“You took steroids! You took steroids!”

As former Texas Rangers golden boy and then New York Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez stood in the batter’s box in Game 6 of the 2010 American League Championship series, that phrase rained down, loud enough to hear on TBS’ television broadcast of the game.

“You took steroids! You took steroids!”

The chant will not cease.

Once, Rodriguez was Texas’ only hope, encapsulating the team’s hope to compete in the future when he signed a 10-year, $252 million contract with the team in free agency after the 2000 season.

In that moment, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, he was New York’s last hope for a 2010 season primed with expectation.

Hope was the pervasive theme of that moment. Rangers fans hopes were soon to be validated for the first time ever, with their team on the brink of its first American League pennant and World Series berth in franchise history.

And in an instant, the electricity of 51,000 fans filling the standing-room-only capacity Rangers Ballpark in Arlington in the moment culminated in one crescendo.

Texas closer Neftali Feliz struck out the Ranger pariah with a fastball at the knees. The Rangers finally broke through the glass ceiling that entrapped a lackluster franchise for years.

In that moment, four decades of losing didn’t matter. Years of incompetence and disappointment didn’t matter. Playoff losses to those some Yankees didn’t matter.

As a makeshift unit with many unheralded, but high chemistry, pieces flooded out of the Ranger dugout, all that mattered was the release. This was bigger than a game. Even with the indirect proverbial middle-finger to Rodriguez, this moment had one underlying meaning:

The Rangers had finally WON something.

Even so, there was a game still played. And it was a great one for the Rangers. RHP Colby Lewis, in his first season returning from playing overseas, carved his name into Texas legacy with a strong outing, keeping the Yankees scoreless into the fifth.

There were some classics in that series, but game six was the highlight. Other key moments included a home run from catcher Bengie Molina, a spirited series of performances from outfielders and polarizing figures in Ranger lore- Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz.

But none compared to the jubilation of that final out in game six.

Texas would lose its first World Series at the hands of an overpowering San Francisco teams in five games. But among those five games, or any of the moments from an up-and-down division series against Tampa Bay, game six against New York stood out as the most memorable moment from that postseason.

And moreover, as ESPN’s Jim Caple wrote, “Tom Hicks was right. Texas did win a pennant with Alex Rodriguez on the field.”