Texas Rangers Could Spoil the Oakland Athletics Party

ARLINGTON, Tex. — The Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics (2-1) Thursday night in the first of a 4-game series. This is the last series for the Texas Rangers this season. While the Athletics are needing to win at least two games to get a Wild Card spot.

Texas has gone 12-1 since September 12, and are 13-6 (.684) since Tim Bogar became interim skipper. The Texas Rangers, in the words of our very own John Phelan “Defy Basic Laws of Mankind,” which I am all for, especially if that means playing “spoiler” to the A’s chances at a postseason celebration.

Now, I am by no means wanting to jinx the Texas Rangers 2015 season (yes, I do believe in such a thing); instead, I’m looking for justice.

In case you are in need of a reminder, the Oakland Athletics swept the Texas Rangers in the final series of the 2012 regular season. The series loss forced the Rangers into 2nd place behind the A’s, and into a 1-game Wild Card elimination against the Baltimore Orioles. Texas fell to the Orioles 5-1, thus abruptly ending the season.

I happened to be in attendance during the 2012 series at O.Co, and the atmosphere was electric. For the few Texas Rangers fans in attendance were hanging on to every pitch and every at-bat hoping that the Rangers would somehow triumph over the Athletics.

Fast forward to this season and we find the Oakland Athletics in our home and needing to win the series. Although the Texas Rangers season is mathematically over the team is playing solid ball and could very easily make the A’s postseason run come to a screeching halt. The team is making Athletics fans hang on every pitch and every at-bat, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

I need to confess that I am not an Oakland Athletics hater. In all honesty, I never gave the team much thought until I moved here and went to the 2012 season-ending series. However, I do think that if the Rangers pull off this upset, it would definitely be justice served. We could call the score even and start fresh next season.

It isn’t so much that I want the Oakland Athletics to lose, I just want our Texas Rangers to win much more.