PALESTINE — My life as a Rangers fan has been a long and winding road. I was raised on baseball and raised on the Rangers, thanks to my mom’s fandom, and have never had interest in any other team. This loyalty means I’ve rarely had any reason to be interested in the MLB playoffs every October, as the majority of the Rangers’ existence has been one of mediocrity, and thanks to sluggers like Juan Gonzalez and Alex Rodriguez, controversy regarding steroids. Needless to say, it’s always been very difficult to be a Texas baseball fan.

So you can only imagine my utter euphoria the past couple of years as the team has implemented an extremely successful plan of discovering and cultivating young talent, bringing them through the farm system with the end goal of putting them on the team and watching them run wild. You can imagine my joy as the team has won back to back American League Championships and been the AL representative in the World Series. And of course, you can imagine my utter sorrow at losing the World Series two years in a row.

But this year, we’re going to take care of business. I can feel it. Those two sentences right there showcase the change in my fan experience. For most of my life, I would never express such optimism about the Rangers. I would talk here and there about individual players and their capabilities and talents, but never about the postseason, because it just wasn’t something that seemed to be very attainable. That’s all changed in a few short years. Now, I’m talking about players as well as the playoffs. I’m talking about the teams that look good and which ones might present problems if we head to the postseason. For once, I’m actually willing and interested in being a part of the larger baseball discussion.

A lot of that discussion this year has centered around Yu Darvish, a Japanese pitcher that caused a massive bidding war among MLB teams clamoring to claim him and add him to their roster. The Rangers were able to win that bidding war and Darvish is now the fourth man in the starting rotation. And he’s caused quite a buzz, especially considering he was quite the stud in Japan: the girls love him.

Darvish made his first start in a Rangers uniform a couple of weeks ago in Arlington. The hype was through the roof, with fans in both the United States and Japan crowded around their television sets to watch the game. And it didn’t go well, at least at first. Darvish walked the first batter he faced on four straight pitches, then proceeded to walk another, and by the time the first inning was over, he’d thrown over forty pitches and given up four runs. In the second inning, he didn’t throw as many pitches, but he gave up another run, and most people figured he’d be out of the game soon. But he was able to calm down, get his head straight, and eventually made it through five and two-thirds innings, giving up five runs. For many pitchers, this would be impossible to come back from, but when you pitch for the Rangers, it’s not a big deal. The offense came alive and won 11-5, letting Darvish still get counted for the win.

In that first inning, I was getting texts left and right expressing disappointment, concern, and downright anger over Darvish’s performance. Some folks said we spent too much money and it obviously wasn’t worth it, others said they were sad at the poor start, but most of the texts were negative. I actually found myself telling people to calm down, that it was only Yu’s first start, and that he’d settle down in the game, which, thankfully, he did. Once again, this is a complete one eighty from the way I used to be. Here we were, in a position that Rangers fans got used to a lot in the early years of the franchise, and rather than accepting defeat and planning for a loss, I was confident, fully prepared to watch a comeback and a win.

It all goes to show that baseball is a great metaphor for life. I mentioned in my review of The Hunger Games about the ups and downs of life, and baseball can present a perfect microcosm of that. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but you stay loyal to your team and to your beliefs, and you press on, because one of these days, you’ll get that championship, no matter how long it takes you.

In his last start, Darvish went eight and one third inning and gave up no runs. It was a masterful performance.

And I certainly still believe in Yu.



Robert Rich is a media relations and marketing associate at Texas Instruments. He attended the University of Texas at Austin and wrote a column in the Herald-Press for four years. He’s happy to be back. E-mail comments to robert.ray.rich@gmail.com