Rangers Set To Embark On Road To The World Series
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ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) - The Texas Rangers are hoping that their playoff luck is a little bit stronger this time. The MLB regular season ended Sunday afternoon, and postseason action starts this week. Texas clinched home field advantage for the duration of the playoffs, and fans now have an opportunity to score tickets to some key games at Globe Life Park.
But the Rangers do not yet know who they will face in the American League Divsion Series, which begins on Thursday here in Arlington. A single wild card game on Tuesday will determine if it's the Toronto Blue Jays or the Baltimore Orioles advancing to battle Texas in a five-game series.
The second ALDS game will also be in Texas on Friday. The third and fourth (if necessary) games on Sunday and next Monday will be in either Baltimore or Toronto, with a possible fifth game coming back to Arlington, if the series manages to stretch on that long.
Tickets to that possible Game 5 went on sale Monday morning at Globe Life Park. They cost $50 each with a limit of 12 tickets per person. Some of the better seats run $250 per ticket. Fans can also get tickets online or by calling 972-RANGERS, but it is easier to pick your seats in person, many fans said.
"Taking my wife," said Rangers fan Matt Jackson at the box office. "I've got a buddy coming in town from Arkansas. He's just going to happen to be here. He doesn't know it yet, but we've got tickets to go."
Meanwhile, tickets for the first four games are still available -- including some seats for Thursday's game on StubHub for only $36. StubHub is the only authorized second-hand ticket retailer. Anybody buying or selling tickets through another website is doing so at their own risk.
If the fifth game of the series is not necessary, ticketholders will be able to get their money back. However, refunds will not be issued until after the World Series is over.
The Rangers franchise has never won a World Series title. They did make back-to-back appearances in the Fall Classic in 2010 and 2011, but each season ended in heartbreak as Texas was denied by the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals in the best-of-seven series.
"Been a Rangers fan since 1972 and just been pulling for them," said Eddie Guerra. "Watch them as much as I can, and I think this is the year of redemption."
Many fans are hoping that the third time's the charm, but there is still a long road through the postseason and onto the World Series. After the five-game ALDS, the Rangers would still have to face either the Cleveland Indians or the Boston Red Sox in a seven-game American League Championship Series.
"The years that we won, that we went to the World Series," explained one Texas fan at the game on Sunday, "we definitely had more momentum then than we do now. But anything can happen."
"We've got the best team in the American League right now," added another more hopeful fan. Texas won just one more game than the second-seeded Indians during the regular season, and two more games than the Red Sox. "How can you not feel good about the prospects?"