Daily Score: Gallardo

Coming up Sunday night at 10:40 on The Score, we introduce you to the newest Ranger: Fort Worth Trimble Tech's own Yovani Gallardo.

CBS 11 Sports photojournalist Bill Ellis does a great job of capturing the excitement of Trimble Techsters when they heard the news that the Rangers had traded for the 28-year-old Gallardo, who was the Brewers' 2nd round draft choice in 2004.

At the corner of West Dashwood and South Henderson on Fort Worth's Near Southside, about two miles from downtown, you'll find Yovani Gallardo Field. That's where scouts first discovered Gallardo, and where he keeps giving back to the community.

"When everybody heard he was coming home, oh my goodness, they're all talking about when are we going to go see him play, " said principal's secretary Alicea Guerrero. "It's going to be a sea of green, of Trimble Tech green."

Trimble Tech soccer coach Oscar Cruz was Gallardo's soccer coach his freshman and sophomore years. He knew he was losing a good soccer player the "first time I heard him pitch" in the spring of his sophomore year.

"First I heard it, and then I turned around...and it was him," Cruz said. "He was like a college pitcher. But then once I saw what he was pitching, I was like, whoa, that's way up there."

In eight big league seasons in Milwaukee, Gallardo has been the ace of the Brewers staff and made the all star team in 2010. He's known as a great competitor, which may be a direct result of his early baseball roots as a Trimble Tech Bulldog.

"Trimble Tech always has to fight for what we have, and we have to prove ourselves all the time," Guerrero said, "but we always come out shining. And that's just one of our stars right there."
________________________

Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux, who was Gallardo's first pitching coach in Milwaukee, was amazed at Gallardo's composure as a 21-year old rookie and says he's become a complete pitcher because he's developed his slider.

"When he first came up, it was fastball, curveball pretty much. He always had a little changeup," Maddux said. "I talked to him eight years ago and said, 'Yo, a slider would benefit you.' And, it's kind of hard to swallow when he's getting everybody out with a fastball and curveball. And, I said the slider's going to come into play for you.

"He has developed a slider and the changeup has gotten much better. So, he's a complete four pitch mix where, when I had him, he was pretty much two above average pitches that he had. So, he's kind of opened up his toolbox a little bit."