SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Reliever C.J. Wilson appeared in 74 games for the Rangers in 2009. He was in 18 games on Thursday.

He was ahead of Michael Young. The Rangers third baseman was in just 10 games.

All going on simultaneously.

Not baseball. Words With Friends.

This is the latest rage sweeping through the Rangers' clubhouse this spring. It's an iPhone version of Scrabble, the famous and popular board game.

"It's a blast," Young said.

"I usually have 10 to 20 games going on at the same time," Wilson said.

It's not exactly the same game as Scrabble. You still get seven letters per turn and have to make a word from it, connecting it crossword-style to the words already on the board. But the board is configured differently, so it's much easier to get double- and triple-word scores.

"The same principles apply," pitcher Brandon McCarthy said.

But it's all played by iPhone, and you can play with anybody, anywhere. They don't have to be in the same room, and sometimes you can wait hours and even days before your opponent makes a move.

Young and McCarthy got this all started by playing Scrabble on the team plane last year. Then everybody found out about Words With Friends and suddenly the game caught the attention of many in the clubhouse, ranking a close second to golf -- real golf -- as the No. 1 Spring Training pastime.

The list of players now includes Ian Kinsler, Chris Ray, Taylor Teagarden, Darren O'Day, David Murphy and Doug Mathis. Minor League pitcher Michael Schlact and team masseuse Doug Cecil also play.

"It's one-on-one match play," Wilson said. "It would be cool if you could have a four-player game, but they don't have that."

The game is played at snail's pace, sometimes taking two or three days to play. Or longer. But you can have multiple games going at one time.

"Every time you get a free moment, you check your phone and play Words With Friends," McCarthy said.

"You can play it like when you are eating at a restaurant or sitting at a pool," Wilson said. "I will do it on the [stationary] bike when I'm doing cardio. But it's awesome when somebody is sitting at a locker playing you, and you send over a big move. You can look across and see their reaction."

Rumor has it that Wilson is pretty good, but not everybody is ready to concede that. Young and Ray are also pretty good, and McCarthy backs down to nobody.

"I don't think we have a clear winner yet," O'Day said.

"I think it's only a matter of time before we put more on the line in these games," Young said.

There is also some controversy brewing. In Scrabble, if you play an illegal word, the opponent can challenge and if successful, you lose your turn. Not here.

If you play an illegal word, the computer just rejects it and you don't lose your turn. You get to keep inputting words until you put in a legal word. So guys are free to try any and all strange combinations -- especially with high-point letters like Q and Z -- to get high-scoring words.

"Mathis is notorious for that," O'Day said.

"I've got a Scrabble board," McCarthy said. "I may have to bring it in and get a real Scrabble game going."