5 Best Moments in Texas Rangers History

Number 4: Adrian Beltre hits number 3,000

Adrian Beltre is not a homegrown product. He was adopted into the Texas Rangers family in 2011 and fans came to love him as if he was drafted and developed by the team. He was signed in 2011 after the Rangers failed to come to an agreement with Cliff Lee following his stellar run leading the Rangers to the World Series.

The Rangers pivoted and turned their attention to Beltre. They were able to convince him to sign in Texas rather than back in Los Angeles with the Angels. The Rangers signed him to a 5 year/$80 million dollar contract with a sixth year option worth $16 million.

He earned every penny of that contract as he became the best third baseman in Texas Rangers history. He became a team leader, a Gold Glove defender, and a multiple time all-star. He continued to rack up hits every season. He had over 150 hits every season from 2012-2017. As he continued to do that he got closer to the 3,000 hit milestone.

The team started a countdown in the summer of 2017 as he got closer. He got closer throughout the month of July. July 30th came and he was one hit away. That day also coincided with Rangers legend Pudge Rodriguez being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Rangers were playing that afternoon against the Baltimore Orioles when this happened.

It just so happened at that at around the same time this was happening Pudge was giving his Hall-of-Fame speech. Pudge became the second Ranger inducted into the Hall of Fame joining Nolan Ryan. Soon Adrian Beltre will become the 3rd player inducted as a Ranger.

Number 3: Nolan's 7th No-Hitter

Nolan Ryan was already a legend prior to this night. This game did nothing to add or take away from his status as a future Hall-of-Famer. He already had the record for no-hitters in a career with six. It was 1991 and he was in his mid-40s on this night. Here he was again putting zeroes up across the board against a powerful Toronto Blue Jays lineup. It was a home game that fans who were there will never forget.

He was dominant that night as he had a strikeout in every inning and had multiple strikeouts in six of the nine innings. He took the no-hitter and 15 strikeouts into the 9th inning. He got Manuel Lee and Devon White to ground out. It came down to Roberto Alomar to try and break the no-hitter up and give the Blue Jays a shot to comeback from a 3-0 deficit. This was the final pitch as called by the Blue Jay announcers since the Texas Rangers did not broadcast this game on television

Ryan would complete the no-hitter that would be the last one of his career. He would go down as the best power pitcher of all time establishing several records that will never be broken including the record of seven no-hitters.

Number 2: Nolan's 5,000 strikeout

Ryan was going for a number that many people thought impossible. He was on the doorstep of 5,000 strikeouts. He already had passed Walter Johnson for the career record back in 1983. Six years later he was now going for number 5,000. Much like the seventh no-hitter it worked out that this game was in Arlington.

The Rangers were facing the Oakland A's on August 22nd, 1989. The defending AL Champions came into Arlington with a 76-49 record and were on their way to their second consecutive World Series that year. Ryan needed six strikeouts to get to 5,000. He got it started with one in the first, two in the second, and two in the third. He sat on five strikeouts through the fourth inning. Then Rickey Henderson, who had a double and a strikeout, came up to lead off the fifth inning.

Ryan would go on to strikeout 13 on the night. He ended his career in 1993 with 5,714 strikeouts. It is one of baseball's unbreakable records. It is so high that if there was no video proof, people would be saying it did not happen. It did and it happened in a Rangers uniform. That is the uniform he would be inducted into the Hall-of-Fame in 1999.

Number 1: Feliz Strikes out Alex Rodriguez

This is a moment that was years and decades in the making. The Yankees have tormented the Texas Rangers since 1995. The Rangers made the playoff three times in the 1990s. They were rewarded with series against a Yankees team that would be a dynasty that reigned from 1996-2000. Winning World Series in 1996,1998,1999, and 2000. In 1996, 1998, and 1999 they began World Series runs by beating the Rangers. The Yankees beat the Rangers in 9 of the 10 playoff games.

The Rangers decided to shake things up after 1999. They started by trading Juan Gonzalez. Then in December of 2000 they signed Alex Rodriguez to a record-setting 10 year/$252 million contract. After three seasons and no playoff appearances, they traded Rodriguez to the New York Yankees. Rodriguez would go on to finally win his first World Series in 2009.

The 2010 season the Rangers were once again competitive. They outbid the Yankees for Cliff Lee in July 2010. The Rangers won their first division title since 1999. They beat the Tampa Bay Rays in a competitive five game AL Division Series. That setup an AL Championship series matchup between the Texas Rangers and the New York Yankees.

The Rangers had lost the previous 9 playoff games against the Yankees. They jumped out to an early lead in game 1 and looked like they would break that losing streak. They were up 5-1 in the 8th inning. Then a bullpen meltdown occured. CJ Wilson pitched to two batters, Darren Oliver faced 2 batters, Darren O'Day faced 1 batters, and Clay Rapada faced one batter and none of them were retired. The Yankees quickly scored 5 runs to go ahead 6-5 and would hold onto that lead and win game 1 and extend their winning streak to 10 playoff games.

The Rangers faced a must-win game 2 and did so. They won the first two in Yankee Stadium and lost game 5. The team came back to Arlington one win away from their first World Series appearance in team history. It was a sellout crowd, standing room only on that October night. Colby Lewis started and pitched the game of his life as he went eight innings, giving up only one run, striking out seven. He left with the score 6-1 and the Rangers were three outs away from a World Series.

Ron Washington brought in Neftali Feliz to close it out. He was part of the Mark Teixeira trade that was made in July 2007 which helped rebuild this team and helped them get to this point. Feliz would be facing Curtis Granderson, Robinson Cano, and Alex Rodriguez. He struck out Granderson swinging and forced Cano into a groundout. That brought former Ranger Alex Rodriguez to the plate. The crowd was as loud as it has ever been. That is when this happened.

It is a moment that will live forever. Forgotten will be that the Rangers lost that World Series. Forgotten will be that Feliz did not have a long career in Texas. What will be remembered forever by Ranger fans is where they were when Feliz dropped that curveball on Rodriguez and struck him out looking to send the Rangers to their first World Series in franchise history.