When the Texas Rangers broke out the ginger ale to celebrate their ALDS win over the Tampa Bay Rays, I thought it was a a bit contrived and done more for show. The more I’ve seen of this team, the more I’m convinced they genuinely love each other. Take the comments from ALCS MVP Josh Hamilton upon receiving the award:
“I love my teammates. I love them so much. Any of these guys could have gotten this award. I’m happy to have them. At the same time … I don’t want to talk about myself, I want to talk about them! WE are the reason we’re here. The chemistry on the team is something like I’ve never know anywhere. All the guys love each other and we support each other.”
That sentiment wasn’t exclusive to Hamilton either; manager Ron Washington said about his team “They’re the greatest bunch of guys I’ve ever worked with in my whole career.”
Texas’ team attitude and the love the players appear to have for each other seems to be contagious. I speculated if winning breeds team chemistry or if it depends on the group of players and how well they get along. While all teams that are winning appear to enjoy themselves, this bunch of guys seems to genuinely like each other and support each other more than the average team. This reality makes them an enjoyable bunch and a team that’s easy to support. As an Angels fan, I can’t stand the Rangers, but because of this reason it’s hard to dislike them.
