The ending was heartbreaking. Crushing even. But, not unexpected. This is, after all, sadly, the fate of the Texas Rangers. They have lost seven consecutive games which they had the chance to win and move on: Two where a win would have made them World Series champions. A wild card game. A Game 163. And three Division Series games. This in the wake of collapses in 2012 and 2013.
This team’s legacy is that it simply cannot close the deal.
The Rangers are like the Red Dot in the dot race. He gets out to a huge lead, dances around smugly, waving his white hands like “look at me, look at me, I’m winning,” then when the slightest obstacle gets in his way, like a blade of grass or a clump of oxygen, he stumbles and falls, only to see the Blue Dot pass him just inches from the finish line.
I’m starting to get a feeling that the Dot Race just might rigged. And maybe the Rangers fate is as well. It’s the only way to explain what happens to this team. The only way to explain the bizarre set of circumstances that befalls the Texas Rangers when they get so so close, and trip over their clown-sized dot shoes every time.
But it was not a lost season. It was, in fact, an amazing season. A weird, improbable, hopeful season. When the numbness wears off, we can all go back and look at some of great moments this team gave us.
And maybe one day, maybe in our lifetimes, we can all go back and look at a final post-season game that the Rangers actually win.
The Cubs have waited one-hundred-seven years for it.
Just be patient.