SURPRISE, Ariz. — Dane Dunning is a humble guy.
But with a high-priced exclusive country club membership on the line, the Texas Rangers right-hander had to throw his best pitch.
Dunning, who lives in Charlotte, N.C., with his wife and young son during the offseason, made sure country club officials knew he was a World Series champion when applying for membership over the winter.
Typically, he said, it's not something he's quick to bring up in conversation.
"That was the only time," Dunning said. "My wife gets mad at me for that."
Did it work?
"I got a good rate. I don't know if it was a discounted rate, but it's a pretty exclusive course," he said. "There's not a ton of people that are members there."
Some of the members include former NBA player and father of Steph Curry, Del Curry, NFL receiver Adam Thielen, former MLB infielder Mark Reynolds, and ESPN personality Paul Finebaum.
"The list goes on, so at that place, it's kind of [necessary] have to have a couple of referrals to be able to get in."
The club is five minutes from Dunning's house.
"It worked out perfectly this offseason because it was cold, so no one was out there," he said. "I'd go workout, get back, probably 10:30 or 11 a.m., and then go hit the golf course, play a round, and get back by 1 p.m. And then I had the rest of the day hanging out with the wife and kiddo."
Quotables
"For me, the goal was not just one. The goal is to be a marquee franchise that can compete for championships year in, year out, and I'm not afraid to say that. I think it's important that we have high expectations and lofty goals. It's not going to happen every year, I understand. But there's no reason that our franchise can't be synonymous with excellence. And that's what we all hope to achieve." — Rangers GM Chris Young
Crowding the Plate
I'm a huge fan of Culver's, the Wisconsin-based burger and frozen custard chain. The closest one to my Fort Worth home is in Flower Mound, so I don't make it there very often. When I'm covering Rangers spring training in Surprise, however, I take full advantage of the Culver's on Bell Road, a few miles west of the club's Surprise Stadium complex. It was my first stop after a full day of Rangers coverage, and the place was hopping around 5 p.m.
For the uninitiated, Surprise, which is located in the far Northwest corner of the Phoenix metro area, is made up of several massive retirement villages. The elderly love them some Culver's. When I arrived on Wednesday, I had to wait for a parking spot to open up, and the drive-thru looked like a Whataburger at 2:30 a.m. on a Saturday.
It was worth the wait. I had a cod sandwich, which is a fancy name for a fried fish sandwich, along with onion rings and cheese curds. I topped it off with a vanilla frozen custard mixer with Butterfinger pieces, Culver's version of Blizzard.
It was all excellent, as always. I'll hit Culver's 10 more times (probably) while I'm out here, rotating between the Butterburger with cheese, Beef Pot Roast sandwich, North Atlantic Cod sandwich, the Northwoods Walleye sandwich and Pork Loin sandwich. Oh, and the fried shrimp dinner. It's all excellent, and that is why I consider it one of the best fast-food chains in the world.
There are four Culver's in the DFW area, including Flower Mound, The Colony, McKinney and Rockwall. They have, so far, ignored my pleas to open a Fort Worth location despite my guarantees that I'll personally make sure it's profitable.
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