Until Tuesday night, arguably the greatest moment in Texas Rangers history came when
Nolan Ryan held down Robin Ventura like a cowboy tying up an errant calf. Now that the team has won their first playoff series in their history, beating the Tampa Bay Rays in five games, and Ryan is the face of the franchise again.
The pitching legend reached his 300th win and his 5000th strikeout as a Ranger. And as team president and now part owner, Ryan is seen more than Conan O’Brien commercials on TBS these days, from Ryan being shown on TV rooting for his team, to the statue of the hurler at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.
That’s not surprising, though, given the legendary status
Nolan Ryan has in the State of Texas. I used to live in that state, and Ryan ranked up there with Roger Staubach and Earl Campbell as one of the most beloved sports figures. And Ryan was really the only baseball player you could say that about; not even Roger Clemens in his prime was as ever as iconic as the Ryan Express.
Native Texan Lance Berkman, the Houston Astro traded to the Yankees in July,
told ESPN earlier this week that he would be rooting for the Rangers in the ALDS because of Ryan:
“If you’re a kid growing up in Texas, you just love Nolan Ryan. That’s all there is to it,” Berkman said. “I love Nolan Ryan, so I’d love to see him have a little bit of success just for his sake. But as far as who we play, they’re both going to be really tough.”
This whole season for the Rangers is pretty improbable. You have Ron Washington, the team’s manager, confessing this spring to testing positive for cocaine. Then the team went through bankruptcy. Finally, Josh Hamilton, the team’s MVP candidate, missed most of the last month of the year. Yet the Rangers not only won their first division title since 1999, but now they’re going to face the New York Yankees in Texas’ first-ever ALCS appearance. Oh, and they beat the Bombers in the Cliff Lee trade sweepstakes.
As a former Texan, I wasn’t just surprised that that the Rangers put it together so well this year, but at how excited the state’s fans are about the team. After all, Texas is a state all about football. Yet the fans have embraced the Rangers, especially digging that whole “claw and antlers” thing. So what do all those hand gestures mean? From the
Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
Should a Texas player do something positive offensively he’ll acknowledge his feat with a “claw,” fingers slightly curled with his arm extended in a rising swoop. The “antlers” — hold both hands open above the ears to imitate a deer — come about after something speed-related.
Texas sports fans are big on the hand gestures, between the University of Texas’ “Hook ‘Em Horns” to Texas A&M “Gig ‘Em” thumb to the Baylor Bears’ hand claw. So it doesn’t shock me how much Rangers’ fans have taken to the new hand moves.
I was amazed, though, to see that around 400 Texas fans
showed up at Dallas-Love Field in the middle of the night to welcome their team home after they won the ALDS. Basketball coach Pat Riley called the first time a team makes it to the playoffs “the innocent climb.” The Rangers and their fans are enjoying that now, from the ginger ale
postgame celebration players did with Josh Hamilton, a recovering addict, to all the excitement that comes when a team first exceeds expectations. Even this Yankee fan can appreciate what the Rangers’ players and the fans are feeling right now.
The Rangers used to hope that Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira would bring them playoff success; starting Friday, they’ll be facing them and the Yankees in the ALCS. Given what Texas has already achieved this year, the Bombers ought not to take the Rangers lightly.
