paying the photographer, Hey, think I could do a couple in the hat?" And she just laughed like, "Okay, thank you for the money." Like, how... I mean, when you think about the Bolin family, shouldn't there be a Gumbo Gator something in one photo, Eric Prophet? I know she doesn't really listen much anymore, but I'm not gonna go against, Mrs. Bowlin here. I'm gonna, I'm gonna I'm not really gonna take her side, but I'm also I probably shouldn't take your side just in case she does hear this episode. Uh, you're going full S- Switzerland, aren't you? I can appreciate that. And I w- you know who I blame for wanting to purchase this hat? Ronnie Rants. 'Cause you remember in the fall, he previewed, He previewed the new hats. And I mean, I'm just frothing at the mouth. He said, "Oh, man, it's gonna have the black outline. We're kinda doing some work to the gator. It's gonna be purple with a green bill, and we hope to have them by December." I can't tell you guys how many times in December I went on the online store thinking the new hats are here, the new on-field hats here. And it's, it's been out now for several, several weeks. And so they ran a free shipping promotion, uh, last, kinda last part of April. And so that was, that, that was my green light and I had to get one. Absolutely love it. This is the 2026 on-field, hat for my Lake Charles Gumbo Gators. Come on. Yeah, that is a very sharp hat. Really enjoy that hat there. for myself, I have a- also a little bit of alliteration, but, not quite the Waco Wooly Rang- Wranglers. Can't even say it. But I have the Wichita Wranglers on. So, here in Wichita back in late '80s through 2007, we had a double A affiliate, mostly of the Kansas City Royals. They were the Wichita Wranglers, so this is one of the hats they wore, and they actually brought it back so now we have the double A of the Minnesota Twins, the Wichita Wind Surge. And so this hat here is one that the Wranglers wore. I don't remember the exact timeframe, 'cause they switched and had a era where they were kind of more red with their colors, but this one's the black with the teal bill, and then has the, big red W with the wrangler kind of on top of it. So not quite, team here, but I do have the Wichita Wranglers is what I'm wearing today. That, that is a great hat. I've got the solid black ver- version from a couple years ago. Sure. Well, Brett, so I wanted to get a little more on, uh, background. So obviously you said you're the GM of Waco now. Uh, had you done anything else previous in baseball, or is this kind of your first gig in doing stuff in baseball? Yeah, so I've had I mean, I have had a crazy story. I've, I played college baseball. Uh, I played college baseball at a D3 school called Blackburn College. And one cool thing about Blackburn College, it is one of the only working colleges in the country. So when you apply you have to have a job and it kind of takes off your tuition. And my job, while playing baseball, was being the baseball assistant coach. Uh, huh, uh. So I started with that. And as I kept going on through the years of college, I went to the Gateway Grizzlies. It is a, uh, affiliate team, or a partner league, MLB partner league team that's in the Frontier League. And I did stadium operations for the Gateway Grizzlies. And now just kind of having all the experience, I've finally led up into the general manager role for the Waco Woolly Wranglers. So I've had a pretty good experience kind of lined up to get me where I am right now, so. I love it. Well, I appreciate you sharing that. uh, so this will be Waco's first year, in the league. So would you mind just sharing everybody, what the league name is? Yeah. So we are in the league called the Cowboy Collegiate League. I love it. It's made up of, uh, 10 teams. Uh- Oh, wow it, it, it's been around a few years. They have a Houston area team, and they also have like a, a DFW kind of area t- of teams, and that's where we are falling in, so. Yeah. Johnny, sometimes they have just kind of boring league names out there, but, you know, when you have the Cowboy Collegiate League with the logo of the, the league logo, it's one of the, the better names out there, so I really enjoy that, uh- Yeah that's the name of your guys' league, for sure. Well, I'll My first question for you, Brett, what's the, the origin of the nickname? Of the Woolly Wranglers? Yes, sir. Waco, one of the things Waco is known for is having mammoths. It's weird. You n- you wouldn't think mammoths being in Texas, but that is one thing Waco is known for. They have found remains of mammoths. So when you look at the logo, it's literally a cowboy riding a mammoth with a lasso. So that's kind of where we got the- Named the Waco Wooly Wranglers, 'cause you kinda get the woolly mammoths, but you also get the wrangler in it because it's Texas. So- you get the best of both worlds. when, Eric