later they moved to N. Texas because of a Mayor with a dream, Tom Vandergriff!
That move brought Major League Baseball to the Dallas/ Ft. Worth Metroplex, and to have TWO major sports in the area, the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, and the Texas Rangers!
51 YEARS later, after their arrival to the area, they hoist the Commissioners Trophy high above their heads!
There are so many names that come into our minds, that wore the Ranges uniform, that suffered the many years of losing records, then there was the first year that they won the Division and go up against the New York Yankees—1996 then again in 98 and 99, then wait another decade to win the America League Pennant in 2010 against those PINSTRIPES and the Yankees and the first trip to the World Series, again in 2011 and missing out in game six—to the St. , Cardinals, this team waited for 12 years to get back to that dance—and this time the walk off with the BIG BRASS RING!
Lets think about guys like Toby Harrah, Paul Linblad, Pete O’Brien, Al Oliver, Buddy Bell, Pete Incavilia, Ruben Serria, Bobby Witt, Chalie Hough, Jim Sundberg, Pudge Rodriguez, Will Clark, Mickey Tittleton, Dave Hostetller, David Clyde, Steve Beuchel, Rusty Greer, Kenny Rogers and then there are managers like Ted Williams, Frank Luccessi, Billy Martin, Doug Rader, Bobby Valentine, Buck Showalter, Ron Washington, Jeff Banister, Johnny Oates, and everyone that was ever a part of this franchise.
There are friends and family that have left this world without seeing this day come, one is my Dad, who taught me the game, and the love of the game, and the purpose of the game! My dad passed away in September 1980, but then there are those like my friends, Frank “Doc” Moorefield, Mike Young, Ted Nichols-Payne, David Crome, Judge Jonathan Hayes, Mark Holtz, Dick Reisenhoover, Joe Macko, and so many more that come to mind!
My first game inside ol Arlington Stadium with my Dad and four of my buddies on KIDS DAY against the Boston Red Sox, only to see them lose—but the fact is that game, that moment, instilled my love for the game!
They say there is no crying in baseball, I am here to tell you.. BULL!!!!!!!!!!! There are tears that streamed down my face in the bottom of the 9th inning, and with two outs, and watching the final out being made on a breaking ball from Josh Sborz and the final strike out! THE SHOCK through my body and the emotions of knowing that this moment is here finally and the joke of- “HELL HAS FINALLY FROZEN OVER” Since the Rangers won the World Series!
There now is a moment when you say—that DFW is a CITY OF CHAMPIONS they have now hit the Grand Slam of Champions—the Cowboys with Five Super Bowl Champions, the Dallas Mavericks with their Championship in 2011, the Dallas Stars with the Stanley Cup Championship in 1999 and NOW The Texas RANGER WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS 2023.
Consider the fact that other than Super Bowls, where those games are played on somewhat neutral ground… The Teams that call Dallas and the Metroplex home, the Dallas Stars won their Stanley Cup won their championship in Buffalo, the Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat in Miami, and now the Texas Rangers won their World Series in Phoenix. Like we said, the Cowboys won their Super Bowls in New Orleans (twice), Pasadena, Atlanta, and Tempe to bring home their Lombardi Trophies.
Being a fan and enjoying the parade, to celebrate the win by your team, but it sort of misses the mark of how this place would have exploded, if they were in the building and with that last strike out, sort of what happened in 2010 when Neftali Feliz struck Alex Rodriguez for the final out in the American League Championship at the old Globe Life Park, the eruption that was heard from that building of 50,000 plus was ear splitting! BUT OH—IT WAS WORTH IT!
We said it then that, 2010, that ALCS was the Rangers World Series, because they beat the Yankees and that monkey came off their backs, then the following year, they went back to the Series, and they lost to the Cardinals, as we said before, how sick it made us on that last out in game Six only to lose the next day, and the Cardinals secured their 11th Title.
2023, we said it at the beginning of the season when they opened up against the Philadelphia Phillies and walking around the stadium, speaking to players, and other media people, that this season had a special feel, and there was that moment when you meet the Manager Bruce Bochy on the side, shook his hand and introduced yourself to him, and said that what happened in 2010 is in the past, and see if he can bring that same magic to the Rangers.
Question—ANSWERED! LOUD AND CLEAR! WHY, YES HE CAN and DID!
So now we relish the win, celebrate the moment, and look forward to the next season and see if those who will be with this team come 2024 will produce another magical moment, and to steal from Baseball Hall of Fame Broadcaster, Eric Nadel “ WAKE UP RANGERS FANs—YOU’RE NOT DREAMING!” that phrase ranks up there with Chuck Coopersteins “The Mavericks have Planted their Flag on top of the NBA MOUNTAIN TOP”! same feeling to it!
If this was a dream, I don’t wish to wake up, and if I am awake, may I never sleep!
Just a thought!
