September Review- Top 10 Moments of 2016
The Texas Rangers won the American League West Division for the second year in a row and the fourth time in the last seven seasons.
This 2016 team is special and has probably been the most fun to watch.
So instead of a month review, I’m going to countdown my top ten favorite moments of the season. Well, some are moments and some are overall season things that happened.
Just go with it.
10. Carlos Gomez homers in his first at-bat as a Ranger
When the Rangers signed Gomez after he was released from the Astros, all I wanted was for him to be slightly better than he was for Houston. And boy was he! A home run in his first at bat in a Ranger uniform, what more could you want? Well it didn’t just stop with that one home run. As an Astro this year, he had 5 homers. As a Ranger he had 8. He had over twice as many at-bats as an Astro than he did a Ranger. His OPS as an Astro was .594, as a Ranger it was .905.
So take that Houston.
9. Grand Slams galore
The Rangers were the only team in 2015 to end the season without a grand slam. This year they had five. Two belonged to Bobby Wilson, in just one week in May. Adrian Beltre, Mitch Moreland, and Carlos Gomez (whats up Houston!) each had one in August.
8. #PitchersWhoRake
Darvish and Holland got hits in back to back games in Cincinnati. Holland got his first major league hit of his career. Darvish got his first major league homer, and it went 410 feet.
Rougned Odor was very proud of his teammates.
Rougie's reaction to Holland's hit:
Rougie's reaction to Darvish's homer:In those moments, I think Odor represented all of us watching at home.
7. Holding onto the division after a scary July
July was nerve-wracking for some. The Rangers went had a 11.5 game lead at one point, and at another Houston came within 2.5 games. People were ready to jump what they perceived to be ship on the brink of sinking.But they won the division and that's all that matters.
5. The Big Chill
Nomar Mazara. He's a rookie. You might have heard of him?He's like really good at defense.And not too bad when it comes to offense either
.4. Trade deadline
You really couldn't ask for more from the players the Rangers got at the trade deadline. Sure Jeffress had his misstep but he went to rehab, got his help. He came back and in the few games he pitched, he looked really sharp and promising for the postseason. (I wish there was a gif I could use for him, but I couldn't find one.) Also Lucroy and Beltran? I guess they can stick around too. ;)
3. All things Beltre
Ok this just speaks for itself. By now you've probably seen all the Beltre gifs from this year. Probably because I've posted them all. But it can't hurt to see them a few more times right? Honestly, I really could just rank all of Beltre's 2016 moments in their own list but for now I give you this.
2.Elvis Andrus
During Spring Training, Elvis said all he wanted for this season was to bat .300. When the season ended on Sunday, his average was .302. The highest season average he's had in his career. He also hit 8 home runs, another career high for him. His OPS was also higher than any season of his career, .800. 2015 ended bad for the Rangers, but even worse for Elvis. Because of that, a lot of fans, myself included, wondered how that would affect him for the 2016 season. Well it's easy to say, it only motivated him to work that much harder.
Clinching the AL West
The Texas Rangers are the back-to-back AL West Champions and have clinched home field advantage for as long as they are in the postseason.
I don't know about y'all, but I am extremely proud of this team.Thank you Rangers for being the best team, the most fun and entertaining, and having excellent leadership for all 162 regular season games.However postseason works out, I sure am proud to be a Ranger fan.
