ARLINGTON, Texas — To understand the pageantry and the passion and the emotion of 500,000 people or more lining the streets of Arlington on Friday, you have to stop and talk to people like Leah Jiminez from Ferris, who held a homemade sign over her head that said "Bochy 4 President."
"I love Bochy," Jiminez screamed as she waited for the victory parade to start.
Or, talk to Naomi Dodds, a true blue Rangers fan.
"Since 1972," she exclaimed.
Stephanie Hayes from Arlington described her emotions differently.
"Oh I'll be screaming my tush off," Hayes said from her parade-watching location just outside the southwest corner of Globe Life Field.
Or, stop and listen to the story of Beto Padilla from East Dallas.
"Everybody's family now," Padilla yelled as he led a cheering crowd of former-strangers-turned-Rangers-family at the Globe Life entrance where the Rangers on parade would first emerge.
He arrived to be first in line at his corner at 3 a.m.
"It's not even about me, honestly," he said. "It's about the whole city. We deserve this."
So, for an organization and its fan base that both deserve this long overdue day, passionate fans lined the 2-mile parade route to cheer on high school bands, even the Globe Life ground crew, followed by the Rangers players in individual pickup trucks with their families: the loudest cheers evident for Adolis Garcia, Corey Seager with his MVP trophy carefully secured on a pickup truck roof, and manager - and savior - Bruce Bochy with the World Series trophy firmly clutched in his veteran grip.
But in all this overflowing joy of a victory parade five decades in the making, we found just one problem.
Your photographer -- in this case, two-time NPPA Photographer of the Year Brandon Mowry -- should not wear his favorite St. Louis Cardinals baseball hat. We found that out the hard way. For the few of you who might not remember, the Cardinals beat the Rangers in their last World Series appearance in 2011.
As we discovered, the nerves, even among joyous Rangers fans, are still somewhat raw.
"He's a brave man wearing that hat right now," Jeff Deichert from Southlake told us while wearing his Rangers 2011 World Series hoodie. "My neighbor is a Cardinals fan, and even he felt bad for the Rangers that year. He came and gave me a big hug after the Rangers won the World Series."
But on a happy day like this, we found that even a Cardinals fan is invited into the victorious Rangers family.
"We welcome you with open arms," Kolby Galis of Arlington said. "But if you want a (Rangers) hat, I have one in the car."
A guy wearing the wrong hat wasn't about to ruin a joyful day like this.
"It's been a good party," said Stephanie Hayes of Arlington. "It should be the best party there ever was."
The best party there ever was, until, that is, the Rangers do it all over again.
