Are The Texas Rangers Cursed?

Feb 17, 2014; Surprise, AZ, USA; Texas Rangers players stretch during team practice at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

It was a dark and stormy night (somewhere, but not there in St. Louis). The Texas Rangers had a 3-2 lead in the series and they were favored to win. Whenever a team is considered cursed, there is always a moment that the supposed curse began. I am not going to rehash that night, we all know what happened. The Texas Rangers wound up losing the game and the series, and they have not been the same since.

The Texas Rangers rotation stayed healthy in 2011, and that was one of the main reasons they were even in the World Series. They should have won the Series and been World Champions by all accounts, but they didn’t and I am at peace with that now (no I am not). Ever since that fateful night, things have not gone very well in the grand scheme of things for this franchise. The rotation has not been completely healthy since then, with Colby Lewis being lost for a year and a half during the 2012 season, Derek Holland going down to a virus that made him lose a bunch of weight and strength, Mike Napoli being injured for most of the season, Josh Hamilton and all of his weird issues culminating in the way he played in September of that season, Neftali Feliz needing Tommy John surgery. And all of those things are just 2012. The Rangers still had a chance to win the division, but failed to do so by having one of the worst Septembers in team history.

Then, in 2013, The Texas Rangers never had a healthy rotation, after Matt Harrison needed two back surgeries, Alexi Ogando could never stay healthy, all of their iconic players left, Derek Holland turned back into good Derek/bad Derek, they had to count on Nick Tepesch, Lance Berkman and Justin Grimm to carry the day for part of the season, and once again they melted down in September. This time, though, they went on an incredible seven game winning streak to end the season and extend it to a game 163. Then they lost game 163 and broke all of our hearts again.

We all know how things are going so far this spring training, and the baseball gods don’t even seem to be waiting for the season to start to attack the Texas Rangers in 2014, which brings me to the reason for this highly questionable article: are the Texas Rangers cursed? How much bad luck does a franchise have to endure before it is a legitimate question? How many years? Can it only be a storied franchise like the Cubs or the Red Sox? Is there criteria out there to help us figure this out? I am not sure, but I am starting to believe that they are, and I am not(ish) going to rest until I get to the bottom of this! Of course, if the Texas Rangers wind up having a good season and going deep into the post season, then I will probably forget all about my worries, won’t I. Let’s hope that if they are cursed, it doesn’t last as long as other baseball curses we have heard about in the past.