The animosity between the Astros and Rangers was based on proximity more than on-field competition. Until now. Their ALCS showdown is the biggest act in a budding rivalry.
Sports rivalries are born out of postseason stakes, often made stronger by years of intense playoff battles.
Some fuel would be added in the late '80s, when the Astros tried to get Nolan Ryan to take a pay cut. He refused and went to the Rangers, where many of the all-time great's achievements — his 5,000th strikeout and 300th win, among them — occurred. Despite playing nine years for the Astros and only five for the Rangers, Ryan was inducted into the Hall of Fame wearing the latter team's cap.
He would step down at the end of the 2013 season amid an altering power dynamic in the Texas front office and join the Astros in an advisory role in 2014. The curse of Nolan Ryan began in Arlington for a Rangers team that, until now, hadn't made it back to a championship series since. Houston, meanwhile, would immediately end a nine-year playoff drought, winning a tainted World Series title two years later and beginning its stretch of authority in the American League West.
Ultimately, none of the fracases amounted to much more than yelling, shoving and bickering, and the Rangers began trending the wrong way after the excitement of the early 2010s. That all changed when they began to spend — first on their middle infield two offseasons ago and then on their rotation this offseason. Finally, Texas looked ready to potentially topple the division titans, prompting the heat to turn up between the division foes.grand slam, causing both benches to clear.
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