The first game of the World Series starts tonight, October 27th at 8:03 PM EST.  The American League (AL) Champions Texas Rangers will compete against the National League (NL) Champions Arizona Diamondbacks.  Whoever wins four out of the seven games of the Series will be crowned the 2023 World Series Champions.

The Rangers last played in the World Series 12 years ago, but have yet to win the championship.  They won the AL Pennant this past Monday, beating out their same-state rivals, the Houston Astros.  Oddly enough, the Astros managed to grasp the AL West Division title from the Rangers (who got the last laugh now?).  The Rangers’ regular season ended with a record of 90 wins and 72 losses.

Much like the Rangers, the Arizona Diamondbacks haven’t been to the World Series in a long time–in 22 years!  In 2001, the Diamondbacks became the fastest expansion team to win a World Series.  At the time, they were just in their fourth season as a professional baseball team.  They won the NL Pennant on Tuesday, beating the Philadelphia Phillies.  The D-Backs finished their regular season with a record of 84 wins and 78 losses.

The Rangers will start off the World Series with the home-field advantage at the Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas for the first two games.  The teams will then go west to Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona for the following two games, where the Diamondbacks will have the home-field advantage.  If necessary, the fifth game will also be held in Arizona and the remaining two games will be back in Texas.

The Diamondbacks and the Rangers both lost over 100 games in their regular season in 2022, look at how far they’ve come in just a year. As said by the late baseball player Tug McGraw, “Ya gotta believe.”