The Texas Rangers have come under fire for their seeming refusal to accommodate the Houston Astros in a time of crisis, but the team’s general manager says there is more to the story than the way it has been presented.
On Monday, Astros president Reid Ryan said in a statement that his team’s three-game series against Texas this week has been moved to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla., because the Rangers were unwilling to cooperate with a proposed plan.
#Astros & Rangers will play their upcoming series at Tropicana Field in St.Petersburg, Fla because Rangers refused to play ball w/the Astros pic.twitter.com/h5TSfWmCCf
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) August 28, 2017
Rangers GM Jon Daniels defended his team late Monday night, noting that Texas was willing to play the series in any ballpark — including Globe Life Park in Arlington — but did not want to take three future home games away from their ticket holders.
“We were prepared to make the event all about hurricane relief and helping our neighbors. It had nothing to do with looking for a competitive advantage,” Daniels said, per Stefan Stevenson of the Star-Telegram. “That’s an inaccurate portrayal.”
With Houston currently dealing with devastating flooding from Hurricane Harvey, the Astros had proposed playing this week’s series in Arlington and moving the Sept. 25-27 series, which is scheduled to be played in Texas, to Houston.
“We didn’t feel it was right to give our fans 24 hours notice that their tickets in late September were now good this week,” Daniels said. “We were willing to play this series anywhere the Astros and MLB wanted, including here in Arlington.
“The bigger issue, really the only issue, is what’s going on in South Texas right now. People have lost their homes, in some cases their lives. We don’t want to distract from that debating about where a baseball game is played.”
Several people have died and thousands more have lost everything they own as a result of the devastating storm. Fortunately, people from all around the sports world and elsewhere have come forward to aid in the recovery efforts.
