How did Rangers rise from the dead to World Series? With classic Arlington toughness | Opinion

The Texas Rangers have taken their fans on a 2023 roller coaster trip worthy of the biggest, fastest rides at Six Flags Over Texas. The result is a chance to once again show off Arlington on baseball’s biggest stage.

This year’s team shares two significant qualities with its hometown: entrepreneurial spirit and resilience.

After several years as one of the worst teams in the league, Rangers management stepped up at just the right time. They combined a young core of talent with expensive star free agents, finally fielding a product worthy of a slick new stadium where you can watch a game without getting heatstroke.

Even when pitcher Jacob DeGrom turned out to be a bust, the Rangers doubled down, acquiring superstar Max Scherzer. He’s battled injuries, too, but he’s the kind of guy you can expect to see gritting his way through a tough win in the World Series.

Those are the kinds of investments, even risks, that took Arlington from sleepy suburb to booming economic powerhouse — and continue to pay dividends.

Several times this season, all seemed lost for this Rangers team. They led the American League West most of the year, only to see the division slip away in the final days after some brutal losing streaks. Then, though, they became road warriors, dispatching the league’s two best teams without breaking much of a sweat.

The championship series with rival Houston will go down as one of baseball’s most memorable. All seemed lost when the Rangers let pivotal Game 5 slip away at the hands of designated Astros villain Jose Altuve. But the Rangers rose up again at a moment when any analyst might have declared them dead, pounding the Astros twice in Houston.

Like their hometown, the Rangers are a lesson in spirit and indomitable will.

And like any team that captures our hearts, they have characters you couldn’t craft in Hollywood. Budding superstar Adolis García crushes baseballs. Grunting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi dominates in the biggest moments. Even manager Bruce Bochy seems right out of a script — the bowlegged wiseman who comes out of retirement to lead one last important roundup.

The Rangers-Astros showdown was fantastic for Texas baseball. For Rangers fans, it was cathartic. After years of watching the Astros dominate, the Rangers went all out to compete and saw it pay off.

Rangers fans had to wait seven years for just the chance and then the full seven games for the payoff. It was worth it.

Arlington, enjoy your moment in the spotlight, even when out-of-town announcers — and, inexplicably, one of our state’s own U.S. senators — throw the glory to Dallas as if city and county lines don’t exist.

Get ready to celebrate. We won’t jinx it by talking about where and when the big party should be. But there should be one, win or lose.

And heck, if the Rangers finally win the World Series after all these years, it’ll be so exciting, even Dallas should come along for the ride.

This story was originally published October 24, 2023 at 11:57 AM.