Wednesday, October 27, 2010, is a day that forever rests in the hearts of many die-hard Texas Rangers fans across the country.
Not only did that date mark the first ever time that the Rangers played in the World Series in a road game against the San Francisco Giants who went on to win the World Series in five games, that date also marked a pinpoint of the Rangers rise to the national stage.
The message was then clear that this 90 win team who just knocked off the defending World Series Champions in the New York Yankees in six games was not a joke. Coming off winning the AL West for the first time since 1999 and initially defeating the 96-win Tampa Bay Rays in five games in the ALDS, many baseball fans in North Texas including myself were actually optimistic that our team had a legitimate chance to win it all.
Although I was just a 13-year-old kid in the eighth grade at the time of that historic night, my eyes glowed up with joy when I saw Michael Young warming up prior to the start of the ball game on Fox with Joe Buck behind the microphone yet again. I still thought to myself, “there’s no way that this is real-life television. Pinch me if you will.”
Well, I didn’t actually utter the latter part of that last statement, but one of my childhood baseball dreams had finally come true- my Texas Rangers are playing in the World Series. Unfortunately for myself and probably numerous other Rangers fans alike, Game 1 was one that was very excruciating to watch.
Game 1 featured two former Cy Young Award winners in Cliff Lee (TEX) and Tim Lincecum (SF). This duo had me hyped up as much as I was hyped up for the staring pitching duo in Game 1 of the 2018 World Series that featured Chris Sale (BOS) battling Clayton Kershaw (LAD).
From what I remember, the ball game was tied up at 2-2 until the bottom-of-the-fifth inning rolled around. That inning proved to be the end of Lee’s night, as the Giants scored an overwhelming six runs to take a commanding 8-2 lead.
The Giants went on to win with a final score of 11-7, but man, I sure was distraught with emotion.
I honestly believed that the Rangers could steal Game 1, or even Game 2. Just winning one game on the road in the Bay Area would have gotten me even pumped, but it just wasn’t meant to be. On the positive side though, I was elated to see the Rangers pull off a 4-2 victory in Game 3 in the Lone Star State, the team’s only win of the World Series and their first of the championship series played in front of their home fans.
We all know how devastating the following World Series was in 2011, in particular Game 6 in St. Louis against the Cardinals, but it’s not even worth going there.
Future disappointments in both the 2015 and 2016 ALDS came along as well, and that’s not what any fan would hope for. However, in my gut I think that the Rangers will win at least one World Series in my lifetime.
Fortunately, I’m only a 21-year-old college student finishing up my economics degree at DePaul University in the Windy City, so I’ve got plenty of time to remain optimistic. But one thing is for sure- I will be at the game, home or away, when the Texas Rangers do in fact win the World Series.
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