brought up to Philadelphia. On August 18, Elster had a four-RBI game against the Giants, and hit his first major league home run in almost five years off Chris Hook. On September 16, facing his former franchise for the first time in his career, Elster went 1-for-3 with a double, walk and two runs scored. Phillies manager Jim Fregosi also used Elster at third and first, the first time he had ever played a position other than short in his major league career. Texas Rangers and Pittsburgh Pirates In January , Elster signed with the Texas Rangers. Originally signed to serve as a backup to Benji Gil, Elster became the starter after an injury to Gil. He went on to have a career year, hitting a career high 24 home runs in a career high 596 plate appearances. 92 of his career high 99 RBIs came batting ninth, a major league record. He also had career highs in games (157), runs (79) and extra base hits (58) to earn the Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year award. He returned to the postseason for the first time since 1988, and was 4-for-12 with two runs scored in the 1996 American League Division Series against the Yankees. During the off-season, he signed a $1.65 million one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Batting fifth for the Bucs, Elster got off to a strong start. He went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored to lead his team to a 5–2 victory over the Giants in the season opener. On May 16, an injury once again ended Elster's season when he broke his wrist in a collision with Marlins second baseman Kurt Abbott on a sacrifice bunt. After the season, he re-signed with the Rangers. He was batting .232 with eight home runs and 37 RBIs when the Rangers acquired All-Star shortstop Royce Clayton from the Cardinals at the July 31 trade deadline, and released Elster. Elster chose to retire rather than try to sign with another team. Los Angeles Dodgers After sitting out the entire season, Elster was lured out of retirement by former Mets manager Davey Johnson, now managing the Dodgers. He won the starting job at short, and on April 11, , in the first game played at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco, Elster hit three home runs. Despite these early heroics, he eventually lost the