World Series: Rangers repeatedly overcame adversity to win franchise's first title
Texas Rangers celebrate after winning Game 5 of the World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023, in Phoenix. Credit: AP/Gregory Bull
PHOENIX — Only by the inexplicable calculus of the 2023 Rangers could Travis Jankowski wind up doing more to secure the franchise’s first World Series title than Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer, his two former teammates in Flushing.
Count the former Stony Brook star among the October heroes that finally got the the job done for the Rangers, whose third trip to the Fall Classic resulted in them hoisting the Commissioner’s Trophy after Wednesday night’s 5-0 victory over the Diamondbacks in Game 5 at Chase Field.
Texas got its first run in the seventh after breaking up Zac Gallen’s no-hit bid with Corey Seager’s cue-ball shot through the left side of the shift to lead off that same inning. A line-drive double by Evan Carter then set up Mitch Garver’s RBI single. Gallen retired 14 straight to start the game, but the Diamondbacks couldn’t break through against Nathan Eovaldi, who threw six scoreless innings.
The Rangers tacked on some insurance in the ninth when Jonah Heim’s single scored two runs, the second coming when centerfielder Alek Thomas let the grounder skip past him for an error. Marcus Semien later followed with a two-run homer to start some of the 48,511 fans streaming for the exits.
Texas lost 94 games a year ago, rebuilt their rotation during the winter, barely hung on to a wild-card berth after losing the AL West title to the Astros on the final day of the regular season and then went 11-0 on the road in these playoffs.
The original blueprint for the AL champs called for deGrom to be the $185 million ace of their new rotation and his contribution was a whopping total of six starts before season-ending Tommy John surgery. Oddly enough, the Rangers acquiring Scherzer from the Mets at the deadline was supposed to help replace deGrom, but he missed a month with a shoulder-muscle strain and then returned to pitch 9 2/3 innings divided over three October starts.
The meter is still running on deGrom and Scherzer, with Texas spending close to $50 million this year for their limited contributions. Better luck next season. But what’s been truly amazing about the Rangers’ October run is how they’ve repeatedly shrugged off significant blows to their $237 million roster -- the eighth highest payroll in the majors -- to move within one victory of the title heading into Wednesday’s Game 5 at Chase Field.
On Monday night, as they were squeezing past the Diamondbacks for a 3-1 win, the Rangers had Scherzer abruptly leave the mound due to back spasms after throwing a few warmup pitches in the fourth inning. Midway through the eighth, they watched in horror as Adolis Garcia -- the ALCS MVP -- doubled over after a swing and later was diagnosed with an oblique strain.
“We’ve overcome obstacles all year,” said Jankowski, who went 2-for-4 with that two-run double and two runs scored in the 11-7 victory. “This isn’t the first time we’ve been punched in the mouth.”
The Rangers talk often about the adversity they faced just to get to the playoffs, but they were actually close to the middle of the MLB pack as far as having 21 players on the IL. By comparison, the Yankees had 28, the Mets had 25 and the Angels were at the top of the list with 35.
Even Texas’ combined amount of days lost to the IL totaled only 1,1150, which put them in the bottom third. The Dodgers were No. 1 at 2,470, followed by the Angels (2,388) and Yankees (2,154). Where the injuries really hurt the Rangers was in the wallet, and that goes to show the level of talent missing throughout the season. Texas spent $60.8 million for player stays on the IL, third highest in MLB, behind the Yankees ($82M) and Angels ($71.2M).
That means the Rangers went long stretches without some of their biggest-impact players, like deGrom (156 days), Seager (48), Nathan Eovaldi (38), Josh Jung (43), Mitch Garver (54) and Jake Odorizzi (186), to name a few. Young spent almost $300 million last winter on building a new rotation, but still had to trade for two of the top starters at the deadline -- Scherzer and Jordan Montgomery -- to fortify a starting staff decimated by injury at midseason.
“I will say that we have the luxury in this market to be aggressive in free agency, and our ownership has given us tremendous support,” Young said. “It's not about the high-dollar signings; it's all about all the other players that often are role players that are also winning pieces that have come in trades, they've come in player development, international signings, stuff like that.”
Or even smart pocket-change investments like Jankowski, who’s been worth every penny of the $1.25 million deal he signed last winter. Bench players such as the former Stony Brook star have spackled the roster holes for the past seven months, right up to Wednesday night’s Game 5 of the World Series.
“I think we had to deal with more (adversity) this year than any year I've ever had to manage,” said Bruce Bochy, who piloted the Giants to three World Series titles in five years. “And that's what makes me proud of these guys, too, how they were focused on that.”
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
