Texas Rangers (baseball)

• 1. Introduction

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  The Texas Rangers won their first World Series championship on the 1st of November, 2023, defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games. It took 62 years, two cities, nine playoff appearances, and two gut-wrenching World Series losses to get there. Along the way, the franchise that started as the Washington Senators endured losing seasons that averaged 90 losses, a bankruptcy filing, and a Game 6 defeat in 2011 when they were one strike away from the title twice. How did a team rooted in futility become a world champion? And what is the story of the city, the players, and the ownership battles that shaped one of baseball's most unlikely champions?

• 2. Washington Years

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  Frank Howard, an outfielder and first baseman who joined the Senators in 1965, was the lone bright spot in a decade of misery. He won two home run titles during his time in Washington, standing out on a team that lost roughly 90 games per season. A twist on an old joke circulated among fans: "Washington: first in war, first in peace and still last in the American League."

  The team had been created in 1961 to fill a void left by the original Washington Senators, who had departed for Minneapolis to become the Minnesota Twins. Major League Baseball had scrambled to expand a year earlier than planned, partly to fend off a rival proposed league and protect its antitrust exemption. The new Senators played their first season at old Griffith Stadium before moving into the new District of Columbia Stadium in 1962 on a ten-year lease.

  In 1969, Hall of Famer Ted Williams took over as manager and led the club to an 86-76 finish, the franchise's only winning record in Washington. That success proved temporary. Owner Bob Short had paid a reported $9.4 million for the team in late 1968, and mounting debt forced him into trades that weakened the roster. By the end of the 1970 season, Short issued an ultimatum: someone had to pay $12 million for the franchise, or he would not renew the stadium lease.

  Arlington, Texas, mayor Tom Vandergriff had been trying to land a major league team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex for over a decade. His offer included a multimillion-dollar down payment and a key asset: Turnpike Stadium, a 10,000-seat park built in 1965 to house a Double-A team. It had been constructed to MLB specifications, meaning only modest excavation would be required to make it major league ready. On the 21st of September 1971, American League owners voted 10-2 to approve the move.

• 3. A Chaotic Farewell

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  Thursday, the 30th of September 1971, was the last game the Senators ever played in Washington, and it ended in chaos. Thousands entered without paying after security guards left early, swelling the paid attendance of 14,460 to roughly 25,000. Fans unfurled a "SHORT STINKS" banner aimed at the departing owner.

  With two outs in the top of the ninth inning and the Senators leading 7-5, hundreds of youths stormed the field. One man grabbed first base and ran off with it. With only three bases left on the diamond and no security in sight, umpire crew chief Jim Honochick forfeited the game to the New York Yankees. Washington would go without Major League Baseball for 33 years, until the Montreal Expos relocated to become the Washington Nationals in 2005.

  The name chosen for the relocated franchise traced back to 1823. Stephen F. Austin had founded the Texas Rangers as a statewide law enforcement agency when Texas was still part of Mexico. That mythology later inspired fictional characters including The Lone Ranger and Walker, Texas Ranger, and it gave the Arlington club an identity tied to the state's frontier history.

• 4. Early Texas Years and a Breakout Season

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  the 15th of April 1972, brought the Rangers their first game in Arlington, a 1-0 loss to the California Angels, the same expansion class of 1961. The next day, they defeated the Angels 5-1 for the club's first win. Arlington Stadium, the upgraded Turnpike Stadium, became notorious for summer heat, with temperatures often topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit, making it one of the hottest venues in the majors until the Florida Marlins arrived in 1993. The Rangers responded by shifting most weekend games between May and September to night slots.

  The 1974 season produced a remarkable turnaround. After finishing last in both 1972 and 1973, the Rangers went 84-76 under a new ownership group led by Brad Corbett, finishing second in the AL West behind the Oakland Athletics. Ferguson Jenkins won 25 games, still the club record, and was named Comeback Player of the Year. Jeff Burroughs won the AL MVP award. Billy Martin took AL Manager of the Year honors. Mike Hargrove earned AL Rookie of the Year. The 1974 Rangers remain the only MLB team to post a winning season immediately after two consecutive 100-loss campaigns.

  Managing general partner Nolan Ryan arrived before the 1989 season at age 41 and proceeded to record his 5,000th strikeout, his 300th win, and his 6th and 7th no-hitters as a Ranger. Despite lineups featuring Juan González, Rubén Sierra, Julio Franco, and Rafael Palmeiro, manager Bobby Valentine never pushed the club past second place, and he was relieved of his duties during the 1992 season.

