2023 Texas Rangers
Texas baseball had recently seen success, but for the longest time it had a less prestigious track record. The Astros in the 80s struggled to win the NL West and when they did they'd always get checked in the NLCS while the Rangers never sniffed the playoffs, and before that neither team stood much of a chance. In the 90s, both teams became contenders, but teams like the Yankees and Braves proved to be too overpowered for them. In the 2000s, the Astros finally clinched a pennant but failed in the World Series while the Rangers slipped back into obscurity. The Rangers themselves finally won pennants in 2010 and 2011, but both times were on the wrong end of the fall classic result. Finally in 2017, the Astros put Texas on top of the baseball world, but their cheating scandal put a huge asterisk on all their accomplishments. What Texas needed was a clean title to brag about.
In 2023, the Astros were reigning champions, but nobody was accepting it as clean. The Rangers went into the season determined to finally get one over their state rival. They had the right man at Manager for such a task as Bruce Bochy was no stranger to dealing with those circumstances when he led the Giants to three titles while contending with the Dodgers. The Rangers got off to a hot start and threatened to take the division title, while the entire time the Astros and their fans dismissed the Rangers record as an illusion. The Rangers didn't fall off though, and finished the season 90-72, tied with the Astros for the AL West lead. In the head-to-head games that season, the Rangers could only muster a 4-9 record against Houston, meaning the Astros would win the tie-breaker and be the winner of the division while the Rangers had to settle for a Wild Card spot.
In the Wild Card Series, the Rangers traveled to Tampa Bay to face the Rays. The Rays themselves had fallen short in their own fight for the AL East. The two teams had met in the ALDS in both of the pennant winning runs of the Rangers in 2010 and '11, and this matchup would prove to be no different as the Rangers easily swept the set with a 4-0 and 7-1 beatdowns. the Rangers kept the momentum going as they swept the ALDS over the 101 win Baltimore Orioles, setting up a Texas showdown in the ALCS against the Astros.
Jordan Montgomery would outduel Justin Verlander in Game 1 and Nathan Eovaldi would manage a Houston comeback attempt in Game 2 to put the Rangers up 2-0 quickly, but back at home the Rangers fell victim to three straight Astros wins to fall down 2-3 in the series and a loss away from elimination. Game 6 was a tight one until the 9th when Adolis Garcia hit a grand slam to extend a lead and ensure Game 7, where Texas would overwhelm 11-4 and win the pennant.
For the World Series, the Rangers would draw the Arizona Diamondbacks. Game 1 went to the bottom of the 9th with Arizona leading 5-3 when Corey Seager blasted a 2-run homer to tie the game up, where in the 11th, Adolis Garcia would hit a homer of his own, giving Texas the walk-off. Game 2 was a beatdown 9-1 in favor of the Diamondbacks, giving the Rangers a dismal 2-4 record at home in the postseason. But where they suffered failures at home, the Rangers made up for it on the road where they would sweep the next three games in Arizona, giving them an unblemished 11-0 record that October. The 5-0 Game 5 victory locked up the 1st title for the Rangers franchise.
Leclerc, meanwhile, would prove to be the go to guy for Saves in the postseason push, locking down 4 of the 13 wins during the title push.
