Astros owner's comments will enrage Rangers fans especially after 2023 outcome
Jim Crane may want to choose his words more carefully next time.
![Houston Astros stadium, Minute Maid Park](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4863,h_2735,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_752,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/GettyImages/mmsport/132/01hynsjcj7a530yt93hj.jpg)
There is no love lost between the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros. The two Texas-based franchises have a rich history, and after last year's World Series win, the Rangers and Astros have accounted for three of the past seven World Championships.
Recently, Major League Baseball named the host cities for the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Tokyo, Japan; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Miami, Florida; and Houston, Texas were the four destinations chosen to host the 2026 WBC.
Jim Crane, the Astros owner and chairman shared his thoughts on Minute Maid Park being selected aone of the four host sites for the 2026 WBC saying, "Houston is a global city with the best baseball fans, and we are proud to welcome fans from across the globe to watch international competition at Minute Maid Park."
Astros owner's comments will enrage Rangers fans especially after 2023 outcome
Sorry Jim, but the best fans in baseball don't reside in Houston. Your team couldn't even close out the American League Championship Series in front of the "best baseball fans" last October when the Rangers took the AL Pennant, winning the final two games of the ALCS inside Minute Maid Park.
Being chosen to be part of the next World Baseball Classic hardly makes the Houston fanbase the best in the game. The attendance numbers from 2012-2014 show just how great the fanbase was when the team wasn't any good. The best fans in baseball stick by their favorite team through the good times and the bad.
Four cities, one amazing tournament. See you in 2026. #WorldBaseballClassic pic.twitter.com/IzRHmVGynb
— World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) May 23, 2024
Outside of the pandemic-shortened season in 2020, there's been only two occasions when the Rangers have failed to draw over 2 million fans to their home stadium since 1989. Perhaps the best baseball fans reside a little further north in Arlington.
Every team's fanbase likes to claim they're the best. Whether it's the Astros, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, or New York Yankees — every fandom likes to believe that there's no one who's more diehard than they are. But only one can lay claim to being fans of the reigning World Series champs, and that's the Rangers fanbase.
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