RANGERS WIN!!! RANGERS WIN!!! RANGERS WIN!!!

thoughts...reactions...loves...life...WORLD SERIES?

YES, THE WORLD SERIES!!!

This matters forever.

Never thought I'd live to see it. If it isn't baseball heaven, then it is as close as I ever hoped to be.

I can't agree more guys. I tell people I grew up a huge baseball fan in the 70's, pouring over the baseball stats in the Sports Section of the Sunday Oklahoman all season. I was absolutely amazed at Ron Guidry, and George Foster, and all the stats of players who were performing at the top of their games.

Then it happened. The Rangers moved their AAA operations to Oklahoma City, and soon drafted Bobby Witt, and obtained the rights to sign Pete Incaviglia -- a couple of kids with Oklahoma ties. I was instantly intrigued and soon was completely hooked on local radio broadcasts of Ranger games, and eventually the frequently televised games.

As I mentioned, I would tell people I used to be a huge baseball fan, then I became a fan of the Rangers, and they ruined it for me. No longer was I able to latch on to a team that caught my imagination and follow them deep into the playoffs. The '75 Reds, the '79 Pirates, the '82 Brewers. Instead, I found post-July baseball excruciating, as the Rangers would invaribly be languishing 10-15 games behind, with no pitching whatsoever, losing game after game. Nolan got me re-excited for a little while, and Juan-gone, Pudge, Rusty, and a bunch of other bashers made me think maybe we might be onto something (or rather ON something, as it turned out). But it eventually disintegrated into huge contracts and 5-hour softball games where 6 runs never won, and sometimes even 13 runs wasn't enough.

2010 has been a dream, and I don't really care if the team lays an egg this coming week (which I don't believe will happen). This will always be the year I got to care about baseball games all seaon long and even into late-October again. Thanks, JD; thanks RW; thanks to all the players, too. Your laying everything you've got on the line each and every game is certainly appreciated! Go all the way Rangers!