Two Years Too Little Too Late, Rangers Finally Win in St. Louis

   I'll never forget being tearful in the tunnel.
   After a 40-year wait, the climax was within four seconds. In the bowels of St. Louis' Busch Stadium on the chilly night of Oct. 27, 2011, I was among about 100 media members assembled on the perch of history. The Texas Rangers, long the laughingstock of Major League Baseball, led the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, three games to two and were now - despite blowing leads of 1-0, 3-2, 4-3 and 7-4 - just one strike away from their first title.
   With a 7-5 lead, two outs in the bottom of the 9th, two strikes on David Freese and All-Star closer Neftali Feliz on the mound, finally, this was it.
   As we watch on a tiny TV in the corner near the 1st-base entrance to the Cardinals' dugout, photographers and cameramen frantically wrap their equipment in plastic and themselves in ponchos to protect from the imminent onslaught of champagne. MLB officials from Major League Baseball hand out information regarding the logistics of the post-game ceremonies. And whisked by on carts are boxes containing Rangers' "World Champions" hats and T-shirts.
   With tears in my eyes and trembling in my hands, I prepare the celebratory Tweet I thought I'd never write:

After 40 years your Texas Rangers are finally champions. As Mark Holtz would've proudly bellowed: "Hello, World Series win column!"

   Since you know the rest of the story - Freese tripled, Rangers lost, and again the next night in Game 7 - you know I never hit send. Only the back-back-back-back button, until the Tweet, and the championship, were painfully erased.

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   A lot has changed since those October bummers two years ago. Josh Hamilton and Michael Young and Mike Napoli are gone and Feliz is now a starter on the shelf with an injury. And then, just to remind us again of what could have been and almost was, the Rangers up and won three straight from the Cardinals over the weekend.

   Call it the most bittersweet sweep in franchise history.
   Nick Tepesch handcuffed the best team in baseball late Sunday night in a 2-1 win, punctuating a series in which Texas held the Cards to a combined seven runs. Nelson Cruz, who of course misplayed Freese's epic triple in '11, hit and Martin Perez pitched and the Rangers ... did absolutely nothing to erase the ghosts of their Adversity Under the Arch.
   The Rangers have fully recovered from their recent six-game losing streak. They took three of four from the Oakland A's and have now won five of six to steady their ship and regain firm footing as one of the best teams in baseball.
   But as much as creating new joy, the weekend sweep in St. Louis simply served as a reminder of the pain that still lingers. And probably always will.

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