texted me, oh, the other day, you know, that you had agreed to come on, he sent me the logo and then I went to, to the website and, and, like, looking at the merch, and I just, I just chuckled. Now, now that, that is a fun, that's a cool, that's a cool nickname. And, and I love what you guys are doing with this league and, and, you know, having looked at the website. Because you think about a town or city like Waco, they probably easily could support minor league baseball. Mm-hmm. I would think they could be at least an A ball level, maybe even double A. So you guys, I think, are really providing a service to that community, uh, a pretty large community. And, and of course, Baylor will be through with their season, so you'll have that window for entertainment in that, in that city. And I, I just think, uh, with the l- you know, looking at the league, you're going to places that don't have that level of baseball, but could easily be affiliated minor league cities as well. And so I just think it's a really, really smart business plan, uh, that you guys have there. And, What's, what's the chatter on the streets? Have you met a lot of people as you That when they meet you and you say, "Hey, I'm with the Wooly Wranglers," what's, what's kinda been the response meeting people there in the community? so the first thing I've always got is, like, what is that? You know? You know, people, you know, people are still a little bit unaware of a collegiate baseball league because it's hasn't been around in Waco for, since ever. people are, I think, getting excited for it because like what you were talking about, Waco is a great place to have a minor league team, but they don't have it. You know, you have- Right the Frisco RoughRiders in Dallas. You have the Round Rock Express closer to the Austin area. and you kinda have, like, that little dead spot there in Waco, you know? You have Baylor. with Baylor's season coming to an end, it's, it's perfect. Y- people love college baseball, and they're, now they get college baseball almost all year round since the summer league. So it's awesome. And one thing that's so good about these teams, and you could say minors league as well, with this setup, you could be a Bears fan, you could be a Longhorn, you could be an Aggie, you could be a Red Raider, and it could bring people together with different loyalties versus my college is playing your college. Mm-hmm. And, and I think that, that is really cool with doing your own thing. This really was fun. Very original nickname, you know, that people can gravitate and kinda unite around that. Now, I'm very old, but there's a song older than me, Wooly Bully. Now, will that be played? Wooly Bully? Yeah, I've, I've actually, I've actually heard of that song and- you know, now that you've brought it up, I've, I've forgot all about it until you just brought it up. But, you know, ju- just for you I'm gonna play it. I'll put it on the playlist. I could, I could see that, like, a game intro, you know? 'Cause it's a pretty, classic, uh, you know, kinda rock and roll song. Uh, was it from the 50s I think? Maybe 60s, you know. But I think with that nickname and that song and kind of marrying those together at the ballpark, think this could be your Sweet Caroline, right? Or something like that you know, that- That'd be great teams certain songs that are connected to them and, hey, it's got wooly in the title, right? So you're there already, you know, with the, the song and, and I, yeah. I come up with all these strange questions in my head. I thought, "I wonder if they're gonna play Wooly Bully at the ballpark," you know? Like, just, it's all there. It's already, uh, it's already, uh, built in. So, where, where will you guys be, uh, obtaining players from? How, how, how is the structure of obtaining a team as you as the general manager? How is that processes, process working? Yeah. Yeah, so I just, a few weeks ago I just hired on a head coach. His name is Patrick Coutwer. he coached high school baseball for I don't know how many years. I kinda leave up the recruiting to him, but he can recruit from other colleges nearby. And there's also, we have something called a players' pool. So a player can sign up to play. They can have their reference of location where they would want to play, and they can either get placed or a coach can kinda recruit them to come play for us at the same time. So. Oh, wow. Is this league connected to, like, the other leagues, like the new Volunteer State League? I saw there's a league, a new league in Florida. Are you guys kind of a p- Yeah, so the- Yeah, so they have the Tennessee League. They have the Florida League. I think they also have one up in Maine- Oh, wow and North Carolina. And our governing body is called the Players' League, and that's kinda what founded the whole thing, was the Players' League. And now