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Texas Rangers’ general manager Chris Young went off on a Houston Astros beat writer for criticizing the way the Rangers celebrated clinching their playoff berth.
After defeating the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night, the Rangers players and coaching staff were rightfully excited to have made the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
"The harder it is the more sweeter it is, this has been awesome! These boys have earned it, they fought back all season long they faced a ton of adversity and to see them celebrating like this is so rewarding." – A very proud Chris young 🥳
@Rangers | #StraightUpTX | 📺: BSSW pic.twitter.com/1PvDCV8xcI— Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) October 1, 2023
Apparently, such celebrations are passé and frowned upon by MLB.com’s Houston Astros reporter, Brian McTaggart.
“The Rangers partied last night while the Astros had a champagne toast and quickly turned their attention to Sunday and one more win,” McTaggart wrote on X. “Houston’s ‘been-there, done-that’ mentality paid off, it seems.”
His complaint seemed to be that the Rangers’ “partying” cost them the AL West division, as Houston ended up winning the crown on the final day of the season due to a tiebreaker (both teams finished 90-72).
Then, just in case someone didn’t get the message he doubled down in replies to comments on his post.
Well, I should defer to your vast experience.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) October 2, 2023
It’s 100’percent. Rangers partied after Saturday’s win. There’s pictures. Astros didn’t party Saturday.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) October 2, 2023
The Dallas Morning News‘ Rangers beat writer Evan Grant, who was actually reporting on the Rangers during their celebration, wrote about McTaggart’s comment, “The Rangers popped bottles and quickly retired to dining room to watch final outs of Astros game. Several players were showered & dressed by time Houston game ended. Marcus Semien went to town on a Chick-Fil-A. Just inaccurate statement.”
Texas Rangers general manager Chris Young went even further on Monday.
“I find it ridiculous that that’s even a subject, honestly. This is the most professional, responsible group of players that I’ve ever been around. We had a very subdued champagne popping. Beyond that, there was no partying. There was nothing outlandish. These guys had earned the right to pop champagne bottles. And that was the extent of our celebration,” Young said on 105.3 The Fan.
“It had no impact whatsoever on Sunday’s game. And it’s really pretty poor journalism to even suggest that, honestly. I’m very disappointed in the lack of professionalism of the Houston journalists for putting that out there. It’s classless. It’s not appropriate and it’s completely fabricated. It’s wrong.”
Really, the best case scenario for resolving this beef will be if the Rangers and Astros can meet up in the American League Championship Series.
First, however, the Rangers must get past the Rays and the Orioles, while the Astros will have to beat either the Blue Jays or the Twins.