5 Best Moments in Texas Rangers History

Texas Rangers v New York Yankees, Game 4
Texas Rangers v New York Yankees, Game 4 / Andrew Burton/GettyImages
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Moments are brief flashes in time that normally last only a brief period of time. They can bring joy and sadness. They can be exhilarating or debilitating. They can be easily forgotten or live forever. In sports, these moments come unexpectedly. It can be a half-court shot to win an NCAA tournament game. It can be a home run in the bottom of the 9th to win the World Series. The Texas Rangers have had many special moments in their history. I have decided to try and narrow it down to the top five moments in Texas Rangers history.

Number 5: Gonzalez Gets to 100 RBIs before the All-Star Break

Juan Gonzalez in the 1990s was an RBI machine. Every season that played 162 games he drove in over 100 runs. 1994 and 1995 were shortened seasons due to the strike that persisted from August 1994 to April 1995. He added to that legend in 1998. The story of 1998 heading into the All Star break was about the home run chase between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Sosa had just come off a 20-home run June to make it a two-man race.

The last game of the first half matched up Seattle and Texas. Randy Johnson started for Seattle and Gonzalez had 97 RBIs. That is already an astonishing number. He had one more game to get to 100. He got the scoring started in the first with a 2-run home run to get to 99 RBIs. Then he struck out in his next two at-bats. He came back up in the 7th in what would likely be his last at-bat of the night and he did this.

Juan Gonzalez hit that 2-run home to surpass 100 and get to 101. It was a 90s baseball moment as he hit it off Randy Johnson and Ken Griffey Jr in center nearly brought it back. He fist-pumped his way around the bases and then came out for a curtain call. The story in Denver for All-Star week was not just about Roger Maris and if Sosa or McGwire would pass him. It became also about Hack Wilson and his RBI record of 191 that he achieved in 1930 and if Gonzalez could pass it. Sportscenter after the break started keeping track of Gonzalez and his RBI total. He cooled off after the break but still ended up with 157 RBIs which is a tie for the 27th-best RBI total season, but one of the best in the modern era.

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.

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