The Texas Rangers secured their first World Series title in franchise history on Wednesday night, defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 5 to clinch a 4-1 series victory. There'll be plenty of time over the coming days to dissect why these Rangers were able to shock the league throughout the regular season and playoffs -- their magical October run saw them eliminate squads who won 90, 99, and 101 games -- but there's one very obvious explanation: they turned into an unbeatable force on the road once the postseason began.
Indeed, the Rangers set a new Major League Baseball playoff record by reeling off 11 consecutive road wins. Here's a look at the top five in that category:
- 2023 Texas Rangers, 11 (active)
- 1996-97 New York Yankees, 9
- 1937-42 New York Yankees, 9
- 2019 Washington Nationals, 8
- 1926-32 New York Yankees, 8
Texas' road-warrior ways are even more impressive than that statistic indicates. The Rangers played six of their first seven playoff games, including the first four, all on the road. They also ended the regular season with a seven-game road trip. As a result, the Rangers closed out the year by serving as the visiting team in 17 of their last 24 games.
Keep in mind, MLB teams are usually considered to be doing well if they play around .500 ball on the road. These Rangers won 14 of those 24 games -- a 58.3% winning percentage that prorates to about 95 wins over a full season.
"It's just a resilient group, man," MVP Corey Seager said after the game. "We didn't care where we were. We were coming out and competing. We were going to try to win that night and fortunately we won a bunch on the road."
The old parlance is that records are meant to be broken. We happen to think Texas will hold onto this one for a while. Even with MLB's expanded postseason format, it's going to be near impossible for any team to top that in a given October. The Rangers were sort of the perfect storm in that respect -- not just because of their wins, but because of their circumstances.
In theory, a team could win up to 13 postseason road games in a row. That would require sweeping the Wild Card Series in two games; winning the three road contests in the Division Series; and then winning four games apiece in the League Championship and World Series. In practice, that's a high ask. A team would have to win every road game while simultaneously losing every home game. We've seen some weird things happen in baseball, but that's a bit much.
If we had to guess, whenever a team does break the Rangers' record for road playoff wins, it'll come over a multi-year run. But who cares about that scenario right now? After all, Arlington has a parade to enjoy.
Rangers World Series championship gear now available
The Rangers have won thier first World Series title in five games over the Diamondbacks. Texas hadn't even had a winning season since 2016, making the 2023 World Series title even sweeter. You can already get Rangers World Series championship hoodies, t-shirts, hats, autographed baseballs, and more. Grab your piece of history before it's gone here.
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