Lone Star Series - First Meeting and Interleague Rivalry

First Meeting and Interleague Rivalry

• One year before their first official matchup in Interleague Play, both teams retired the number of Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan who had successful runs with both teams.

• According to Mike Lamb and Mark Teixeira, the Rangers-Astros "rivalry" is more for the fans of Texas than like a bitter rivalry (e.g. Windy City Series).

• On July 1, 2006, Gary Matthews Jr. made an unbelievable catch by taking away a home run from Houston Astros first baseman Mike Lamb in the top of the 8th inning.

• While with the Astros for two years, Roger Clemens never pitched against the Rangers in twelve Lone Star Series matchups.

• Only four players have played for both the Rangers and Astros against their in-state opponent since 2001. Those players are: Doug Brocail, Mike Lamb, Richard Hidalgo, and Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez.

• Minute Maid Park and Rangers Ballpark in Arlington both had been using Sea Isle 1 turf through the 2008 season rather than natural grass because of the aggressive Texas summer heat. Before the 2009 season, the Astros chose to replace the previous surface in their respective ballpark with a more durable sod that requires less sunlight than other natural grass turf systems.

• Beginning in 2008, the Lone Star Series saw for the first time two African-American managers go head-to-head against one another, the Astros' Cecil Cooper and the Rangers' Ron Washington which lasted for two years.

• There has only been one rainout in the history of the Lone Star Series. A game scheduled for Sunday June 30, 2002 at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington was unceremoniously postponed due to rain and rescheduled for Monday September 2. The Rangers won the last matchup of the year against the Astros, 7–2, in front of a minuscule crowd of 24,468, but the Astros won the Silver Boot regardless of the outcome of the game.

• The contrast between the Rangers and Astros in their ballpark histories, and uniform histories are very apparent. The Rangers, since 1972, have always played in open-air stadiums (Arlington Stadium and Rangers Ballpark in Arlington) while the Astros have mostly played in indoor stadiums (Astrodome and Minute Maid Park). While the Rangers have traditionally worn variations of red, white, and blue to represent the Lone Star flag, the Astros have changed color schemes (e.g. Shooting Star of the late 1960s, Rainbow Guts) and logos many times throughout their history.

• Other differences, not related to baseball, include the weather during the summer, population, cultural, and allegiance preferences between the different regions of Texas. Both Houston, TX and Arlington, TX have humid subtropical climates; however, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex mostly has dry winds in the summer (and icy conditions in the winter, with some frost at night) compared to Greater Houston's severe relative humidity and minimal wind except near the coast (and milder winter conditions). The Metroplex is inland located in North Texas while Houston is in the face of the Gulf of Mexico in Southeast Texas. The city of Dallas has the 9th largest population in the United States and 3rd largest population in Texas; the city of Houston has the 4th largest population in the United States and largest population in Texas. The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex is the 4th largest metropolitan area in the US, while the Greater Houston area is the 5th largest in the US

• Since their inductions into Major League Baseball, there have been only 59 players to play for the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers. Some notable names are Ken Caminiti, Richard Hidalgo, Mike Lamb and Carlos Lee. But out of those 59, only 3 have played their entire careers for both teams, Chuck Jackson, Mike Richardt & Mike Simms.

• On February 6, 2008, Nolan Ryan became the Rangers' team president after being the special assistant to general manager, scouting players, and holding pitching camps with the Astros for the past three seasons. (Nolan Ryan was also the only person to be named DHL Hometown Hero by two organizations, the Rangers and Astros, respectively.)

• On August 18, 2009, the Rangers acquired Ivan Rodriguez in a trade from the Houston Astros to help them down the stretch for the purpose of achieving their first playoff appearance in ten years. It will be Rodriguez's second stint with Texas.

• On September 14, 2010, the Houston Astros Triple-A affiliate, the Round Rock Express, announced that they would become the Texas Rangers new minor league affiliate. This left the Houston Astros without a Triple-A team and the Texas Rangers old Triple-A team, the Oklahoma City RedHawks without a parent club. On September 20, 2010, the Houston Astros made the Oklahoma City RedHawks their own affiliate. These changes went in to effect immediately due to neither team making the play-offs but changes won't be seen until the 2011 Season.