The Texas Rangers were one pitch away from winning the World Series. Neftali Feliz was one inch away from throwing the final strike. Nelson Cruz was one step away from making the final out of the season. They could have won it. They should have won it.
But somehow they didn’t. It all came undone for the Texas Rangers last week, and the St. Louis Cardinals were the ones hoisting the trophy at the end of the day. When it mattered most, Texas just wasn’t able to get the job done. Frustration, disappointment, heartbreak – these are emotions that the losers of every championship game feel.
But rarely is it ever felt so spectacularly as last Friday at Busch Stadium. The greatest sense of failure occurs when you barely fail, when you just narrowly miss your target, when you get so close to success that you can taste the champagne in your mouth and feel the adrenaline coursing through your veins. It’s when you know you should have won, yet didn’t. It’s when you play well for 178 games, but lose the 179th.
No one wants to be in second place at the end of the season. As the wise Ricky Bobby once said, “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” Second place sucks. Everyone strives to be the best, not the second-best.
The hapless Texas Rangers finished in second place in each of the last two seasons. They might become baseball’s version of the Buffalo Bills, who lost four straight Super Bowls in the early ‘90s. As an upstate New York native, I know the pain of defeat. Like the Bills, the Rangers have never won a championship during their fifty year history. They’ve come close, but closeness doesn’t count. Struggle and pain can define a franchise, and that may be the case in Arlington.
That’s why I could not help but sympathize with the Rangers at the end of Game 7. Manager Ron Washington looked like he was about to cry, and owner Nolan Ryan had a blank stare of disbelief on his face. A friend of mine who’s a hardcore Rangers fan couldn’t even bear to watch most of the game, and he probably won’t be answering phone calls or wearing his Hamilton jersey for a few months.
As for myself, I was torn as I watched St. Louis celebrate. On the one hand, I wanted to cry along with the Rangers, defeated and helpless as they were. On the other hand, I became very angry at the Cardinals, who had just won their eleventh World Series, their second since 2006. Why do they need another ring? Wouldn’t Texas claiming their first ever victory be a much happier story? St. Louis was the arrogant, selfish jerk who spoiled the party.
This hate is found in every major sport. Unless we are legitimate, home-bred fans of teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, the New York Yankees or the New England Patriots, we can’t help but despise teams that keep winning and winning. Why? First of all, repeats are boring. With the exception of hardcore Lakers fans, who really wanted to see them win the NBA Finals five times in the last decade? Kobe is exciting to watch, but when he was raising the trophy for the fifth time in 2010, the moment had lost its luster. We politely applaud the team for its greatness, but we’re just not thrilled or excited anymore.
But when the Celtics beat the Lakers in 2008, the feeling was quite different. Although it was the Celtics 17th title, it was only the first for veterans Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. They had finally slayed the dragon of Kobe Bryant, already fat with rings. That same year, the underdog Giants shocked the New England juggernaut in one of the greatest Super Bowls ever. And the Cardinals were oh-so-close from upsetting the mighty Steelers the following year. I’m still pretty upset at those “One for the Other Hand” t-shirts.
I can’t deny that there are plenty of Lakers, Patriots and Steelers fans out there. But you also have to remember that there are a lot of haters, too. In a society that prides itself on equal opportunity and economic freedom, we don’t like monopolies of power. We love those Horatio Alger stories, when underdogs defeat the odds and go from rags to riches. It’s an exciting and inspiring moment when a team reaches the top for the first time.
But the best stories aren’t always written. Last Friday, the Texas Rangers just barely missed the American Dream.
