Just under 30 kilometers separates Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers, from the American Airlines Center, Dirk Nowitzki’s long-time workplace. The connection between the German NBA legend and the MLB team from Arlington is correspondingly close.
When the Rangers secured their place in the World Series with an 11-4 win against defending champion Houston Astros on Tuesday night, Nowitzki also gave free rein to his euphoria. “World Series,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter) and garnished the post with eight exclamation points.
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Luca Doncic, Nowitzki’s heir to the Dallas Mavericks throne, also followed the Rangers’ success and posted: “Hello World Series!”
Nowitzki’s special Rangers relationship – and a dark moment
But the relationship between Nowitzki, who led the Mavericks to their first and only NBA title in 2011, is special. When the Mavs’ former No. 41 was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame in August of this year, the Rangers paid the Dallas legend the utmost respect.
“I was always a big fan of Dirk,” Rangers GM Chris Young said at the time, adding, “I grew up in Dallas. He is an icon here. What he has done for the city. He won a championship for the Mavericks and was a role model. He had Hall of Fame caliber – on and off the field.”
And Nowitzki also has a soft spot for the MLB team and regularly attends the Rangers’ home games. Among other things, he watched game four of the series with Doncic, which the Rangers lost 4-5. He was also already in action on the field. He had thrown the symbolic first pitch at a game several times.
This included game three of the 2011 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. However, Dallas’ sports hero did not bring luck to the Rangers. The game was lost 7:16 and the series ended with a 3:4 defeat. After 2010, when they lost to the San Francisco Giants 1:4 in the final series, they failed again in their second final appearance in a row.
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Euphorie in Arlington
How much the third final appearance in franchise history means to the Rangers twelve years later becomes clear when you listen to the words of manager Bruce Bochy.
“We had our ups and downs,” he recalled after the game: “But the team always gets back up. To come here and beat a great team like Houston! Congratulations on their year, but it’s great that we have horns in Texas.”
Adolis García was even clearer. The outfielder emphasized that it wasn’t about the Astros beating. “It’s about how proud we are of this journey we’ve been on and how we’ve improved to get to this point now,” García said.
So now the Astros are just one step away from the big dream they worked so hard for this season. However, the franchise has been at this point twice – and twice they fell into the valley of tears.
Nowitzki as a role model for the Rangers
Dirk Nowitzki knows what thoughts go through an athlete’s head after such defeats.
In the 2006 NBA finals, Würzburg and his Mavericks were already 2-0 up – then the break came. The Miami Heat won the following four games and, to make matters worse, celebrated the title after match six at the American Airlines Center.
But Nowitzki came back. It took five years, but he led Dallas to its first NBA title in 2011, making his Mavericks the third team in the city to celebrate a championship in the five major US professional leagues.
In the 2011 World Series, Dirk Nowitzki threw out the first pitch in game three
Now the Texas Rangers are making their third attempt to bring a major title to the city just outside Dallas. For Arlington it would be the first title ever in one of the major leagues. There the team would then have its own legendary status.
However, out of superstition, you might not want to bring Nowitzki in for first pitch in the World Series again. The 45-year-old is an icon in Dalls – but at least on the field he didn’t bring the Rangers any luck with his only throw before a World Series game.
2023-10-27 14:30:25
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