Drake would officially like to welcome all the 'johnny come latelys' to the Texas Ranger Bandwagon. We have been on this particular vehicle for 20 years (literally). Those of you who have known us for MORE than 20 years know his/our love affair with baseball has been a part of our relationship for 40 years. It actually started when we used to attend OU baseball games. Drake even took the Theory of Baseball at Oklahoma University, and you can imagine how much the 20 year old math/physics geek fit into THAT class. He even kept the textbook from the baseball course (yes, the class had a textbook) until last year when he passed it on to Terry McGovern in order to help him coach high school baseball. I guarantee you that it's one textbook that wasn't outdated because the fundamentals, as baseball people like to call them, haven't really changed too noticeably in 100 years. That statement divides the baseball worshippers from the baseball heretics. I'll leave Drake to write the blog that explains why baseball is the one true religion.
Then we followed baseball in Houston for 15 years being devoted Astro fans. We even had season tickets for the last few years we lived there. We continued to follow the Astros when we lived in New Orleans, but this was our biggest baseball desert. There was no local team, and baseball just wasn't on the radar in that town. However, we did attend exhibition games the Astros played in the Superdome. I even got on local TV during one game because the sports interviewer had never seen anyone in the stands keep score during a game. (I always keep score at every baseball game I attend in person - and I have the scorebooks to prove it going back 30 years.)
Let's go back to the Ranger Bandwagon. Drake (and by extension, me) have been loyal fans through many, many seasons where, shall we say, expectations were not met. Some seasons were effectively over when people were lighting firecrackers, while others died in the heat of a Texas August when the field at the ballpark can reach 120 degrees. (One reason baseball players never have to diet is they actually lose weight under those conditions.) Some past Ranger teams managed to hang on until Labor Day. (Personally, I feel that if your team is still in contention in the first week of September that you've gotten your money's worth for the season.) That's why this season has been particularly thrilling - not only winning the division but doing it in a runaway fashion after having been overtaken, and stomped by the hated Angels and by the crappy Athletics in way too many past years. For those of you who watched the fifth game of the American League Division Series with Tampa Bay, the young phenom shortstop, Elvis Andrus, scoring in the first few minutes of the game epitomizes this team. They are mostly young (Elvis is only 22, as is our rookie closer, Neftali), risk taking, and everyone on the team plays full out all the time. I should mention there is a test before you can climb onto the bandwagon: You have to be able to define THE CLAW and ANTLERS.
Finally, I predicted this team would go to the World Series after the first Spring Training game. I actually, turned to Drake and said, "Mark this - you heard it here first, this team is going to the World Series." Of course, he thought I was just being wildly optimistic as any true fan is during the bucolic days of Spring Training. However, here we are, only 4 wins away from that goal. At this point, if you are a true fan, it doesn't matter at this point - every game is gravy. And, oh boy, are we ever riding on the gravy train with biscuit wheels.