they are expanding from, all I can know to Texas right now, but expanding from Tennessee to Florida to Maine and hopefully, you know, other states as, as this gets more attention and keeps growing Well, yeah, I, I, asked that question based on the artwork of the logos of the league. You could tell that- Mm-hmm maybe one artist or one team kind of put the, the logos together. My last question, since you mentioned you were a Rangers fan. Are you a fan of that old school logo of the cowboy hat on the baseball? I love that logo. I wish I had it on a dad hat. I've never have obtained one. Your thoughts on that old retro logo. I, I, I absolutely love the baseball with the cowboy hat on. I love it, man. You I mean, you just can't go wrong with the classic logos. I mean, all classic logos I really liked. I mean, the Mariners, Kansas City had a cool one, the Diamondbacks had a cool one. So Rangers are obviously on top. It might be controversial. I'd be a little biased, but the Rangers had one of the best old school logos I've ever known, so. It's a, it's a, it's a classic. It's, it's a beauty. And you don't have to guess what sport it is, right? Nope. Cowboy hat. No. Perfect. Completely perfect. Simple and, and, and perfect. Well, Brett, I wanna kind of stay there for just a second. Kinda one of my favorite things is when we find somebody that's a big fan of, you know, like an MLB team. Can you name maybe your Mount Rushmore, maybe top four Rangers players? Oh, man. I, I would have to go Nolan Ryan- Mm-hmm Pudge Rodriguez. That's mine. That's my number one. I would do I love Josh Hamilton. I'd put Josh Hamilton up there. Mm-hmm. And another one of my favorite guys is Michael Young. Okay. Very cool. I could keep going, but- that, that would be my Mount Rushmore. Yeah. So that's kinda like my top guys. Yeah, so here in Wichita, uh, the Royals are my favorite team, but, about three hours south of them, but then only about five hours north of, Arlington, so we get down to see a Rangers game pretty frequently. And I think the first time I went was '97, if I remember right, and so Pudge was playing, so he was always one of my favorite players just 'cause he was so awesome, behind the plate. I loved the ballpark at Arlington. Now, obviously, I've been to the current one a few times, and ob- obviously, it's different. I've actually been a few different times, uh, when they've had the roof open before, and it just seems like such a different experience. But I love, you know, the old ballpark and everything. So yeah, I was just kinda curious of who some of your favorite Rangers players were. Those are my top guys, man. I'm, I've been a Rangers fan my whole life. I'm 22 years old, so it's- been a, a long journey to be a Rangers fan, I guess you could say, so They finally got it, what, was that, was that two years ago, three years ago? Yeah. Yeah, when we played the Diamondbacks. So yeah, that was a good World Series. So I always root for... Like I said, even though I'm a Royals fan, I always root for the Rangers. I like them a lot. So, this year, uh, where is, uh, where's Waco play- what ballpark are you guys playing at? Yeah. So for our first year we're playing at Riverbend Ballpark. It's a complex of fields. So for our first year, that's where we're playing, and I'm, I'm hoping for years to come, you know, we can expand possibly into McLennan Community College Field or Baylors Field. You know, get these guys that are coming in to a, you know, bigger stadium, bigger, more professional feel, not just a complex. But then again, like I said, it's our first year, so I, we kind of want to get a feel for it before we, you know, jump into the biggest and bestest things, so. For sure. And I know obviously, again, it's just your first, uh, year coming up here, is there anything, uh, you kind of have in mind that you want to do at the ballpark as far as, like, kind of fun things that the fans can experience if they come out? Yeah. So we have kind of, like, event nights, but one thing that I really want to do is fireworks. Mm. You know, and, and, you know, these kids can come out, they can put blankets on the field or do whatever they wanna do, just relax and watch a nice fireworks show. That's one of my things that I really wanna do, 'cause myself, I love watching fireworks. Mm-hmm. So. For sure. Well, Johnny always likes to take questions, from me, so I'm gonna take one from him, him here. So, now obviously on-field success is gonna be, obviously really, kind of the main thing, but outside of the on-field success, at the end of the season, if we were to ask you again, what would you define as, uh, kind of a successful season for you guys? Yeah. So I mean, it's always nice to win, right? I mean, winning is one of the best things around. But if I have to look at success differently, I would really look at, are the fans having