Rangers fans raid team store after historic win, "We're so happy!"
ARLINGTON (CBSNewsTexas.com) - Texas Rangers fans flocked to the team store at Globe Life Field Thursday after the team became World Series champions for the first time.
"I mean it was just unreal," said Ervey Guardado, a fan since 1989. "Unreal. But I'm so happy."
Since the Rangers clinched the title on the road, coming to the shop was a way for people to really feel a part of the excitement.
"We been Rangers fans forever, and it finally happened," Guardado said. "It's so nice."
This moment is 51 seasons in the making for the Texas Rangers.
The team came heartbreakingly close in 2011, when they were twice one strike away from beating the St. Louis Cardinals in Game Six of the World Series.
That loss in particular still stings for fans, but 12 years later, the team ended the drought and brought the title home.
"It was incredible," said Mike Kiker, who was at the store buying championship gear. "Electrifying. It was just a totally different experience. For those that went through 2010, 2011 – you have that gut check. You're still fighting, you're still cheering on your team, but you're still like one out."
Kiker was at Game 5 in Arizona.
"For nine innings, I cheered, I screamed, I hooted and hollered," Kiker said. "I just literally landed and drove straight over here."
Kiker has loved the Rangers his entire life, weathering the ups and downs of the team's history like millions of fans across Texas.
"Since the beginning, since they started here," said Arlington resident Laura Weidhass.
She and her mom never gave up hope the Rangers would finally win a World Series.
"She just jumped and screamed and our dogs went ruff, ruff, ruff," her mom, Connie Bell, said. "They couldn't imagine why we was jumping and screaming so much."
The victory was bittersweet. Weidhass wishes her brother Harry was still alive to see it happen.
"He just loved to be here," Weidhass said. "It didn't matter whether they won or lost, he was just like they'll get 'em next time, they'll get 'em next time. And so he would have been – I'm sure he was doing cartwheels up in heaven."
It's a meaningful win not just for the Rangers, but for the city and for all of North Texas.