ARLINGTON -- In the summer of 1987, a catcher with the Macon Pirates and a pitcher with the Charleston Rainbows got together as part of a rumble during a Low-A South Atlantic League game.

A generation later, the combatants are together with the Rangers.

Doug Brocail, the Charleston pitcher, heads into his first season as pitching coach for manager Jeff Banister, the Macon catcher. Their relationship is based upon mutual respect, which began on that hot day in the Sally League, and a shared vision of the game.

"I didn't know him personally, but I knew what his fists felt like," Brocail said Wednesday during the club's minicamp at Globe Life Park. "That's how we met.

"Banny is going to challenge me on a daily basis. We all need to be challenged. I look at this as he is going to make me better. I want somebody to make me a better coach."

Banister and Brocail, who succeeds Mike Maddux, start their working relationship with much in common.

Like Banister, Brocail is physically imposing and energetic. Like Banister, Brocail has a commanding presence. The Rangers' dugout will be no place for a shrinking violet.

Banister and Brocail share one more important trait. Both want a staff that pitches inside.

"We're going to buy some real estate," said Brocail, who pitched that way during a 15-year major league career with four clubs, including the Rangers.

The subject came up with the young pitchers who assembled for this minicamp. It will be repeated throughout spring training. It likely will cause hard feelings at some point when opposing hitters get clipped.

Brocail can use one of his former pitchers as a teaching aid.

Brocail worked with Houston's pitchers in a variety of roles during the last six years. In the process, he impressed upon a young left-hander that he had to work inside with his 90-mph fastball.

Do that, Brocail said, and hitters will miss the stuff down and away more often than not. The hitter will have less of a chance at doing damage on the mistake pitch over the middle of the plate.

Live down and away while conceding the inner portion of the plate, Brocail preached, and the hitters will catch up to you. Hitters take big swings if they are not concerned about being jammed.

Dallas Keuchel listened and learned. Keuchel won the American League Cy Young last season, going 20-8 with a 2.48 ERA for a league-high 232 innings.

"Pitching inside is going to happen," Brocail said. "You have to have that mentality. If you throw 95, you can scare guys. If you throw 90, you still have to do it. I'm not asking you to pound guys and break ribs. I'm asking you to buy some real estate."

Throwing inside is part of the elemental struggle between pitchers and hitters. Banister calls it "the line of scrimmage" for baseball.

The Rangers have a better chance of winning that turf war, Brocail believes, by pitching inside. Make the hitter move his feet. Even better, make the hitter uncomfortable.

"Pitching inside is an art," Brocail said.

This is Brocail's second run as a major league pitching coach. The Astros threw him into the breach in 2011, replacing the fired Brad Arnsberg. Brocail spent 21/2 years on the job and went through the growing pains of young pitchers who helped Houston reach the playoffs last season.

In the last two years, Brocail worked as a special assistant to Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow and volunteered to take over as pitching coach with Double-A Corpus Christi when a need arose. The experience made Brocail a better coach, but he does not profess to have all the answers. Brocail will lean on bullpen coach Brad Holman, another newcomer to Banister's staff.

"I love it here," Brocail said. "It's the right place to be."

Right next to that guy from Macon.

Call their baseball brawl a draw that favored both men.

Mound experience

A look at the pitching coaches with the most career major league appearances:

Twitter: @gfraley