Texas Rangers GM Chris Young Rips 'Classless' Houston Astros Reporter for Postgame Party Post

The idea that the Texas Rangers partied in excess after clinching a payoff berth Saturday night was shot down by general manager Chris Young.

General manager Chris Young is sick of hearing the Texas Rangers partied too hard after clinching a playoff berth, ripping into a Houston-area reporter for being “classless” along with a “poor journalism” for fabricating a story.

The social media-controversy cropped up Sunday after a MLB.com reporter that covers the Houston Astros compared the playoff-clinching celebrations of the two Silver Boot rivals.

"The Rangers partied last night while the Astros had a champagne toast and quickly turned their attention to Sunday and one more win," Astros beat reporter Brian McTaggart of MLB.com posted on X, formerly Twitter.

The Rangers partied last night while the Astros had a champagne toast and quickly turned their attention to Sunday and one more win. Houston's "been-there, done-that" mentality paid off, it seems.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) October 1, 2023

That erupted on social media, with the Astros’ official X account also taking veiled shots at the Rangers’ celebration.

Young didn’t take too kindly to the implication that the postgame clubhouse scene played in role in Sunday’s 1-0 loss to the Seattle Mariners that helped the Astros claim the American League West title.

“I find it ridiculous that that's even a subject, honestly,” Young said Monday afternoon on 105.3 The Fan. “This is the most professional responsible group of players that I've ever been around. We had a very subdued champagne popping, but beyond that there was there was no partying. There was nothing outlandish.

“These guys had earned the right to pop those champagne bottles and that was the extent of our celebration. It had no impact whatsoever on Sunday’s game.”

At that point, Young aimed his ire at the MLB.com reporter without mentioning his name. McTaggart’s post had more than a million views as of Monday afternoon.

“And it’s pretty poor journalism to even suggest that, honestly,” Young continued. “I’m very disappointed in the lack of professionalism of the Houston journalist for putting that out there. It’s classless and it’s not appropriate and it’s completely fabricated. It’s wrong.”

According to accounts from those in the Rangers postgame clubhouse, the celebration Saturday night lasted about 30 minutes.

The Rangers and Astros can’t meet in the playoffs until the AL Championship Series. Texas opens its Wild Card series Tuesday at the Tampa Bay Rays. First pitch is set for 2:08 p.m. from Tropicana Field.

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