fun? Mm-hmm. You know, are we bringing in these kids with a face full of ice cream and, and they're enjoying the game of baseball? And that's what I would f- define as success then, because I want the families to come out and just be able to sit down with their kids, watch some baseball, and good baseball at that, and just enjoy themselves, so. For sure. Well, one of the things that obviously, um, you can't tell again yet since you haven't played yet, but I'd always be curious, we always like to find out who you think, uh, a rival of the Wranglers would be. So I don't know, do you think right now, just before you guys even get started, do you think more it'd be kind of regional teams, teams that are a little bit closer to you? Or is there anybody out there that you're kind of friends with and, uh, other teams that you're kind of hoping will be a fun rivalry for you guys this year? I'm really looking forward to playing the... There's two teams I'm looking forward to playing is the Denton Dillies. Oh, that's an awesome name. And, and the Tyler Knockouts. Those are two teams that, you know, I've kind of been looking at, and they're, they're getting some-- they're recruiting some really good players, and I'm, I'm really excited to go out and play those guys and see what we can do against some good teams, so. The Denton Dillies, so right up there, North Texas, UNT. Mm-hmm. Denton Dills, I love it. That's awesome. So yeah, really looking forward to following along with you guys this year. Uh, but Brett, one of the segments we do is the profit and the loss, and the profit's something you gained or earned. You know, it could be your time prepping for this first season with the Wranglers, or maybe favorite moment getting to watch, like, Josh Hamilton in the Home Run Derby. Any specific profit or gain you can think of? Yeah, probably, you know, sticking with the game of baseball. I played college baseball, and now that I'm leaving it, I still get to be in the game of baseball. I love the game of baseball, so that's just one profit, you know. Uh, I get to be in the game still, not, not on the field, but in a different manner, so. No, for sure. I love that answer. I appreciate you sharing that. How about the flip side, the loss? Any specific moment you can think of, maybe your playing career or the Rangers? Obviously, like I said, they had a little bit of s- success a couple years ago, uh, but obviously some heartbreak out there. Any specific loss you can think of? Yeah, we're gonna stick with that heartbreak manner. You know, I've, I've played-- where I played college baseball is up here in Illinois. It's right on the border of Missouri and St. Louis. And, you know, the Texas Ranger and the Cardinals, they don't have good history. For sure. And, you know, I, I can't-- I can never get out of my head from buddies up here saying, "We will see you tomorrow night," so. That David Freese hit is one of my worst, Yep, I kind of knew where you were going with that one there. So I have some family that lives, in O'Fallon, Illinois, so kind of right there on the St. Louis, eastern side of St. Louis on the Illinois side. So I get kind of in that area, and, uh, my son's, uh, in high school. He plays travel ball, and so they're gonna be playing in Springfield, Missouri this summer, and then we're gonna head over to a Cardinals game. And, they play- He's actually, I don't think, gonna make it 'cause he has another trip he's gonna do, but they actually play at a tournament at, TCU in Fort Worth. Mm-hmm. So if it ends up and he's able to go to that, I'd love to check out another Rangers game when I can. So, Brett, really appreciate you coming on. So if anybody wanted to follow along, do you have the website that people could go to? Yeah, so they can go to www.wacowoolywranglers.com and they can have, they can look at our schedule, they can see our, wins and losses, they can get tickets if they wanna come out, and even merch. Okay. So that would be the place to go. Yep. I know Johnny is big on the merch, as I, I am as well, so definitely looking forward to checking out all the merch that you guys have, 'cause like we said, it's such a fun name and logo. And then I'm assuming do you guys have social media that people can follow along as well? Yep, it's the same name, Waco Wooly Wranglers. You can go on Facebook and Instagram. I love it. Well, make sure you guys get out there. If you're in Texas, get a chance to go down to see them in Waco this summer or the, any future summer. Check out the Cowboy Collegiate League. Brett, really appreciate your time. And then make sure you guys just follow us as well. We're Earn Fun Average. Average is AVG. We're on Instagram, Twitter, BlueSky, and Threads, and really do appreciate it. Thank you so much, Brett. Hey, thank y'all for having me on. America, lower your standards. Average is what we do best.