TX Rangers history: Revisiting one of the best MLB teams to never win a World Series

Everyone knows the story of the 2011 Texas Rangers and while those demons might have officially been exorcised post-2023, that team might go down as one of the best Major League Baseball teams to not win it all.

Finishing the regular season 96-66, good for a division title title and second-best in the American League, the Rangers rolled into the postseason as the reigning AL Pennant winners. They took out the Rays in four games and the Tigers in six games before falling to St. Louis in seven games in heartbreaking fashion.

Loaded with All-Stars and future Hall of Famers, the Rangers really missed out not winning a championship in the early 2010s.

2011 Rangers team was stacked with talent

Texas spent 151 days in first place, while never spending a single day under .500 all season long. They compiled 27 comeback wins, shutout their opponent 19 different times and recorded six walk-off wins.

Dominant in every facet of the game, the Rangers' roster included Elvis Andrus, Adrian Beltre, Nelson Cruz, Josh Hamilton, Ian Kinsler, Mike Napoli and more. Their rotation was even elite, headlined by Matt Harrison, Derek Holland and C.J. Wilson.

That season, five players hit .290 and eight hit double digits home runs with Adrian Beltre and Ian Kinsler sharing the team lead with 32, followed by Nelson Cruz (29) and Josh Hamilton (25). As a team, Texas lead the entire league in batting average (.283) and was top five in most other major hitting categories, including 2nd in hits (1,599), home runs (210), slugging (.460) and OPS (.800).

In fact, that 2011 World Series team is one of the top 25 teams in MLB history to not win a World Series with a 52.9 fWAR, according to BrooksGate.

2023 World Series righted the ship for the 2011 Rangers

There have only been three American League Pennants in Rangers' history and the 2023 team was the first to reach that mark since that 2011 season.

Matter of a fact, 12 years to the date of the heartbreaking Game Six loss, is now known as the day of Corey Seager. His shot heard around the world tied the first game of the 2023 World Series in the ninth inning, which later was one by Texas on a walk-off homer by Adolis Garcia.

A few days after that, Texas defeated Arizona in five games to win the World Series and bring the first title to Arlington.