Rangers History Today: The 'Silver Boot' is Born
On this date in Texas Rangers history, the ‘Lone Star Series’ was born.
For the first time, the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros played each other in the regular season, with the game coming on June 8, 2001, at The Ballpark in Arlington.
At the time, the two franchises were still in opposite leagues — the Rangers in the American League and the Astros in the National League. In 1997, the Major Leagues began Interleague play, but did so by pairing divisions. Since the Rangers were in the AL West and the Astros were in the NL Central, they didn’t play each other until MLB began mixing up the matchups a few years later.
To mark the occasion, the two franchises agreed to make a ‘Silver Boot’ the trophy for the years the two teams played each other. As Interleague play continued, MLB scheduled a rivalry series, allowing the Rangers and the Astros to play six games against each other every season.
In 2013, the Astros moved from the NL to the AL and joined the West Division, allowing the two franchises to play each other even more each season. There was a notable brawl in 2015, and Nolan Ryan — who played for both teams — was once the Rangers team president and later an executive team advisor to the Astros, who were then run by Ryan’s son, Reid.
But on this day, the Astros won the first regular-season game between the two franchises, 5-4. Moises Alou and Richard Hidalgo had three hits each for Houston, with Alou hitting a solo home run in the top of the 11th inning that eventually won the game.
Rusty Greer, Alex Rodriguez, and Frank Catalanotto each had two hits for the Rangers. Greer and Ivan ‘Pudge’ Rodriguez each homered off Astros starter Roy Oswalt.
Also on this date …
June 8, 2019: The Texas Rangers retired Adrian Beltre’s No. 29. He became the fourth Ranger to have his number retired, after Ryan, Johnny Oates and Pudge Rodriguez.
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