Despite a decade of mostly losing and forgettable baseball, there have been a few bright moments in recent Rangers history.

One is Adrian Beltre. He was so good he almost single-handedly carried the Rangers to their only two playoff appearances in the last ten years. Without Beltre, the past decade would have been really bleak.

The other is Chuck Morgan. He is legendary in Rangers lore. And his lifetime batting average of .000 is only slightly lower than most Rangers on the current roster.

Both Beltre and Morgan will be inducted into the next class of Texas Rangers Hall of Fame. Both are deserving.

Adrian Beltre played twenty-one seasons, eight with the Rangers. But those were his best eight years. And in that time he left an indelible stand on the hearts of all Rangers fans. Beltre won three Gold Gloves as a Ranger and was named to three All-Star teams. Those eight seasons were among the best eight years of anyone who ever wore a Texas Rangers uniform. As great as his stats were, his presence and persona were even stronger. For eight years, Beltre was the reason to go to a Rangers game. His bat, his glove, his infectious positivity. Since he retired, there hasn’t been much reason to go.

Chuck Morgan has been the Rangers public address announcer for 38 years. Anybody who has gone to a Rangers game in four decades has heard him introducing the next Rangers batter, as well as being the voice of the franchise. He is also in charge of all ballpark entertainment. He created the dot race. It’s pure silliness but it’s fun and fans love it. Like they said in Field of Dreams, the one constant in America might be baseball, but the one constant in going to a Rangers game definitely is Chuck Morgan.

Both men go into the Rangers Hall of Fame in a ceremony on August 14, which gives Rangers fan the a reason to go the The Shed that late into the year. 

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TODAY’S GAME: