Welcome to the newest Rangers playoff bandwagon members! The Texas Rangers recently won their first playoffs series in twelve years. The last time the Rangers were a team worth watching was under the Obama administration, so we have a lot of catching up to do.
That’s accurate! The Rangers’ most recent winning season was in 2016. As a matter of fact, the Rangers have only won 39% of their games during the worst three-year span in their fifty-year existence entering this season. Longtime Rangers president and general manager Jon Daniels was fired as a result of it last year.
The opposing Houston Astros, on the other hand, participated in six consecutive ALCS and four World Series, earning two World Championships, and won six American League West Division crowns.
Furthermore, a cable television distribution issue that began in 2020 and has not been resolved has prevented many devoted baseball fans from watching Rangers games on Bally Sports Southwest during the past three years.
Here’s the good news, though! The Rangers have returned to the postseason at last! Additionally, everyone will be able to watch the games on television thanks to the major networks!
Thus, there’s a lot about the Rangers baseball team that we baseball dummies need to study.
Ray Davis is the majority owner. Who You Should Know
The Rangers Owner’s name is unknown to even the most ardent supporters of the team. When it comes to TV cameras, Davis is more timid than Jerry Jones and Mark Cuban.
When former Rangers owner Tom Hicks went bankrupt in 2010, Davis formed a firm named Rangers Baseball Express that submitted the winning auction offer of $593 million in bankruptcy court.
Davis, who made his money in the petroleum industry, spent mega-millions on free agents this season to turn around the Rangers’ fortunes. He was so tired of losing that in December 2021, he spent half a billion dollars to sign second baseman Marcus Semien (seven years, $175 million) and shortstop Corey Seager (10 years, $325 million).
During the previous winter, Davis heavily invested in starting pitchers, guaranteeing salaries totaling over $260 million for four pitchers: Nathan Eovaldi (two years, $34 million), Andrew Heaney (two years, $25 million), and Martin Perez (one year, $19.7 million). Jacob deGrom (five years, $185 million) was lost for the season after just one month due to Tommy John surgery.
Manager in charge Chris Young
Young, 44, of Highland Park, pitched in the major leagues for 14 years, spending 2004–05 with the Rangers. Everyone addresses him as “C. Y.” How come? Since that’s how baseball fans behave.
Together with K.C., C.Y. won a World Series ring in 2015. He is the second tallest player in major league baseball history at six feet ten inches. He played basketball and baseball for Princeton University and was an All-Ivy Leaguer. Cate, his daughter, plays basketball at Highland Park High School and is the president of her sophomore class.
Superintendent Bruce Bochy
Bruce Bochy, 68, was enticed to travel to Texas to manage this team by Chris Young, who had him come out of retirement in Nashville.
As the San Francisco Giants’ manager, Bochy won three world titles, one of which came from a victory over the Rangers in 2010. Right present, he stands as baseball’s tenth-winningest manager in history.
Bochy, who wore an 8 1/4-size batting helmet during his playing career, is also regarded as having the largest skull in baseball history. He has hit 26 home runs in his career, including a walk-off round-tripper against Rangers great Nolan Ryan in 1985.
The ultimate shortstop Ingrid Seager
When postseason games were played in Arlington in 2020 because to the epidemic, Seager led the Los Angeles Dodgers to a World Series championship and won MVP awards in both the National League Championship Series and the World Series.
He also had MVP-caliber performances this season, setting a career high.33 home runs, 42 doubles, a league-high 42 RBIs, and 96 runs batted in while missing 43 games due to injury.
Star-caliber second baseman Semien Marcus
Semien, the 33-year-old Ironman of the Rangers lineup, began all 162 games of this season at second base and batted leadoff. With 185 hits and 122 runs scored, he was the league leader.
Outfielder Adolis Garcia, an All-Star
The 30-year-old Garcia, a native of Cuba, led the team with 106 RBIs this season and slugged 39 home runs, a career high. He shocked the baseball world in 2021 when he emerged as an All-Star outfielder that season, just four months after the Rangers cut him from their major league roster only to re-sign him to a minor league contract.
MVP-caliber third baseman Jung Josh
The last name is pronounced “Young,” as in one of baseball’s top rookies. The Texas Tech native, who is 25 years old, was selected by the Rangers in the first round of the 2019 MLB Draft and is the front-runner to win American League Rookie of the Year next month.
Outfielder Evan Carter, a rookie
Nobody could have predicted even a month ago that Evan Carter would make it to the majors this season. But on Sept. 8, just over a week after his 21st birthday, Carter got the call, and he may be the primary reason this team earned a playoff spot.
Carter was born in Elizabethton, Tennessee, the same place that gave birth to Jason Witten, a former Dallas Cowboy. In 25 big league games, he is hitting .333 with six homers, six doubles, a triple and 14 RBIs.
