Former Stony Brook stars (and roommates) Travis Jankowski, Pat Cantwell reunited in MLB with Rangers
Texas outfielder Travis Jankowski and bullpen catcher Pat Cantwell, seen here before a game against the Mets at Citi Field on Tuesday, played together at Stony Brook through 2012 and are now together with the Rangers. Credit: Ed Murray
When former Mets outfielder Travis Jankowski was mulling whether to sign with the Rangers shortly before spring training, he told himself: If he for some reason, amid a career spent bouncing from organization to organization on little to no notice, he couldn’t fit into a clubhouse in which he didn’t know many people, at least “I can lean on Patty.”
Making friends hasn’t been a problem for Jankowski, but he has leaned on Patty — bullpen catcher Pat Cantwell — anyway.
Eleven years after they starred for the Stony Brook team that made the 2012 College World Series, they have enjoyed a major-league reunion this season with the Rangers, a surprise among the best teams in the American League.
Jankowski indeed signed that minor-league contract, won a job in spring training and has been among the Rangers’ regular outfielders, putting together perhaps the best season of his life at age 32. Cantwell, a native of West Islip, is in his third season as the Rangers’ bullpen catcher, helping the pitching and coaching staffs as necessary.
“It’s surreal, honestly,” Cantwell said Tuesday evening, standing next to Jankowski on the field at Citi Field before a game against the Mets. “Not many people get the opportunity, obviously, to work every day on this level with someone they went to college with. Travis makes it easy. He’s always keeping the mood light in the clubhouse. He’s just a good guy to be around, so I’m very blessed to spend so much time with him. It honestly feels like we’re right back at Stony Brook.”
Jankowski added: “Three years as teammates and two years living together makes for a pretty good bond. To carry that on to major-league baseball and all these cities has been really cool.”
Their college careers climaxed during that unlikely 2012 season, during which Jankowski led the country in hits, runs and triples and Cantwell was an All-America East first team catcher, but their bromance did not.
Jankowski got drafted in the first round by the Padres, Cantwell in the third by the Rangers. As they lived that minor-league vagabond lifestyle they stayed close the way college buddies do: via fantasy football and weddings (as well as occasionally playing against each other).
Jankowski now has played parts of nine seasons in the majors with six teams, including a stint with the Mets in 2022. With the Rangers, he is hitting .277 with a .365 OBP and 18 steals (and just one caught stealing). He’s been a frequent presence in leftfield and has enjoyed playing under manager Bruce Bochy, whom he compared to the Mets’ Buck Showalter.
“Kind of old-school managers who appreciate the old-school type of player, pre-analytics,” Jankowski said. “Both Buck and Boch put me in a good position to succeed. Just staying healthy this year has really helped me out . . . At 32, I’m not the youngest anymore, so they try to make sure my legs are good. I’ll take a day off here and there to have a good week after that.”
Cantwell played in the minors through 2019, but the pandemic caused the cancellation of the 2020 minor-league season, ending his playing career with it. At the start of 2021, he re-caught on with the Rangers in the bullpen catcher capacity.
They don’t live with each other in Texas — “I wish,” Jankowski said — but engage in a degree of chop-busting befitting old friends. They have a way of keeping each other honest.
When Cantwell, for example, noted that their 2012 team didn’t have a captain, Jankowski insisted: “He was the captain. He won’t say it. We didn’t have a title, but he was the captain. He ran the team.”
“It was a special time,” Cantwell said. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
Later, Cantwell revealed he is desperate for Jankowski to cut his long blond hair. Jankowski said Cantwell is just jealous (an accusation that Cantwell suggested holds some weight).
On and on it goes, from Stony Brook to the majors.
“Every day,” Cantwell said.
Jankowski said: “That’s how we know that we still like each other.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
