Jeff Banister Blasts People Bickering Over Rangers-Astros Series
DALLAS (105.3 The Fan) - The Rangers and Astros began their series in Tampa Bay on Tuesday night. Texas won the game 12-2 in front of a very small crowd at Tropicana Field.
Prior to the game, a lot had been made about how the two teams ended up playing in Florida rather than Texas.
The Astros, displaced by Hurricane Harvey, were unable to host the Rangers in Houston, so they asked if they could swap series with them. In that scenario, the Astros would have played in Arlington this week and would have moved the Rangers home games slated to be played in Arlington from September 25-27 to Minute Maid Park. The Rangers declined, saying that it would have been a competitive disadvantage because it would have created a tough end of the season road trip and that it wasn't enough notice to give fans holding tickets for the games in September. Astros president Reid Ryan (Nolan's son) was critical of the Rangers and released a statement that set off a firestorm between Astros and Rangers fans.
Rangers manager Jeff Banister touched on the subject in his appearance with the GBag Nation on Wednesday:
"Stop it. That's all I got to say. Just stop with the criticism. Stop with the divisiveness. Just stop with this is one city against the other ... This is an opportunity for everybody to put all that down. Strip the names off the front of the jerseys. Put our arms around each other and help out.
Donating money is great. That's awesome. I get it. We're all gonna donate money. You know what? Post up and go help out. Roll your sleeves up, put some boots on and help some people dig out. That's what we need. People need more than us in the next two weeks collecting money. They need all that. But they need support, whether it's DFW, Houston, El Paso, Beaumont, Brownsville and everywhere in between. This is about human beings that are hurting in a place they've never been before ... and we're bickering over sports entities? Come on, we can strip the names off the front, we can put t-shirts on and go play for all I care.
DFW, we went through a challenge last year. We all stand up. Stand proud and we help each other out. That's what it's about. At some point, just close the mouths, open the ears, stretch your arms out and help somebody. Digging in your wallet is awesome and I want everybody digging in their wallet to help everybody out. But they need more than that and they're going to need more than that in the next two weeks, next month, a year from now.
I'm in that community and understand what happens in situations like this. ... When you're having to spend the next two-three weeks dripping sheetrock, shoveling mud, got no electricity, nobody around you. Everybody is kinda looking at each other and you get to a point that you just throw your hands in the air and go 'where the hell do I go from here?' That's when these people are going to need the most help. And if we're not willing to pitch in and do that then shame on us."
