It’s a geographical rivalry thing, I’d guess, but I have never been a big fan of any Dallas sports team – hate the Cowboys. I followed the Stars for a while when they moved down from Minnesota, but otherwise I hardly pay any Dallas franchise any attention at all.
I’d been aware of individual Texas Ranger players - Mark Teixeira, Gaylord Perry, Pudge Rodriguez – over the years, and I knew when George W. Bush left to run for governor, but I just started to really notice the Rangers earlier this season when home-town-boy Nolan Ryan bought the team.
As a semi-fan, I was pleased with the outcome of last night’s game in Arlington.
As Richard Justice wrote in his Houston Chronicle article this morning:
Up is down, down is up and the meek have inherited the earth in major league baseball. The Rangers are the American League champions. Yes, this is the same franchise that didn't win a postseason series in its first 38 years.
Never mind the small payroll. Forget the no-name roster. Who cares if their baseball is ugly at times? Ugly can be beautiful.
None of those things mattered Friday night when the Rangers got eight gritty innings from Colby Lewis and three RBIs from Vladimir Guerrero on their way to a 6-1 elimination of the mighty Yankees in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series.
So, congratulations to Dallas, to the Rangers, and to the Ryan family – I hope you have better luck in the World Series than the Astros did. You can’t do any worse.
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