Big week for the Rangers

This week will be one Rangers fans look back on for a very long time. 5 home games against New York and Boston in the middle of a pennant race with sell-outs expected for every game. Possible playoff pitching match-ups every night, and some of the best players in the league in Arlington for 1 great week of baseball. But none of these things are what Rangers fans will remember first. Tomorrow, on August 12th, an off-day for the club, Nolan Ryan and Chuck Greenberg are expected to be approved by Major League Baseball to become the new owners of the Texas Rangers. The Rangers will finally come out of the nightmare of bankruptcy court, and escape from the black cloud that was the Tom Hicks ownership.

6 long months ago this seemed like an inevitability. GnR won the bidding over Houston businessman Jim Crane, among others, and most expected the ownership group to be in place by Opening Day. Fast forward to August 4th and Jim Crane's group backed by Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban looked like locks to become the new owners after blowing away GnR through the first few hours of the auction. Thanks to a late arrival by 2 of GnR's main financial backers, GnR was able to outbid Cuban, and secure the Rangers Franchise.

This outcome is, in my opinion, the best case scenario for the organization. Greenberg and Ryan bring the perfect combination of baseball intellect, marketing genius, and the money to expand our pay role. The greatest fear, in my mind, to having a different ownership group win the auction was a change in the baseball operations department. Jon Daniels, Thad Levine, AJ Preller, and the rest of their staff is among the very best in baseball. They have done a great job building the Rangers through the farm system, and have placed the Rangers on the cusp of a run of greatness. The GnR ownership guarantees the stability of our front office, which will allow us to maintain our progress toward a bright future.

Now that this whole ownership debacle is figured out, Ranger fans can focus on the best Ranger team we've seen in Arlington in my lifetime. For the first time ever the Rangers have established themselves as legitimate World Series contenders. After kicking off the home-stand last night with a walk-off win off of the seemingly unbeatable Mariano Rivera, the Rangers can sweep the 2 game series behind Cliff Lee tonight. This was the first time the Rangers have ever-EVER- defeated Mariano Rivera (15 years). Perhaps this shows the Yankees mental stranglehold they have always seemed to have over the Rangers is loosening. The Yankees are seen by most as the class of the league, and a 2 game sweep would definitely get the attention of the national media (and if you heard Eric Karros on the Saturday telecast you will realize we have earned very little national respect).

I have never seen the fan support as high as it is right now for the Rangers. Last night's 8.0 TV rating destroyed the old record for a Ranger game (6.9 in September of 1996), and maxed out over 10 in the late innings. The fans have been waiting a long time on the Rangers to become the team Dallas baseball fans deserve, and it's finally happening. Tonight the best pitcher in baseball will put on a Rangers uniform and take on the defending World Champions in front of a full house on ESPN. Don't be surprised if last nights TV record doesn't last long. This has the potential to be the most exciting 3 months in Texas Rangers history, and I know I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.