ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers are heading to the World Series. And don't worry, we won't tell anyone if you're just now hopping on the bandwagon.
Baseball is, after all, a very long season.
And the Rangers, before this season, didn't give North Texas sports fans much to cheer about over the last five or six years.
But now the club is on the brink of its first World Series title ever, and this will only be the Rangers' third appearance in the Fall Classic, and first since 2011.
So let's get you caught up to speed on the 2023 team, and the Rangers franchise as a whole...and let's do it with 51 things to know, in honor of the club's 51 years in Arlington.
We'll go through a few categories here, starting with the 2023 Rangers.
(Editor's note: Most of the stats and data below are from the always-invaluable Baseball Reference website).
The 2023 Texas Rangers
1. The 2023 Rangers went 90-72 and led the American League in runs (881), hits (1,470), average (.263) and were tied for first in homers (233).
2. This year's Rangers had 48 different players see action.
3. Of those 48 players, 29 were in their 20s, and 18 were in their 30s.
4. Evan Carter (21) is the youngest player to see action this year.
5. Max Scherzer (39) is the oldest player to see action this year.
6. Bruce Bochy, the Rangers manager, is 68, making him the second-oldest manager in baseball, behind the Astros' Dusty Baker (74).
7. Also noteworthy: Bochy has won three World Series titles, all with the San Francisco Giants, in 2010, 2012, and 2014. He also took the San Diego Padres to the World Series in 1998, losing to the Yankees.
8. Also, also noteworthy: Bochy has one of the largest heads in baseball history. His hat size is 8 1/8 inches. When he was a player and got traded, he'd bring his own batting helmet to his new team, since they likely didn't have one in his size.
9. Adolis Garcia led the Rangers in homers with 39 and RBI with 107.
10. Garcia's head is noteworthy, too. While his hat size is unknown, he has said that he got his "El Bombi" nickname from when he was a kid and other children thought his head looked like a light bulb, which, in Spanish, is "bombilla."
11. Garcia, who won the ALCS MVP for the Rangers, was acquired by the club in December 2019 for "cash considerations" from the St. Louis Cardinals. The Rangers later cut him, but brought him back after he cleared waivers.
12. Marcus Semien led the Rangers with 185 hits, 122 runs, 7.4 WAR, 4 triples, and 162 games played -- he didn't miss one.
13. Corey Seager led the Rangers with a .327 batting average, a .390 on-base percentage, a .623 slugging percentage, a 1.013 OPS, and a 170 OPS+. Seager also collected a team-high 42 doubles, despite missing 41 games.
14. Both Seager and Semien are paid handsomely for their efforts. They signed massive contracts with the Rangers before the 2022 season: Seager a 10-year, $325 million deal, and Semien a 7-year, $175 million deal.
15. Corey Seager's middle name is Drew. Marcus Semien's middle name is Andrew.
16. Speaking of money, the Rangers payroll was around $199 million entering the season, according to the Associated Press. Fangraphs has that number at around $214 million currently, putting the Rangers at eighth in MLB.
17. Max Scherzer is the highest-paid Rangers player on the roster, with a salary of $43 million.
18. Evan Carter, a rookie who was called up in September, is among the lowest-paid players on the roster, as the league minimum for rookies is $720,000.
19. Carter is playing like a high-paid star, though: He's reached base safely in all 12 of the Rangers' playoff games, an MLB record for a rookie. He's hitting .308 with 12 hits and nine walks.
20. Another rookie has starred for the Rangers, too: Third baseman Josh Jung. The 25-year-old was shooting for the AL Rookie of the Year before he got hurt in August, injuring his thumb. To that point, he was batting .274 with 22 homers and an .813 OPS.
21. Jung, who played college ball at Texas Tech, is one of five Texans on the Rangers right now. Cody Bradford, Grant Anderson, Robbie Grossman and Nathan Eovaldi are the others.
22. He doesn't have a bad nickname either: Jungle Cat. His last name is pronounced like Young, but his teammates seemed to have latched onto Jungle Cat. And he looks like one pouncing on groundballs at the hot corner.
23. The Rangers have had a notoriously bad bullpen in 2023, but their starters have been solid, led by Jordan Montgomery (2.79 ERA), Nathan Eovaldi (3.63 ERA), Dane Dunning (3.70 ERA), and Jon Gray (4.15 ERA).
24. And don't forget about Max Scherzer, known as "Mad Max." The three-time Cy Young Award winner was acquired by Texas at the trade deadline in July. An arm injury sidelined him for September, but he returned to the playoffs in Games 3 and 7 against the Astros. He was more solid in Game 7, going just 2.2 innings and allowing 2 runs, but showing good stuff and keeping the Rangers' early lead.
