I know one guy, and he is a genuinely nice guy who knows a lot of baseball, loves his Rangers, and is quick to give credit to the Astros (and others) when due. He almost makes me feel bad about slagging the Rangers. I try to tone it down when I’m with him. It’s easier because he knows a lot, and we can just talk about the game rather than fandom.
That’s a nice unicorn to know.
I have a cousin and his neighbor friend who were from Fort Worth and grew up as Rangers fans.
They still are, a bit, but I’ve done my best and they love the Astros a bit more now (they live in San Antonio).
I have a friend exactly like that. His son was Jason Castro’s roommate at Stanford.
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I probably know a hundred people in the Metroplex, none are Rager fans.
ETA: or they are ashamed to admit it.
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That’s basically me with my father-in-law. I think we both despise each other’s teams but I don’t shit on the Rangers to him and he doesn’t shit on the Astros to me. And to his credit he said he reluctantly pulled for the Astros in the WS (as “an AL guy”)—I guess he’s a bigger man than I am.
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I was really conflicted during the 2011 World Series. I didn’t want the Cardinals to win but I didn’t want the Rangers to win more.
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That’s the thing-
when arlington’s glorified AAA team was winning the AL West, going to the World Series 2 years in a row in the early 2010s, all I heard from their chirpy, fair-weather, ignorant fans here in Austin I knew was how great they were for so long as the Astros languished.
I kept my mouth shut, smiled, took the barbs, still rooted for the Houston Astros baseball club loyally, and, with the past several years, have been quiet gleefully as our favorite professional baseball team that wasn’t a transplant from Washington D.C. has been the best franchise in professional baseball.
Sorry, not sorry, the Houston Astros baseball club is Texas’ first, and best and finest professional baseball franchise.
Suck it, stRangers.
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‘Ole Walt was all over this weeks ago.
I would never root for the Rangers
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Varsho can play CF and C?! This would seem to give the Astros the flexibility to sign Contreras.
On days when Contreras DHs and Abreu is 1B and Yordan is LF, Varsho can be backup C.
On days when Maldonado starts at C and Contreras does not, Varsho can play CF without worry of a backup C.
A move for Varsho would “save” a roster spot, and may make bringing Yuli back more viable (assuming Contreras signs).
There is pretty much no chance of asking a guy you expect to patrol CF on a daily basis to get behind the plate in anything other than a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency situation.
Varsho Position breakdown in ‘22:
C 31
CF 54
RF 71
DH 15
AZ must have had a lot of emergencies 
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Like finding election fraud?
It helps when you have 2 or 3 other guys who play a good CF
Well, maybe he played C most of the time early in the season and OF mostly late rather than off and on day to day. I didn’t check that.
Either way, it’s an unusual mix. I had no idea. Thanks for running down those numbers.
Looks like there were eight times this year where he played outfield and catcher in the same game. A few more DH/C too. In most of these he moved to C after they’d pinch-hit the prior inning.
Almost all his starts behind the plate came when Carson Kelly was out in the first half of the season—it looks like they planned for him to be a full time OF and very occasional C until Kelly’s injury.
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My parents were from Fort Worth and none of my relatives up either limb of the family tree were Rangers fans outside casual interest when they were winning, despite the team playing in Arlington. Just because Dallas grew out to surround Fort Worth does not mean any in Fort Worth will tell you they live in Dallas even remotely. Very different cultures and vibes. And the Rangers have always been a “Dallas” team as a business albeit with a large number of Hispanic fans who live in or near Arlington.
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