November 1, 2023: The Texas Rangers win the World Series. It caps the franchise's 63rd season, and its 52nd in the Dallas-Fort Worth "Metroplex."
The team began in 1961, as the Washington Senators, a replacement for the "Old Senators," who had just moved to become the Minnesota Twins. As a parody of a description of George Washington -- "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen" -- sportswriter Charles Dryden reflected the Old Senators' status as perennial losers by calling them, "Washington: First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League."
The "New Senators" were no better: In only 1 of their 11 seasons in the nation's capital did they finish above .500, in 1969, at 86-76. And only once, in 1967, did they get within 16 games of the Pennant. Given the fact that the Vietnam War and a great deal of inner strife was going on at the time, the city was now said to be last in war, last in peace, and last in the American League -- and, 3 times, in 1962, '63 and '68, they did, indeed, finish 10th and last in the single-Division AL.
After the 1971 season, they were moved to an expanded minor-league ballpark in Arlington, Texas, about halfway between the downtowns of Dallas and Forth Worth, and named for the State's famed law-enforcement agency, the Texas Rangers.
After losing 100 games in 1972 and 105 in '73, they finished 2nd in 1974, only 5 games behind the Oakland Athletics in the AL Western Division. They won 94 in 1977, and were 8 games behind the Kansas City Royals; 87 in 1978, 5 games behind the Royals; and 83 in 1979, 5 games behind the team then known as the California Angels. In the split-season format of 1981, they were a game and a half out in the 1st half of the season, and 4 1/2 out in the 2nd half, narrowly missing the Playoffs both times. In 1986, they won 87, and were 5 games behind the Angels.
They were rarely bad, but they were never quite good enough, and trailed both the NFL's Cowboys and, from 1980 onward, the NBA's Mavericks in North Texas pro sports popularity. Having to compete for attention with college football, in a State where that's treated as a quasi-religion, didn't help. Having Texas native Nolan Ryan on the mound 1 day out of 5 helped from 1989 until he retired in 1993, but nothing else seemed to work.
Arlington Stadium had been a minor-league ballpark from its 1965 opening through 1971, and it never lost that image. For the 1994 season, the Rangers opened a new stadium, larger and with featured that evoked classic ballparks from the Northeast and the Midwest, known for most of its existence as simply "The Ballpark" or "Rangers Ballpark."
That seemed to do the trick. In 1994, they had a 52-62 record when the Strike of '94 began, but they were in 1st place in the AL Western Division, making them, unofficially, the 1st MLB team to "finish" 1st in their Division with a losing record. In 1996, 1998 and 1999, they won the AL West, making the Playoffs for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd time -- but losing the AL Division Series to the New York Yankees each time.
For a few years, they struggled, just missing a Wild Card berth in 2004. In 2010, they finally won their 1st Pennant, in their 39th season in the Dallas area, their 50th season overall, and even beat the Yankees in the AL Championship Series. But they were swept in the World Series by the San Francisco Giants. In 2011, they won another Pennant. But they blew a 2-run lead in the 9th inning, and again in the 10th inning, in Game 6 of the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals -- doing in the 9th and the 10th what the Boston Red Sox famously did in the 10th in 1986. And the Cardinals won Game 7.
In 2012, the Rangers blew a big Division lead, and lost the AL Wild Card Game to the Baltimore Orioles. They just missed the Playoffs in 2013, and in both 2015 and '16, they won the Division but lost the ALDS to the Toronto Blue Jays.
In 2020, they were all set to move into a new retractable-roof stadium, to finally give their fans some protection from the oppressive Texas heat. But COVID hit, and while the stadium was chosen by MLB to host postseason games, including the World Series, as a protective "bubble," the Rangers weren't even close: Their 22-38 record worked out to a winning percentage of .367, which, if kept up for a full 162 games, would have been 59-103. They lost 102 in 2021 and 94 in '22. They were not expected to be a postseason factor in 2023.
But for 2023, they hired Bruce Bochy, who had managed the Giants to 3 World Series wins, and the San Diego Padres to a National League Pennant before that. They got a .327 season from former Los Angeles Dodger shortstop Corey Seager. They got 39 home runs from right fielder Adolis García, 33 from Seager, and 29 from 2nd baseman Marcus Semien. They got 107 RBIs from García, 100 from Semien, 96 from Seager, 95 from catcher Jonah Heim, and 82 from 1st baseman Nathaniel Lowe. And they got strong pitching from 2 New York Met castoffs who had won Cy Young Awards: Future Hall-of-Famer Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom; and 3 Yankee castoffs: Starters Nathan Eovaldi and Jordan Montgomery, and closer Aroldis Chapman.