25. Jose Leclerc has been a bright spot in the bullpen, finishing 8 of the Rangers' 9 playoff wins this year. Leclerc signed with the Rangers as a 16-year-old in 2010. He made his debut in 2016 but later battled injuries and inconsistency before finding his footing in September.
26. Chris Young, a Dallas native who went to Highland Park, is the Rangers' general manager, a role he assumed in August 2022. Young, at 6-foot-10, was a 13-year pitcher in the big leagues who started his career with the Rangers.
27. Ray Davis is the Rangers' majority owner as the head of Rangers Baseball Express LLC, which took ownership of the club in 2010. He co-founded Energy Transfer Partners in the 1990s and ran the company until his retirement in 2007.
Rangers franchise history
28. The Rangers have not won a World Series title.
29. But they've had their chances: They've made three World Series appearances in 2010, 2011 and, now, 2023.
30. They've also had nine postseason appearances overall.
31. The Rangers won American League West division titles in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2015 and 2016. They made the playoffs through the Wild Card this year and in 2012.
32. The Rangers' last World Series game was Oct. 28, 2011, a 6-2 loss in Game 7 against the St. Louis Cardinals. Matt Harrison started for the Rangers, giving up three runs over four innings, and then Scott Feldman and Mike Adams gave up the remaining three. Texas got RBI doubles from Michael Young and Josh Hamilton, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Cardinals.
33. The Rangers have played in 12 World Series games total, all in 2010 and 2011. They are a combined 4-8 in those games.
34. The 2010 series saw them lose 4-1 to the San Francisco Giants, a team managed by Bruce Bochy.
35. The 2011 series brought the ultimate heartbreak for Texas, which had a 3-2 series lead heading into Game 6. The Rangers entered the bottom of the ninth inning with a 7-5 lead, but a David Freese triple beyond the glove of a leaping Nelson Cruz in right field sent the game to extra innings. Texas regained the lead, only to give it up again in the 11th, and again via Freese, who hit a walkoff homer to force Game 7.
36. The Rangers weren't always the Rangers: They were founded as the Washington Senators in 1961. The club then moved to Texas in 1972 and played at the old Arlington Stadium for 21 years.
37. Arlington Stadium eventually held a capacity of around 43,000 after several additions through the years.
38. The Rangers never made the playoffs while playing in Arlington Stadium, but it was host to several big moments, most involving Nolan Ryan. Ryan's seventh and final no-hitter happened at the stadium on May 1, 1991. It's also where Ryan delivered his famous beatdown of Robin Ventura in 1993.
39. The Rangers have had five MVP winners in their history, with one winning twice: Josh Hamilton (2010), Alex Rodriguez (2003), Ivan Rodriguez (1999), Juan Gonzalez (1998, 1997), and Jeff Burroughs (1974).
40. In the Rangers' three ALCS wins, the series MVP awards went to Adolis Garcia (2023), Nelson Cruz (2011) and Josh Hamilton (2010).
41. The Rangers have had eight Baseball Hall of Famers wear the jersey as a player: Nolan Ryan, Ivan Rodriguez, Gaylord Perry, Vladimir Guerrero, Fergie Jenkins, Rich "Goose" Gossage, Bert Blyleven, and Harold Baines. Adrian Beltre will join the club soon. Ted Williams, the legendary Hall of Fame hitter, was the Rangers' manager when they first moved to Texas. Whitey Herzog, the Hall of Fame manager, was the Rangers' manager for one season, in 1973.
Rangers ballpark, mascot and uniforms
42. The Rangers' Globe Life Field opened in 2020. It seats around 40,300, with room for standing-room only tickets.
43. Globe Life Field is on the smaller end of MLB stadium capacities, checking in at 22nd out of 30.
44. Globe Life Field has a retractable roof; when it's closed the ballpark temperature is kept in the mid-70s. And it's closed for most of the Rangers' home games, though the roof can be opened in 12 minutes.
45. Globe Life Field's playing field is a synthetic turf, with the traditional dirt surface in the infield.
46. Globe Life Field cost around $1.2 billion to build.
47. The new ballpark has already hosted World Series games, believe it or not. MLB held the 2020 World Series (and previous rounds) at Globe Life Field during the COVID-19 pandemic.
48. And the MVP of the World Series and National League Championship Series at Globe Life that year? Corey Seager, who hit a combined seven homers and drove in 16 runs in the two final rounds.
49. Seager clearly loves hitting at Globe Life Field: In 143 games in the ballpark, he's hitting .305 with an OPS of 1.001, and he's knocked 46 homers in that span.
50. Across the street from the new ballpark is the old ballpark, now known as Choctaw Stadium, where Texas played for 25 years, including when they hosted the World Series in 2010 and 2011.
51. Choctaw Stadium, often known as the Ballpark in Arlington, is still a functioning stadium that hosts high school and XFL football games.
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