Farewell, Globe Life Park: Rangers/Yankees playoff memories with family

The Texas Rangers have not being a very good team for the majority of my baseball-watching life and when they have been good, the New York Yankees have always been there to put a stop to any playoff run the Rangers might have thought they could make.

My brother, who was in the military in the late 90’s, was set to come into town. He was not able to come visit me and my mother very much but when he did, he always wanted to do different activities with me and that included going to Rangers games. In 1998, his trip landed right as the Rangers and Yankees were in the middle of a playoff series.

On October 3rd, 1998 the Rangers (88-74) and Yankees (114-48) were set to play game 3 of the American League Division Series. The Yankees were up 2-0 behind the performances of David Wells and Andy Pettitte, so the Rangers were facing elimination for the second time in three years at the hands of the Bronx Bombers.

Although the Rangers ended up losing this game, it was memorable because there was a rain delay. The delay took place at 9:07pm with the Yankees up 4-0 in the bottom of the 6th inning. The Yankees had scored all of their runs in the top of the 6th, so they could not be awarded a win because the Rangers had not completed their half of that inning.

When the game was delayed, no one had any idea on how long this delay would be. Since I was only 7 years old at the time, I did not have much say in whether we were going to wait out the delay or go home. After an hour or so passed, the rain did not slow down.

Finally, around 10:30 or 11pm, my brother made the decision to head home. As we made our way to the gates to exit the ballpark, my brother looked at me and asked me, “Are you ready to run?” I said yes and we started our wet run to the car. There was one problem that I did not see coming and that was the fact that my shorts were a little loose so as I am trying to keep up with my brother running, I am also having to try to keep my pants from falling down.

Luckily, my pants stayed on and we made it to the car and eventually home before the game resumed. The game resumed at 12:24am after a delay of three hours and 16 minutes.

That game and that experience was so memorable because what happened 12 years later. The Rangers made the playoffs and were able to advance past the ALDS for the first time in franchise history by defeating the Tampa Bay Rays in five games. Next up was the Yankees.

Once again, my brother was set to come to town. This time, instead of him taking me to a game I wanted to show my appreciation and take him to a game.

That game was October 16th, 2010, which was game 2 of the American League Championship Series. The Rangers were down 1-0 in the series after blowing a 5-0 lead in game one.

The Rangers won that game 7-2 and tied the series at 1. Colby Lewis went 5 2/3 innings striking out six and only allowing 2 earned runs. David Murphy went 2 for 3, including a home run in the second inning.

Even though that game only tied series at one, that win was huge for franchise because of the night before when the Rangers blew the 5-0 lead and because of the Yankees dominance over the Rangers in the 90s.

Farewell, Globe Life Park
Rangers/Twins 2012 Lightning Strike