As you prepare to watch the World Series this week you may be tempted to root for the Texas Rangers. They started out life as the Washington Senators, after all. That connection must have a little meaning for hometown fans, right? Uh … no. The franchise that turned into the Rangers was a pox on Washington sports. Other than Frank Howard‘s mammoth home runs, the second version of the Senators brought nothing but misery to the District. They had one winning season in 11 years. They changed primary owners three times — the last a heartless businessman named Bob Short who charged the highest ticket prices for the sport’s worst product and moved the team to Texas in 1971.
Even worse, as the Senators 2.0 embarrassed themselves, the original incarnation of the team — moved to Minnesota in 1961 — won 89 games or more in seven of its first 10 seasons there, including an American League pennant in 1965 and two AL West titles.
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And because Washington, a city with just five winning seasons since 1934, wouldn’t support a terrible expansion team, it was branded a bad baseball town. Despite an MLB-ready stadium, that reputation stuck during the expansion years of 1977, 1993 and 1998. Plus, by Texas making its first World Series, only two teams — the Mariners and our very own Nats/Expos — have yet to win a pennant. Still want the Rangers to win?