• 5. Bush, Bankruptcy, and the A-Rod Era

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  In April 1989, oil tycoon Eddie Chiles sold the Rangers to an investment group headed by George W. Bush for $89 million. Bush's own equity was $500,000, which he later increased to $600,000. He served as managing general partner and was a visible presence for the franchise, but left when he was elected Governor of Texas in 1994 and sold his stake in 1998.

  During Bush's tenure, the Rangers and the City of Arlington broke ground on the 30th of October 1991, on a new publicly funded stadium costing $193 million, financed through an Arlington sales tax increase. The facility opened in 1994 as The Ballpark in Arlington and was later renamed Choctaw Stadium.

  Venture capital billionaire Tom Hicks purchased the team for $250 million in 1998. Before the 2001 season, he signed shortstop Alex Rodriguez to a 10-year, $252 million contract, at the time the largest deal in baseball history. Rodriguez performed at a high level, but the team continued to struggle and finished last multiple seasons. After tensions between Rodriguez and club management, he was traded to the Yankees for second baseman Alfonso Soriano and infield prospect Joaquín Árias.

  Financial problems eventually overwhelmed Hicks. After defaulting on a $525 million loan, his sports group agreed to sell the Rangers to Pittsburgh sports lawyer Chuck Greenberg and club president Nolan Ryan for roughly $570 million, announced on the 22nd of January 2010. When one of Hicks's lenders challenged the deal, the Rangers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on May 24. At that point, the franchise carried an estimated debt of $575 million. Alex Rodriguez topped the list of unsecured creditors, with an estimated $24.9 million owed to him in back salary. A court-ordered public auction on August 4 resulted in Greenberg and Ryan's group winning the bid, with oil magnates Ray Davis and Bob R. Simpson paying the bulk of the $539 million sale price and becoming co-chairmen.

• 6. Back-to-Back Pennants

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  Jon Daniels, promoted to general manager in 2005 at 28 years and one month old and thus the youngest GM in major league history, had set a target of fielding a competitive team by 2010. After a sub-.500 April, the Rangers went 21-6 in June, the best month in franchise history, took the division lead, and never gave it back. They finished 90-72 and entered the postseason for the first time since 1999.

  In the 2010 American League Division Series, they defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2, marking the first postseason series victory in the entire 50-year history of the Rangers-Washington Senators franchise. Waiting in the Championship Series were the New York Yankees, the team that had eliminated the Rangers in three separate postseason appearances in the 1990s. Texas won the six-game ALCS to claim the first pennant in franchise history, and Josh Hamilton was named the first Ranger player ever to win the ALCS MVP award. The World Series against the San Francisco Giants ended in defeat, with the Rangers losing 4-1.

  In 2011, the Rangers defended their AL West title with a 96-66 record and set a home attendance record of 2,946,949. Nelson Cruz hit six home runs in the postseason, the most by any player in a single playoff run in MLB history. In Game 2 of the ALCS against the Detroit Tigers, Cruz became the first player in postseason history to win a game with a walk-off grand slam as Texas took it in 11 innings. The World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals reached seven games, with the Rangers twice coming one strike away from the championship in Game 6 before falling short.

• 7. The 2023 Championship Run

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  Three-time World Series winning manager Bruce Bochy was hired on the 21st of October 2022, as the Rangers emerged from six consecutive losing seasons. The front office also signed pitcher Jacob deGrom to a five-year, $185 million contract that offseason, along with pitchers Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney.

  The 2023 Rangers finished 90-72 but lost the AL West title to the Houston Astros on a tiebreaker. Marcus Semien played in every game the Rangers contested that season, the only player on the roster to do so, and became the fifth player in MLB history with at least 100 RBI batting in the leadoff spot. Six Rangers were named to the All-Star Game, a franchise record.

  In the postseason, the Rangers went 11-0 on the road, the most road wins by any team in a single postseason in MLB history. They swept the Tampa Bay Rays in two games in the wild card round, swept the Baltimore Orioles in three games in the Division Series, then beat the defending champion Houston Astros in seven games in the ALCS. Nathan Eovaldi matched the record for wins by a pitcher in a single postseason with five. Adolis García won the ALCS MVP award. On November 1, Corey Seager drove the championship home as the Rangers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games in the World Series, and Seager became the first Ranger ever to win the World Series MVP award.

  The franchise that had entered the 2010 postseason as the only MLB team never to have advanced past the first round had, within 13 years, become a world champion. The club's mascot, Rangers Captain, a palomino horse introduced in 2002 and wearing uniform number 72 in honor of the team's first season in Arlington, was on hand to celebrate.