Houston, Texas (WGR 550) - For the first time since 2011, the Texas Rangers have won the AL Pennant, and are heading back to the Fall Classic after winning Game 7 of the ALCS on Monday over the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.
It was the road teams staking claim to victory in every game of the ALCS, which is something the Astros have come out on the wrong side of before in 2019 against the Washington Nationals in the World Series.
Trailing in their series 3-2, the Rangers battled back in Games 6 and 7 in Houston to not just beat the defending champions of baseball, but dominate them on their way to a third appearance in the World Series.
Western New York will be represented in this year's World Series, as Amherst native Jonah Heim will take part in the first Fall Classic series of his career.
The 28-year-old catcher had a career season with the Rangers in 2023, picking up 118 hits, 18 home runs, and registering 95 runs-batted-in (RBIs) while averaging .258 at the plate. It was good enough to earn Heim his first-career nod as a MLB All-Star.
During the postseason, Heim continued his solid play all-around with 10 hits, two home runs, and four RBIs while registering a .227 batting average. In Texas' seven-game series with the Astros, Heim came up in the clutch with two home runs, including one in Game 6 to help the Rangers force a Game 7 on Monday.
Heim was a former fourth-round pick of the Baltimore Orioles in the 2013 MLB Draft just before graduating high school out of Amherst that same year. He ended up forgoing playing time at the collegiate level and signing his rookie deal with the Orioles that same summer.
After spending time in the minors with the Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays and Oakland Athletics, Heim finally got his first call to the majors during the 2020 season on a limited basis. He managed to get 41 plate appearances with the A's, picking up eight hits and five RBIs.
Then during the offseason in early February, the A's traded Heim to the Rangers, where the catcher has developed nicely into becoming the team's No. 1 catcher this past season.
The Rangers have never won a World Series title in their 62-year history in baseball, holding the second-longest active drought only behind the Cleveland Guardians (1948).
They will play the winner of the NLCS on Tuesday night between the Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks. Both teams are deadlocked at 3-3 in their series, with Game 7 set to take place at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