Jordan Montgomery, the starting pitcher
Acquired in a trade with St. Louis on July 30, all of a sudden, Montgomery has become the hottest pitcher in baseball. After shutting out Tampa Bay over seven innings in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, he’s allowed just two runs in 34 innings, an earned run average of 0.53 in his last five starts.
Pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, an All-Star
Eovaldi was pitching as well as any pitcher in the league in the first half of the season, going 10-3 with a 2.64 ERA. However, a strained right forearm in July put him on the shelf for six weeks. He finally appeared to regain his form in the Wild Card Series win over the Rays. A healthy Eovaldi might be the key to the Rangers making a deep playoff run.
Rangers phrases you need to know”It’s Baseball Time in Texas”
That’s the greeting Rangers Hall of Fame public address announcer Chuck Morgan delivers when he welcomes fans to Globe Life Field.
“That Ball is History!!!”
That’s the signature home run call of Rangers Hall of Fame radio broadcaster Eric Nadel.
“Hello Win Column!!!”
That was the signature victory call exclaimed by the late, great Rangers Hall of Fame broadcaster Mark Holtz, who passed away in 1997. The call lives on to this day as it is displayed on the Globe Life Field video boards every time the Rangers win a game.
Globe Life Field’s Unique Outfield DimensionsLeft-field foul pole: 329 feet (Adrian Beltre wore Number 29)
Left-field seats: 334 feet (Nolan Ryan wore Number 34)
Left-center field: 372 feet (Franchise’s 1st season: 1972)
Home & Visitors Bullpens: (Michael Young & Jim Sundberg wore Number 10) Center-field: 407 feet (Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez wore Number 7)
Right-Center Field: 374 feet (Franchise’s 1st winning season: 1974)
Right-field foul pole: 326 feet (Johnny Oates wore Number 26)
Distance behind home plate: 42 feet (Jackie Robinson wore Number 42)
Rangers Postseason HistoryOct 1, 1996 — Rangers won their 1st playoff game as John Burkett went the distance on the mound and Juan Gonzalez slugged a 3-run homer in a 6-2 win at Yankee Stadium.
1996 — The Rangers won their first American League West title in their 25th season in Arlington … lost Division Series in four games to World Champion Yankees.
1998 — Rangers won their second division title but scored just one run and got swept in the Division Series by the World Champion Yankees by scores of 2-0, 3-1, and 4-0.
1999 — Rangers won 95 games and won the AL West for the third time in four years, but, once again, scored just one run in the Division Series, losing to the World Champion Yankees 8-0, 3-1, and 3-0,
2010 — Rangers won 90 games and their fourth division title … Pitcher Cliff Lee was masterful on the mound, winning two games over Tampa Bay in the Division Series, including the decisive Game 5 … Closer Neftali Feliz caught Alex Rodriguez looking at a called strike three for the final out in the deciding Game 6 of the ALCS, setting off a wild, emotional celebration as the Rangers won their first American League pennant in front of the home crowd in Arlington … Rangers lost to Bruce Bochy and the Giants, 4-1, in the World Series.
2011 — Rangers won a club record 96 games and their fifth division title … Adrian Beltre hit three home runs as the Rangers beat Tampa Bay, 4-3, in the decisive ALDS Game 4 at Tropicana Field … Michael Young drove in five runs as the Rangers exploded for nine runs in the third inning of Game 6 to beat Detroit and win their second straight American League pennant … in World Series Game 6 in St. Louis, ALCS MVP Nellie Cruz mis-played a ninth inning, two-out fly ball off the bat of David Freese that turned what would have been the final out into a game tying two-run triple; Josh Hamilton gave the Rangers a 9-7 lead with a 10th inning homer but the Cardinals scored two in the 10th to tie and Freese hit an 11th inning walk-off homer to win the game, 10-9 … Freese was named World Series MVP after hitting a game tying two-run double as St. Louis won Game 7, 6-2.
2012 — Yu Darvish and the Rangers lost a one game Wild Card playoff to Baltimore, 6-1, in Arlington.
2015 — Rangers won their sixth division title but lost the Division Series in Game 5 in Toronto when Elvis Andrus and Mitch Moreland committed errors to start the seventh inning, opening the door for Jose Bautista’s go-ahead three-run homer in a 6-3 Blue Jays win.
2016 — Rangers won 95 games and their seventh division title but Toronto swept the Division Series.
2023 — Rangers won 90 games and tied for first place, but the Astros won the division on a tiebreaker … Jordan Montgomery and Nathan Eovaldi combined to shut out Tampa Bay for 13 innings and the Rangers swept the best of three Wild Card Series by scores of 4-0 and 7-1, their fifth postseason series win and first since 2011.