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Brandon Nimmo’s Viral Moment Temporarily Defuses Rangers-Astros Rivalry

The Texas Rangers right fielder and a pair of Houston Astros fans brought a bit of peace to the tension of the Silver Boot Series.
Matt Postins|
Texas Rangers right fielder Brandon Nimmo.
Texas Rangers right fielder Brandon Nimmo. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

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While Texas Rangers right fielder Brandon Nimmo was freezing in Colorado on Monday, the repercussions of his act of kindness on Sunday in Houston were still being felt across the Internet.

On Sunday, Nimmo robbed Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez of a home run in what became an eventual 8-0 for Texas. Nimmo made the play at the wall and there were a couple of Astros fans standing right there where his glove made the catch.

There have been cases where fans have interfered in such plays, whether accidental or intentional. In this case, these fans went out of their way to stay out of the play.

What happened after that is why the catch really went viral.

Brandon Nimmo’s Next Move

A couple of innings later, Nimmo went back out to right field with two baseballs. He wasn’t taking them with him to play catch. He was taking them with him to give to the two Astros fans that didn’t interfere with the play.

It was an incredibly nice gesture on Nimmo’s part. But it wasn’t empty. As Rangers and Astros fans learned later, Nimmo autographed each ball and wrote a message on each.

“Thanks 4 letting me go after it!” the message read. The fans in question posted the baseball with the autographs on Instagram.

One of the fans, Ronald Branch, also had a message about what happened in the stands at that moment, captured by Rangers Sports Network's Jared Sandler.

“As a 31-year Houston Astros season ticket holder and lifelong fan, there was no way I was reaching over that wall and interfering with Brandon Nimmo trying to catch Yordan Alvarez’s solo homer. My brother in heaven knew the rules, and his friend Stevey knows the rules too.”

Nimmo is used to big rivalries. He played a decade with the New York Mets, who have a tense rivalry with the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East and the Subway Series rivalry with the New York Yankees. He and two Astros fans found a way to temporarily defuse the Silver Boot Series, which Houston leads 2-1 going into a four-game series in Arlington that starts on Memorial Day.

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Rangers Tweets of the Day

The Rangers Sports Network talked about Brandon Nimmo’s act of kindness to Astros fans on Sunday in Houston.  

The Rangers got hot on Monday night. Not, it wasn’t the bats. It was kinda literal.

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Matthew Postins
MATT POSTINS

Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers Major League Baseball for OnSI. He also covers the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.

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