Texas Rangers’ title give us a glorious break from the world’s disasters and our divisions | Opinion
The world is a terrible place right now: The Israel-Hamas war has sparked rampant antisemitism in America and around the world like we haven’t seen in decades. Home mortgage rates are at a 20-year high and groceries are still expensive. We’re tired, anxious and cranky.
But thanks to the Rangers winning the World Series, everything can be different, at least for a moment. We can come together over this.
The constant in-fighting of American politics is often why Americans turn to sports, especially baseball. In a state where Friday Night Lights reigns, baseball — America’s favorite pastime and the purest sport that exists — doesn’t always get its due. Especially not the Rangers, who haven’t had a winning season since 2016 and never won a championship before Wednesday night.
Texas itself seems like it’s always in the hot seat because of politics, policies, or extreme weather. From being a MAGA base to the center of the southern border fiasco, to being America’s number one producer of oil and gun owners — there’s always something happening here that’s at least bit controversial.
But baseball, baseball we can get behind and baseball will bring us together, at least temporarily. It’s incredible to finally see the Rangers get their due after they’ve watched the big brother Houston Astros take the spotlight for several years, either reaching or winning World Series. A Rangers World Series win is overdue, to say the least.
Baseball almost never disappoints, even when your favorite team can’t win a championship for decades. There’s just nothing like the beauty of a baseball field, the smell of the grass, the beautiful sky above the stadium, and the taste of a warm hot dog and a cold beer.
Cheering at any game, let alone your home team — that’s something everyone can get behind. Baseball has been America’s pastime because it is uniquely our game and even though there’s dozens of teams nationwide, hearing a bat crack at the ball and seeing your favorite player slide across the plate, safe, feels the same whether you’re watching the Minnesota Twins or the Texas Rangers.
Walt Whitman said baseball will “relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set.” Wouldn’t that be amazing? Baseball won’t stop political infighting. It won’t set border security or immigration problems straight. It won’t stop war. But in a small way, by winning the World Series finally, after all this time, the Rangers have stopped those things in their tracks just for a minute.
For once, we can smile, laugh and celebrate together this hard-fought title. Tomorrow, who knows. But today, Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington and all of North Texas are one.
This story was originally published November 2, 2023 at 11:25 AM.
