Forty-nine years after being formed as a team and 38 years after moving to Arlington, TX, the Texas Rangers are finally going to the World Series. As a former die hard fan of the team, I'm happy and excited for them, but I'm also feeling a little betrayed. Why couldn't they have done this ten years ago, when I actually gave a moderately large-sized shit? It doesn't really matter because I highly doubt this will ever happen again.
Modern baseball, like so many other things, is a greed-based enterprise. Free agency has closed the book on the glory days of the sport when hometown heroes like Babe Ruth, Stan Musial, or Harmon Killebrew were fixtures in their home ballparks. These days, players and management alike are always jockeying for the next big thing. Players endlessly seek more money and management looks for the best players to tempt with large salaries, which are passed on to the fans in the form of ticket prices and astronomical parking fees. I'm looking at you, Ghost of George Steinbrenner.
So, even if this Rangers squad goes on to do the impossible and wins the World Series, the team will likely be parted out like an old Ford during the off season. The greatness that has been achieved this year will be diffused all over the American and National leagues as people forget that a winning team is worth more than the sum of its parts. In fact, winning the World Series makes the dissolution of the championship team even more likely. Once the ultimate championship has been won, what's left to accomplish?
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