Texas Rangers Win World Series Game 1; Dallas Cowboys 2nd Best in Arlington?
WHITT'S END 10.27.23:
Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End …
*Fond farewells: DFW doesn’t win championships, but our teams do produce poignant playoff performances.
In the spirit of the Dallas Cowboys ending Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady’s career with a 17-point win last January and the Dallas Mavericks slapping a 36-point defeat on Phil Jackson in his final game as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2011, the Texas Rangers this week sent Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker into retirement with an 11-4 shellacking in Game 7. Go big, or – literally – go home.
And by gosh, the Rangers just did it again, with an all-time thriller in Game 1 of the World Series, a Friday extra-innings gem that required two late home runs to secure the climb-from-behind 6-5 victory.
Corey Seager erased a two-run hole with his clutch bomb in the bottom of the ninth, and then Adolis García offered up a walk-off homer with an 11th-inning solo shot that gave the Rangers a lead in the series and ...
A lead over the Cowboys in the hearts of locals? OK, maybe not, but ...
*Don’t look now, but America’s Team isn’t even Arlington’s Team. Since the Cowboys last played in a NFC Championship Game in 1996, the Rangers (three World Series), Dallas Stars (three Stanley Cup Finals) and Mavs (two NBA Finals) have all played in their sport’s ultimate round multiple times.
Says Jerry Jones of the Rangers’ success just across the street from his team’s home, “I’m a Rangers fan through and through. I’m absolutely having to pinch myself. I have an appreciation for how hard it is to do. It deserves to be celebrated. This kind of interest in local sports lifts all boats.”
It won’t match the frenzy of Oct. 23, 2011, when the Cowboys (led by DeMarco Murray’s 253 rushing yards) won an afternoon game at AT&T Stadium before later that night just a couple miles down Randol Mill Road the Rangers (behind Derek Holland’s shutout) tied the World Series at 2-2 in The Ballpark in Arlington. But next week has a chance to be pretty special: Rangers host Game 7 on Nov. 4; Cowboys at Eagles Nov. 5.
*Winning over Wemby? Show up to see Victor Wembanyama, stay to watch Dereck Lively II. It wasn’t that the Spurs’ ballyhooed rookie was disappointing, but more so that the Mavs’ rookie was so dynamic. Lively was everything as advertised and more in his debut in Dallas’ season-opening win. He ran the floor. He finished around the rim. He made seven of eight shots. He rebounded. His 16-point, 10-rebound performance was the fourth double-double by a Mavs’ rookie in his first game, joining Mark Aguirre (1981), Jason Kidd (1994) and Dennis Smith Jr. (2017). In the words of Luka Doncic – live on ESPN by the way – Lively “played (bleeping) amazing!”
*I went to the Rangers’ first game in Arlington in 1972. More times than not over the last 51 years I’ve gone to sleep convinced I wouldn’t live to see them win a World Series. Despite winning just one home game in the last 33 days – going 8-0 on the road in the playoffs is a magic elixir – they are favored to finally hoist the trophy.
*Please, I beg you, do not dress up as Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce for Halloween. You’re better than that. Can’t believe I’m saying this, but being Barbie & Ken is more creative.
*Looking forward to seeing DeMarcus Ware inducted into the Cowboys Ring of Honor at halftime of Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Rams. Great player. Good dude. In 2010 Greg Williams, Sybil Summers and I hosted his weekly radio show on 105.3 The Fan. The highlight: For Christmas we presented him with a DVD of his hard-to-find favorite movie – The Wraith. He responded by having no idea what our names were. “Thanks … you guys are the best,” Ware stumbled. “Rick … raw … Richie and the … Greggo.” Swear.
*Hot.
*Not.
Rooting for the Rangers is as close as Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has come to experiencing a championship.
*Of all the people in the world that could mentor Micah Parsons, this guy would be near the bottom of my list.
Why is Alex Rodriguez taking the Cowboys’ star under his arrogant, narcissistic wing?
“I respect A-Rod to no end,” Jerry explained during this week’s appearance on 105.3 The Fan. “He’s one of the guys at the top of my list.”
Turns out A-Rod used to be one of Jerry’s neighbors in Highland Park and sounds like the two might have even thrown a party or two?
“There’s a curfew around here for music,” Jerry said. “But I’m not sure it’s followed real strict. Like all neighborhoods, you gotta take over some sugar to your neighbors every now and then.”
*Spoke to old Dallas Observer buddy Daniel Rodrigue’s Multi-Media Journalism class at the University of North Texas this week. The students asked about my favorite and most memorable events covered during my 37 years in the business. Favorite: Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs winning the title in 2011. Most memorable: Olympic bombing in Atlanta in 1996.
*Luka is so good that we’re beyond spoiled. In the season-opening win in San Antonio he produced a triple-double of 33 points, 13 rebounds and 10 points. Any other player in Mavs history does that and it’s a screaming story wrapped in a blinking neon headline. Luka does it and we’re … writing about it as a footnote to Lively’s impressive debut.
*The State Fair of Texas ended its run with a slight attendance drop from a year ago. 2022: 2.5 million. 2023: 2.3 million. Busiest day, not surprisingly, was Texas-OU Saturday when 208,731 people crammed into Fair Park.
*Rags-to-riches stories that happens in baseball but rarely the NFL or NBA: In 2019 the Rangers traded only “cash considerations” to the Cardinals to acquire a 26-year-old outfielder that had bounced around Japan and flamed out in St. Louis. Sensing no real spark, they sent him to the minors. He stayed there until early 2021, called up to Arlington only because of an injury. That, my friends, is the “story” of ALCS MVP and World Series MVP favorite Adolis Garcia.
*Conquered “The Spartan Beast” last weekend in a remote, rocky pasture of a course outside Granbury. Navigating 30 obstacles over 13.1 miles in 90-degreee heat quickly became more survival than competition. But when you drop your TV remote control on the floor and it splatters with lid and batteries flying in different directions way under the couch … it just suddenly doesn’t seem like such a difficult task to handle.
*It’s really not the World Series. Hello, World Baseball Classic. And, if we’re being honest, it’s not even really the North American Series. Hello, Mexican League. Is it too late to re-brand our baseball championship the “American Series”?
*Unintended consequences of home security. Guy in East Dallas gets an alert on his Ring camera that someone is in his driveway. As he opens his front door and says “Can I help you?” he gets shot by the man attempting to break into his work truck. The homeowner winds up paralyzed from the bullet that shredded his kidney and shattered his spine. No doubt he would’ve rather just awakened the next morning to a stolen truck.
*If the Rangers finally win the title, there’s a good chance the final out will be recorded by their longest-tenured player: closer Jose Leclerc. If you saw him on the street, you’d mistake him for a guy with all the intensity and fire of a grocery bagger at Kroger. And when you see him and his peculiar peer-into-the-upper-deck glazed looks on the mound, you can’t help but ponder “What in the world is he thinking about?!”
*Met a spry 74-year-old Spartan last weekend who’s in better shape – mentally and physically – than a lot of 44-year-olds I know. His secret? “Active body, curious mind,” he said. “Just keep things moving.” Sounds simple enough.
*2011 Rangers in the World Series: Claws & Antlers. 2023 Rangers in the World Series: Creed?
*This Weekend? Saturday night let’s watch Rangers-Diamondbacks in Game 2, and let’s go to a Halloween costume party. Sunday let’s visit the family down in Johnson County and do the Cowboys thing. As always, don’t be a stranger.
