ARLINGTON, Texas — Screaming fans, popcorn, and a sea of red, blue, and white paraphernalia. These are the things that a Rangers fan expects to see when they step inside the Globe Life Field Arena.
To a true Rangers fan, it is more than just wins and losses, it’s about the history behind the team. While in the offseason, let’s dig into the history of the Texas Rangers.
The Rangers have been around for a long time but weren’t only known as the Rangers. The team was first discovered as an expansion to Washington DC.
In 1961 they were known as the Washington Senators, and after finishing last in their division three times they hired all-time great hitter Ted Williams as the manager who led them to their first winning season.
11 years later the team moved to Arlington, Texas, and became what we now know as the Texas Rangers.
Until 1993 Arlington stadium was known as the hottest stadium in the majors which made the Rangers play most of their games on the weekend at night.
Years ago the Rangers faced an attendance problem due to bad performance and extreme heat with temperatures rising to 100 degrees.
Yet Nolan Ryan, who’s a Hall of Fame pitcher brought the heat as well ending with 5,714 strikeouts, and when temperatures weren’t as bad he filled every seat.
While bringing in plenty of revenue they never had a problem spending it. Their new stadium was a total of 1.2 billion dollars after being in their old stadium for only 26 years.
The money spent is no shocker, in 2001 the Rangers paid 18-year-old Alex Rodriguez 252 million for a 10-year contract, the richest contract ever given to an athlete at that time.
Since being in Arlington the Rangers have now had three different stadiums including Globe Life Field which was built this year and hosted the World Series.
No irony there seeing that the Rangers have yet to win a World Series.
The Rangers have 2 American League pennants, sending them to the World Series back in 2010 and 2011.
2010 was the first time the Rangers advanced past the division series, defeating the Rays and winning their first pennant against the New York Yankees. This sent them to their first World Series.
Following the loss in the 2010 World Series against the San Francisco Giants, The Rangers fell short again in 2011 but this time to the St. Louis Cardinals. This Made them 1 of 6 organizations to never win a World Series.
The Rangers have 7 West division titles in which they had two 2 peats, in 2010/2011 and 2015/2016. After all of that, the Rangers have only had one wild card birth out of 8 Play-off appearances.
Although the Rangers organization took a while to get it together, they still hold the modern-day record for most runs scored in a game (30).
The Rangers have always had at least a few notable athletes from then until now.
Sammy Sosa who was known for his home runs, as well as the power hitter and shortstop Alex Rodriguez who hit nearly 700 home runs and has the fourth-most.
The Rangers are still making new fresh additions to the team with veterans and young guys to build a powerhouse and you hope to see it soon.
The future has been bright for the rangers following this past decade, and they look to improve even further
