Mark Teixeira, who played his first four-plus seasons in the majors in Arlington, announced he is running for Texas’ 21st Congressional District in Central Texas.
ARLINGTON, Texas — A former Texas Rangers slugger is running for Congress.
Mark Teixeira, 45, who played his first four-plus seasons in the majors in Arlington, announced he is running for Texas’ 21st Congressional District in Central Texas. The district seat will be open after U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican, announced he won’t seek re-election in order to run for Texas Attorney General.
Teixeira, a Maryland native who now lives in the Austin area, said in a press release he’s “ready to fight for Texas families, conservative principles and the America First agenda.”
“It takes teamwork to win, and I’m ready to help defend President Trump’s America First agenda, Texas families, and individual liberty,” Teixeira said.
The 21st District covers a swath of Texas between Austin and San Antonio and areas to the west, including Kerrville and Fredericksburg.
While Teixeira played most of his career outside of Texas – most notably an eight-year run with the New York Yankees – he played a major role for the Rangers, in more ways than one. He was the club’s first-round draft pick in 2001 and was an instant contributor upon reaching the majors in 2003. Over his first four seasons, Teixeira slugged 140 homers and drove in 450 runs.
But his biggest contribution might have been his exit. Teixeira was traded to the Atlanta Braves at the 2007 trade deadline in exchange for Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, all four of whom were key players in helping the Rangers reach their first World Series in 2010.
Andrus became a longtime fixture at shortstop for the Rangers, playing 12 seasons for the club.
Teixeira retired in 2016 after a stellar 14-year career in which he hit 409 homers with a career on-base plus slugging percentage of .869. He won a World Series with the Yankees in 2009.