Rangers draw mixed reviews, criticism over Globe Life Field's newest addition

During spring training, a professional baseball team wants to be in news to hype up fans for the upcoming season and showcase the talent put together through an offseason. What they don't want to be in the news for is a controversy that frustrates your fanbase.

The Texas Rangers have managed to do the latter with their recent addition inside their home ballpark, Globe Life Field, after the organization installed the 12-foot bronze "One Riot, One Ranger" statue on the left field concourse.

Why is this a big deal? Well, there's been some negative history directed at that statue in its history which prompted its removal in 2020 from its old home at Dallas Love Field airport.

History of Globe Life Field's 'One Ranger, One Riot' statue

For brief note to those who don't know, when the Texas Rangers baseball team moved from Washington, D.C. to Dallas, they drew their name from the law enforcement agency by the same name. The Texas Rangers Division has been around for nearly 200 years and have become synonymous with the state of Texas.

The agency though has had it's fair share of negative attention, including some behind the statue that now sits in Globe Life Field.

While inspired by then-deceased Ranger Bill McDonald, the statue was modeled after Jay Banks, who was a captain of the Texas Rangers in the 1950s. In the book "Cult of Glory: The Bold and Brutal History of the Texas Rangers" by Doug Swanson, he details Banks' participation in efforts to keep schools in Texas racially segregated in defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court's order of public school integration in 1954.

MLB fans share mixed social media reaction upon installation of statue

The social media attention hasn't been great over the last 24 hours since the team unveiled the statue. While ownership and The Texas Rangers Association decided to accept and install the statue as a representation of all law enforcement officers.

“To have this iconic statue and base reunited and displayed with its namesake baseball team, is an honor for all current, retired, and deceased Texas Rangers,” said Russell S. Molina, Chairman of Texas Ranger Bicentennial 2023 and board member of Texas Ranger Association Foundation. “Today, with more than 189 women and men serving across our vast 254 counties, the modern Texas Rangers reflect the diversity, integrity, and professionalism you would hope to find in one of the country’s oldest and finest law enforcement organizations.”

The statue is now the seventh inside Globe Life Field, which opened during the COVID shortened 2020 season. It joins Nolan Ryan, Tom Vandergriff, the Rangers' first trip to the World Series in 2010, Rangers fans, Iván Rodríguez and Adrian Beltré.

While the organization should be getting fans excited for the regular season and hopeful return to the playoffs, this move by the Rangers is causing a lot of flurry and uneasiness. Fans will indeed show up to games this year to watch their favorite baseball team but the reaction to the statue is yet to be seen.