MY TEXAS RANGERS

"This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains."

The quote is from the movie Bull Durham

Spectacularly, the Texas Rangers' 2023 baseball season started off with a bang. Winning became the new normal. It's exciting to see the Rangers play. It has been fun, fabulous, and fantastic watching them win game after game.

However, dark ominous clouds are figuratively forming on the horizon. There are noticeable changes. For example, recently losing the series to the Yankees and the Red Sox, it's a bit disconcerting. When the pitcher allows home runs, I scream at the TV which doesn't help. Maybe, it does. When I scream, Bruce Bochy, manager of the Texas Rangers, walks onto the field and changes pitchers. Whether it is a coincidence or not, it's not up for debate.

Notably, five of the Texas Rangers will be participating in the MLB All-Stars Game. This has to be a first in the Ranger's history.

Hopefully, after the All-Stars break the Texas Rangers will be back on track by putting more games into the win column. Fans want to watch their team win! Right? Heck yes!

Unfortunately, twelve long years have elapsed since the Rangers played in the World Series Game. Thirteen years ago, we were able to cross an activity off our bucket list. That happened on the 1st of November 2010. On that day, we were able to score tickets for a World Series game. Recalling, the game was Monday evening game, and for six fast and furious innings, the game remained scoreless. When the Giants scored, my heart was broken. At the end of the game, the Giants won. The final score was 4 to 1. As you may know, the Giants won the World Series that year.

Unsurprisingly, our favorite television entertainment was watching sports programs and movies. Besides the Mavericks, we watched Texas Rangers baseball. Almost overnight, all the sports programs were gone. As time dragged on, we started to feel that we were never ever going to see the Texas Rangers on television again.

When our local cable service company no longer provided the local sports team's games, it was frustrating. It felt as if we were ostracized from the DFW sports teams. It was unsettling and dreadful. If memory serves me correctly, we signed up for cable for the movies and the local sports programs.

Experiencing a three-year span without our local teams' televised sports programs, we watched more movies and series. Then, last September, we dropped our local cable. Now, we have Direct TV streaming. We can watch all the local sports games.

Since March, I've familiarized myself with some of the names on the team's roster. It's a learning curve. Garcia and Lowe are two standouts on the 2023 team. The Rangers have four grand slams this year. On the 10th of April, Garcia came up to bat and hit a grand slam. It was awesome!

Other outfield players are Semien, Seager, and Jung. Three of the pitchers are Gray, Smith, and Dunning. Of course, there are more players on the roaster. By next year, should know all the players. Watching, Jung, Seager, and Semien hit a home run, it's fabulous. When they hit a double or triple home run, the thoughts of October and the World Series play in my mind.

It's a new year and a new chapter for the 2023 Rangers team. Hitting it out of the park, with home runs or small ball, the stats are looking good.

2023 Texas Rangers Statistics

"Record: 51-37-0, 1st place in AL_West (Schedule and Results)

Playoff Odds: 91.4% to make the postseason, 12.3% to win World Series

Manager: Bruce Bochy (51-37)

General Manager: Chris Young (Executive Vice President & GM)

Farm Director: Josh Bonifay

Scouting Director: Kip Fagg

Ballpark: Globe Life Field

Attendance: 1,334,566 (6th of 15)

Park Factors: (Over 100 favors batters, under 100 favors pitchers.)

Multi-year: Batting - 103, Pitching - 103

One-year: Batting - 107, Pitching - 104

Pythagorean W-L: 58-30, 519 Runs, 366 Runs Allowed"

Let's Go Rangers! Keep those wins coming! We're ready for another World Series.

Writer's notes: Thank you for reading my first story for the Cleats Community! You are appreciated!

https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TEX/2023.shtml

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Happy Trails.