The Texas Rangers World Series Championship celebration rolled through Dallas City Hall Wednesday.
Just a week after the final out was recorded in the game 5 victory, the accomplishment was still very fresh for fans and team members.
Dallas City Council Members were thrilled to pose with the trophy.
Eric Nadel, the long-time Rangers Broadcaster, was the master of ceremony.
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“For me, it’s been a 45-year journey to get to this point where I represent the World Champion Texas Rangers,” Nadel said to a round of applause.
City employees line up the take photos with Rangers relief pitcher Josh Sborz and bench coach Donnie Ecker.
It was Sborz who got the final out to win the series.
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“Every day we pray, my wife and I, just can’t believe we did it. It’s just such a long road. Fortunate to have a really good team, really good coaches, and we did it,” Sborz said.
Mayor Eric Johnson said the championship from the team that’s been in North Texas for more than 50 years is an inspiration for Dallas.
“They did it the hard way, folks. If you watched this season, you understand, going 11 and 0 on the road. And having to overcome the injuries that they overcame,” Johnson said.
Mayor Johnson also thanked the Rangers for their West Dallas baseball academy in the neighborhood where he grew up. It supports youth sports and also awarded 81 college scholarships this year.
“I’m as proud of that, almost, as winning this trophy,” Rangers Majority Owner Ray Davis said.
Davis said he first started watching the team in the original Arlington stadium decades ago.
“So this has been a dream for all the long-suffering fans, and I’m one of them, that we could bring this trophy to North Texas,” Davis said.
Bench coach Ecker said all the ups and downs the team weathered this year just made them stronger.
“We didn’t flinch. We just thought all of these things that create adversity just create more meaning. So, the more obstacles that were created, the more meaning as the result of it,” Ecker said.
The Texas Rangers will receive a key to the city from Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker at a ceremony in the Stockyards on Thursday.
