Arizona vs. Texas in the MLB finals
Even Nowitzki shouts his baseball joy on the Internet
October 27, 2023, 10:00 a.m
The Texas Rangers face the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Major League Baseball final. Texas icon Dirk Nowitzki supports the Rangers, who made it to the final thanks to massive investments. The D’backs, on the other hand, feel surprisingly comfortable as outsiders.
Dirk Nowitzki only needed two words plus special characters to express his enthusiasm. “World Series!!!!!!!!,” “swish41” typed into his cell phone when the Texas Rangers reached the Major League Baseball (MLB) finals. He had previously been to Global Life Field halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth in the semi-final against the favored Houston Astros, and it is not unlikely that he will come back now that the title is at stake.
The Rangers, Nowitzki will be happy, are favorites in the maximum seven games against the Diamondbacks from Phoenix in Arizona – but what does that mean? In any case, after these amazing playoffs so far: nothing. The Rangers and the D’backs each only got wild cards for the “postseason”, these are a label that says: You don’t actually deserve it. Since last year, twelve teams have been admitted to the playoffs because: more income, what else.
In their role as underdogs, the Rangers and the D’backs, named after a snake, felt right at home: both threw out one favorite after the other, the Rangers most recently in the heated duel in Texas, the Astros, who had reached the World Series four times since 2017, and them Won in 2017 and 2022. In the quarterfinals, Arizona first embarrassed the ever-favored Los Angeles Dodgers and now the star-studded Philadelphia Phillies. Nobody knows how they did it. Neither do you, by the way. “It’s just magical,” says young star Corbin Carroll.
Rangers pay almost double in salaries
The fact that the Rangers are in the World Series for the second time since 2011 is still somewhat understandable. They spent a lot of money. Last year they invested $561 million in the contracts of batsmen Marcus Semien and Corey Seager alone, and before this season another $260 million in four pitchers. But most importantly, they brought Bruce Bochy out of retirement: the manager (similar to the head coach in baseball) was a three-time World Series champion with San Francisco.
But the Rangers’ star so far has been Adolis Garcia, whose salary of $747,000 this season was just above the MLB minimum. The Rangers brought him from the St. Louis Cardinals for very little money in 2019, but then temporarily kicked him out of the 40-man squad in February 2021 due to unsuccessfulness. And now? In the semifinals, the Cuban hit, among other things, five home runs and scored 15 points in seven games – a record.
In addition to Seager ($32.5 million per year) and Semien (25), the Rangers also brought in pitcher “Mad Max” Scherzer (43.3) from the New York Mets during the season. Arizona’s biggest earner is Ketel Marte (13), but the team’s star is rookie Carroll (3.66). For comparison: The Rangers are paying a total of $276.5 million in salaries this year, while the “Snakes” made it to the World Series with $135.7 million.
If the surprises continue like this, the D’backs would have to win the World Series starting this weekend (Saturday, 2:03 a.m. CEST/Sport1+ and Sport1 Extra) at the Rangers. They have already amazed us once: in 2001, in only the fourth year of their existence, they won the title. Dirk Nowitzki will almost certainly follow the games.