There are some facts about the Texas Rangers that fans probably know all too well, but it’s worth sharing with those who enjoy the game of baseball. The West division baseball team was founded in 1972, and now they compete in Major League Baseball. Now, with new talent Jacob DeGrom, joining them, things might take a turn for the better!

Bruce Bochy Takes Over the Rangers

Bruce Bochy, whose popular nicknames are Boch and Headly, is known to most as a baseball manager and former catcher. Although he sat out the last three seasons for the Texas Rangers, he has now taken over management and is excited! He knew the team was looking for free agents and was very happy to hear that Jacob DeGrom would be joining them. He felt good about it and knew the team was ready for great things.

Jacob DeGrom Signs With the Rangers

Jacob was interested in signing with the Texas Rangers, and when he did, the whole team got excited. He brought something to the team that they hadn’t had for some time – hope for a winning streak. Jacob has signed a five-year, $185 million contract with the team.

Euphoria Hits Hard

After DeGrom signed with the Texas Rangers, manager Bruce couldn’t have been happier, along with the other teammates. He says he is grateful to the owner, Chris Young, for working hard to get the guy they desperately needed. Bochy also expressed his gratitude to Jacob for coming to Texas and being interested in the team.

Management and the team feel they have some very interesting baseball seasons ahead of them now that they have been joined by Jacob DeGrom. Getting the ace to play for them can’t be seen as a hard rule that they will become the ultimate winners, but it’s sure a reason for everyone’s respect. This was a smart move on management’s part!

In 2021, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement marched on, but with a more subdued beat, as sport transitioned from protest to action by enacting some of the changes players helped bring to light.

From tennis courts to soccer pitches and Formula One starting grids, sportspeople brought their protests into the living rooms of sports fans worldwide in 2020, but BLM aimed to make an impact this year outside arenas and stadiums and inside boardrooms.

If a league or team in North America did not have a diversity and inclusion department last year, the majority will have one by 2021, under pressure from athletes and fans to address social justice issues.

Don Garber, Major League Soccer commissioner, states that they are trying to position the league as a league for the new America. This makes diversity in the central plank in the annual state-of-league address. He also claims that they all should have an awakening of what happened over the few last years and ensure that they are doing their part.

Racial Injustice Is Real

Athletes from all around the world united in 2020 to express their fury against racial injustice, which was sparked by the death of George Floyd, a Black man who gasped for air and cried out for his mother as a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.

Floyd’s passing compelled a reckoning with racial injustice and elevated the Black Lives Matter movement, which arose in recent years in response to the deaths of African Americans in police custody. Athletes took a knee or raised fists in significantly lesser numbers and with less frequency this year.

There were, however, no headline-grabbing demonstrations like those made by Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka at the United States Open, when she wore a mask with the name of a different Black American victim of police violence before each of her matches.

Promoting Black Lives Matter

By 2021, the Black Lives Matter message had been ingrained in the game-day experience, with the phrase “End Racism” emblazoned on the backs of NFL football helmets and cleats, as well as on the steering wheels of Formula One cars.

While athlete mental health became the major theme at the Tokyo Olympics, several athletes used their performances on the world’s largest athletic stage to keep the BLM movement up and center.

Women’s soccer players from the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden, and New Zealand all took the knee before their opening matches to raise awareness of the need for greater racial equality in sport.