This year, the Major League Baseball playoffs shocked the nation as upsets were a common occurrence. One team in particular proved that the favorites don’t always win the biggest games. The Texas Rangers took the American League by storm in the playoffs. They ended the regular season 90-72 (not shabby to say the least). However, they finished second in the American League West, finishing just behind the Houston Astros. The Rangers had a big three of bats that led to a lot of offensive production during the regular season: Corey Seager batting .327 with 75 extra base hits, Marcus Semien scoring 122 runs and amassing a .413 on-base percentage, and Adolis Garcia leading the power of the team with 39 home runs and 107 RBIs. On the pitching side, Dane Dunning was their ace during the regular season, posting 12 wins and a 3.7 ERA. Their bullpen was also solid, led by Jose Leclerc. The rest of their staff was not highly respected across the league and overall, their offense propelled them to victory in many cases. The big question was: Would the offense step up enough to take the Rangers far in the playoffs?
Heading into the playoffs, the Rangers were projected to be knocked out early as they had to play the Tampa Bay Rays in the best-out-of-three wildcard series. However, the Rangers had other plans in mind. The Texas team blew out the Rays in back-to-back games, winning 4-0 and then 7-1. This was a minor upset but gave the team a lot of momentum heading into Baltimore to play the American League East-leading Orioles. The Orioles were a sleeper pick to win the World Series by many people so the Rangers had a heavy task ahead of them. This best-of-five series was supposed to be even tougher as the Rangers pitching staff would have to compete for an extended period. The Rangers took the first game from the Orioles, winning 3-2 in a tight game. The public predicted an Orioles win in game 2 but were shocked again as the Rangers went on to win 11-8 and complete the sweep by winning 7-1 in game three.
Heading into the American League Championship Series, the Texas Rangers were set to face off against the Houston Astros, the defending World Series champions. The majority of the country acknowledged the Rangers’ run through the playoffs but completely wrote them off against the Astros as they were outmatched on paper. The Rangers saw the public’s predictions and used it as fuel as they traveled to Houston for game one. This best-of-seven series gave the spectators some of the most entertaining baseball seen this year. The Rangers won the first two games of the series, allowing their manager Bruce Bochy to feel good about their chances as they headed back to their home field for the next three games. The Astros were not going to go out without a fight though, and they won all three games on the road. The Rangers fans were dumbfounded as their 2-0 lead turned into a 3-2 deficit.
Game 6 was back in Houston and the Astros were looking to end the Rangers’ Cinderella story. Minute Maid Park in Houston was filled with excitement as the Astro fans were ready for their team to punch a ticket to the World Series, just like they had last year. The Ranger bats came out firing in game 6, winning the game 9-2 and scoring five runs in the ninth inning. Game 7 stayed in Houston and the entire country turned their eyes to the Texas showdown. Corey Seager and Adolis Garcia decided that they would do everything in their power to keep their season going. Seager started off the game with a first inning home run and followed that up with two hits, one of them being a double. Garcia had an amazing day at the plate, getting four hits in his five at-bats, with two home runs and five RBIs. The Texas Rangers won the battle by a convincing margin, beating the Houston Astros 11-4 to send the Rangers to the World Series.
In the World Series the Texas Rangers faced off against the other Cinderella story, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Many people thought that this World Series would be extremely boring as there were no powerhouse teams involved; however, that idea is odd because in March Madness (when there are low seeds who make it far), everyone seems to love them. Anyways, the story of this World Series was which underdog would end the grueling season on a victory. Game one of the series did not disappoint. As the Rangers were down 5-3 going into the ninth inning, the home Texas fans rallied around their team, propelling the Southern squad to come back and win 6-5 in 11 innings, as Adolis Garca hit a walkoff homerun to take a one game lead in the series.
The next night game two took place, although it did not go very well for the Rangers. The Diamondbacks came out hot with their bats and solid arms leading to a 9-1 victory to tie the series, heading back to Arizona for a homestand. The next three games would be in Diamondback territory but as the whole postseason had been going, the Rangers did not rely on home field advantage to walk out with victories. The Rangers won three consecutive road games to end the series, winning 4-1. The Texas Rangers postseason will certainly go down in history as they won every single road game through the entirety of the playoffs.
While they certainly had many doubters throughout the year, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Adolis Garcia and the rest of the squad proved all the haters wrong and shocked the world as they came out World Series victors. All of the hard work paid off as they revealed that everything truly is bigger in Texas. However, will the Rangers be the World Series favorites next year? No. Although, no matter what anyone projects, no one can take away the joy and satisfaction that all the members of the Rangers team feel after proving to the nation that they belonged.
