Odds Texas Rangers Rename Team in 2020 Set at +750
- Public opinion is increasing calls for the Texas Rangers to change the team name
- The “Rangers” name is connected to an organization with a sordid history of systemic racism
- However, odds are a long +750 that Texas will change its nickname by Jan. 1st, 2021
As evidence mounts of the atrocities committed by the Texas Rangers, public pressure grows for the MLB club of the same name to find a new handle.
However, this notion doesn’t appear to be winning any favor with baseball’s Texas Rangers.
A prop wager dealing with the issue echoes that lack of desire for change within the baseball team. The odds on Texas remaining the Rangers have been set at -1600. The odds of a new team name come back at +750.
Odds Texas Rangers Will Change Their Name
| Outcome | Odds |
|---|---|
| Yes | +750 |
| No | -1600 |
Odds taken June 23rd.
If considering a play on this wager, note that the prop specifies the Rangers must change their name by Jan. 1st, 2021.
Eyes of America Are on Texas
When the Washington Senators relocated to the Lone Star State in 1971, they adopted the Texas Rangers as the team’s new name. For decades, no one took issue with this move.
Recently, evidence has come to light that the law enforcement version of the Texas Rangers weren’t exactly the crime-fighting do-gooders that Chuck Norris portrayed them to be in the TV show “Walker: Texas Ranger”.
During the Mexican Revolution, Texas Rangers would shoot Mexican-Americans at random and excused their murders by calling them, bandits. pic.twitter.com/cZevXVy55y
— ?????? (@AlytaDeLeon) June 16, 2020
Documented evidence reveals that brutal savagery, entitled lawlessness, and systemic racism – especially against Mexican-Americans – were all part and parcel of what the Rangers were about during the early 20th century.
Later, as segregation was passed in the 1950s and schools were to be integrated, the Texas Rangers were deployed to prevent black children from attending their new schools.
Rangers Display No Appetite for Change
Universities have proven to be receptive to concerns about offensive team nicknames. The same sentiments are rarely surfacing among professional teams.
Washington’s NBA team dropped Bullets for Wizards because the team didn’t want to be connected with America’s tragic penchant for gun violence. NASCAR recently distanced itself from the Confederate flag.
The Rangers aren’t the first North American pro franchise to be called out to change what’s viewed as a racist nickname. Much like those other teams, they’re standing defiantly against being told what to do.
The Cleveland and Atlanta MLB franchises and Washington’s NFL team maintain their nicknames despite calls for change from Native Americans who find them to be offensive.
The Texas @Rangers need to change their name.
— Antonio Arellano (@AntonioArellano) June 22, 2020
Atlanta fans continue to do the Tomahawk Chop at games, as do supporters of Super Bowl champion Kansas City in the NFL.
Nothing to See Here
There’s an old saying that “you can always tell a Texan but you can’t tell a Texan much”. The Rangers appear to fit this description. They’ll hear nothing about changing their name.
“While we may have originally taken our name from the law enforcement agency, since 1971 the Texas Rangers Baseball Club has forged its own, independent identity,” the team said in a statement.
The Texas Rangers have no plans to change their name despite its connection to the famous law enforcement agency. https://t.co/fPGKyp8Rhc pic.twitter.com/cAcSPKn793
— theScore (@theScore) June 20, 2020
“The Texas Rangers Baseball Club stands for equality. We condemn racism, bigotry, and discrimination in all forms.”
Should the Rangers change their name to disconnect from a connection to a repugnant time in Texas history?
Probably.
Will the Rangers actually change their name?
Nope. Not gonna happen, especially not before 2021.
Pick: No (-1600)
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
