PHOENIX — The Texas Rangers are World Series champs!
And it's been a long time coming, too. It's the first piece of hardware in the team's 62-year history -- a championship drought that had pre-dated the team's move to Arlington in 1972 and went all the way back to its introduction into the league as the expansion Washington Senators in 1961.
Social media lit up with applause for the Rangers on Wednesday night -- from President George W. Bush, Creed and Dirk Nowitzki to the Dallas Cowboys and DFW Airport.
WFAA also spoke one-on-one with a handful of Rangers legends about what the win means to them.
Adrian Beltre
"I've been in that situation before, and I was just praying 'Please, let it happen.' After the ninth inning, we scored 3-4 runs in that inning, then it would feel a little better because now we got more cushion. But I'm just happy for these guys. I don't think anybody picked them to be in this situation and look what happened. That shows that, once you cross those lines, anything can happen."
Ian Kinsler
"I feel great for these guys. It's an unbelievable experience. They played incredible. Just game after game on the road ... just winning game after game, obviously they set a record. This is a special group of guys. I think this organization has a lot more in store, and I think it's going to be year after year with this organization. It's just incredible how many records were set. Every game I watch, I'll turn on MLB Network the next day and it seemed like on the bottom line there was a new record being broken. This team set the standard. It's pretty fun to be a part of."
Michael Young
"I'm thrilled for the organization right now. What these players did ... taken this whole city and put them on their shoulders, getting their first championship. Just to be along for the ride ... I've had an unbelievable time these last couple weeks cheering these guys on."
"This has been the ultimate sleeping giant for a long time. Now that we have our first title, everything has changed now for this franchise. We have our first one. Anything negative is done. We've established ourselves as one of the premiere franchises in the game and now it's a matter of doing it consistently and competing for championships over and over. The beautiful part is the bar has officially raised here."
Texas Rangers Parade Celebration
Per Arlington PD, the parade will take place on Friday, Nov. 3. We have more information on the parade time and route here.
More Texas Rangers coverage: