Last week, the Lone Star Ball Reacts survey question asked folks, if the Rangers can’t make the World Series from the American League this year, who would you like to see make it?
The Tampa Bay Rays got a plurality of the vote, at 44%, with the Chicago White Sox coming in second, at 27%.
The Rays would seem to make some sense, having never won the World Series in their history, and only having gotten there twice, the most recent being in the bizarre 2020 pandemic season that no one really remembers
that well. They are largely inoffensive, and them making it means they might win the World Series, leaving one fewer team in the “never won the World Series” grouping that the Seattle Mariners occupy.
The Chicago White Sox are a bit surprising. They are a neat story, though, having been terrible for the previous three seasons, including being record-settingly terrible in 2024 and losing 102 games in 2025. There’s a 1974 Texas Rangers vibe to them, in that sense. They are also managed by former Rangers bench coach (and Mike Napoli left field platoon partner) Will Venable, whose name I always want to spell with one “l”, like Wil Myers.
I suspect that there’s also an element of “I don’t want to pick any of the other contenders, so who is left” with the ChiSox, which is supported by the fact that the “Other” category has almost as much support as the Astros, Red Sox, and Yankees combined. I am surprised more people would rather see the Astros advance than Boston, but maybe some Astros fans voted.
On the national front, a majority of fans think Kyle Schwarber will win the major league home run crown, with Pete Crow-Armstrong and Yordan Alvarez a distant second and third.
Voters believe that 40-45 should be the benchmark that top home run hitters have in a normal season, with almost 80% saying it should be in the 40-50 range. That sounds about right to me.
As far as the 45 home run threshold goes, most folks think should one or two players will reach that total this season.
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