They went 90-72, tying the Houston Astros (who had moved to the AL in 2013) for the AL West title. The Rangers had the tiebreaker, rendering the Rangers the 6th seed. MLB had gone to 6 Playoff seeds the year before, plus the COVID-forced season of 2020, and 5 in 2012. No 5th or 6th seed had ever won a World Series, so the odds were against the Rangers.
But they swept 2 Wild Card Games from the Tampa Bay Rays, and 3 ALDS games from the Orioles. In MLB's 1st All-Texas postseason series, the Astros won all 3 games in Arlington, but the Rangers won all 4 games in Houston, blowing the Astros out 11-4 in Game 7.
They faced the Arizona Diamondbacks in the World Series. García won Game 1 with a home run in the bottom of the 11th inning. Seager also hit a home run. The D-backs won Game 2, 9-1 to gain a split in Arlington.
In Game 3 at Chase Field in Phoenix, Seager hit a home run, and Jon Gray pitched superbly after relieving Scherzer, who left in the 4th inning with a back injury. The Rangers won, 3-1. Seager, Semien and Heim all homered in Game 4, and the Rangers won, 11-7. Evoaldi pitched 6 shutout innings in Game 5, and the Rangers scored 4 runs in the 9th, including a Semien home run, and, with a 5-0 win, the Rangers were World Champions for the 1st time. Seager was named the Series MVP.
This gave Dallas a clean sweep of the "Big Four" North American major league sports: The Cowboys had won 5 Super Bowls, starting in 1972; the Stars won the 1999 Stanley Cup; and the Mavericks won the 2011 NBA Championship. If you count soccer, FC Dallas have never won the MLS Cup (they lost the 2010 Final), but the Dallas Tornado won the 1971 North American Soccer League title.
UPDATE: The Rangers have a team Hall of Fame. From the 1970s, they have honored catcher Jim Sundberg, 3rd baseman Toby Harrah, left fielder Tom Grieve, pitcher Fergie Jenkins, and the team's founding father, Arlington Mayor Tom Vandergriff, who also served as a broadcaster.
From the 1980s, they have honored Sundberg, 3rd baseman Buddy Bell, right fielder Rubén Sierra, pitcher Charlie Hough, executive John Blake, public address announcer Chuck Morgan, and broadcasters Mark Holtz and Eric Nadel.
From the 1990s, they have honored Blake, Morgan, Holtz, Nadel; pitchers Nolan Ryan, Kenny Rogers, Jeff Russell, John Wetteland; catcher Iván Rodríguez, left fielder Rusty Greer, right fielder Juan González, manager Johnny Oates, team president Tom Schieffer, and Mayor Richard Greene of Arlington, who helped get their 1994-2019 ballpark built.
From their 2010 and 2010 Pennant winners, they have honored Blake, Morgan, Nadel, 2nd baseman Ian Kinsler, shortstop Elvis Andrus, shortstop-3rd baseman Michael Young, 3rd baseman Adrián Beltré, and left fielder Josh Hamilton. From their 2023 World Champions, so far, their only honorees have been Blake, Morgan and Nadel.
The Texas Sports Hall of Fame has inducted Sundberg, Ryan, Rodríguez, Young, Beltré, and 1970s scout Lee Ballanfant.
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November 1, 2023 was a Wednesday. Football was out of season. There were 13 games played in the NBA:
* The New York Knicks lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 95-89 at Madison Square Garden.
* The Brooklyn Nets beat the Miami Heat, 109-105 at the Kaseya Center in Miami.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Indiana Pacers, 155-104 at the TD Garden in Boston.
* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Washington Wizards, 130-121 at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
* The New Orleans Pelicans beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 110-106 at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Chicago Bulls, 114-105 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
* The Houston Rockets beat the Charlotte Hornets, 128-119 at the Toyota Center in Houston.
* The Toronto Raptors beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 130-111 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Detroit Pistons, 110-101 at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Denver Nuggets, 110-89 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
* The Utah Jazz beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 133-109 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
* The Golden State Warriors beat the Sacramento Kings, 102-101 at the Chase Center in San Francisco. (Despite being closer than most NBA opponents, neither team considers the other to be its arch-rival. Both teams consider that to be the Lakers.)
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat their tenants, the Los Angeles Clippers, 130-125 in overtime at the Crypto.com Arena. LeBron James led the Lakers with 35 points. For the Clippers, Kawhi Leonard led all scorers on the night with 38, and Paul George also had 35.
There were 4 games in the NHL:
* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-2 at the Wells Fargo Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.
* The Colorado Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-1 at the Ball Arena in Denver.
* The Dallas Stars beat the Calgary Flames, 4-3 at the Saddledome in Calgary.
* And the Anaheim Ducks beat the Arizona Coyotes, 4-3 at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Troy Terry scored the winning goal with 1:33 left in overtime.
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