The Rangers Unique Celebration

Break out the ginger ale, Texas has the most unique championship celebration in the league. By Josh Hyber 

(AP Photo/Ben Margot)

     In 2006 when the New York Mets clinched the National League East, a pair of then-23-year-old superstars, Jose Reyes and David Wright, celebrated by smoking cigars and dousing themselves with champagne. Jonathan Papelbon of the Boston Red Sox upped the Kings of Queens in 2007 by pouring an entire can of beer on the American League Championship trophy. On September 23 when the Texas Rangers clinched the AL West, they celebrated in style: With a ginger ale fight. Yes, you read that right.

       Because star LF Josh Hamilton has battled drug and alcohol addiction and SP C.J. Wilson is straight-edge, meaning he abstains from alcohol, drugs, and promiscuous sex, last year the Rangers started a tradition unlike any in sports. After their ALDS clincher, Rangers players decided to find a way to involve Hamilton in the celebration, who would not partake if it included alcohol. They decided to replace customary champagne with Canadian Dry Ginger Ale. 
     “It was the coolest thing for my teammates to understand why I can’t be a part of the celebration, and for them to adapt it for me to be a part of it says a lot about my teammates,” Hamilton told Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas October 13, 2010.
     Texas decided to continue the tradition this year when the team clinched the AL West crown for the second consecutive year in a 5-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners–coupled with a loss by the Los Angeles Angels. 
     Hamilton hit his 25th homerun of the season in the game and kept alive a four-game homerun streak. The Rangers will finish the regular season with five players who’ve hit more than 25 homeruns. More impressive is the starting rotation, with all five starters having thirteen or more wins. The rotation’s performance is due in part to the genius idea by Rangers President Nolan Ryan to take away pitch counts. 
     If the Rangers core of Hamilton, Mike Napoli, and Adrian Beltre stay healthy and their starting pitching set the stage for closer Neftali Feliz, Texas could be a festive place in late October. Don’t call it Oktoberfest, call it ginger ale Fest.