Texas Rangers World Series Parade 2023: 500,000+ fans celebrate franchise's first championship
ARLINGTON, Texas - Hundreds of thousands of Texas Rangers fans showed up in Arlington on Friday for a chance to celebrate their first championship in franchise history.
It’s a celebration that plenty of fans have been waiting 50 years for, since the team first moved to Arlington in 1972.
Fans began to line the streets of Arlington just after dinner Thursday night.
By the time the parade started, Arlington police said early estimates show 500,000-700,000 people filled the Arlington's Entertainment District. It was a crowd that would have filled Globe Life Field many times over.
Rangers fans wouldn’t let anything keep them from seeing the World Series champions with their own eyes.
"We’ve been here since 5:30 in the morning, got here real early, been a Rangers fan for 30 years," said Luke Wagner.
"Dude, I’m just stoked, bro, like we’ve been going at it for long enough. 63 years and we finally got one boys!" said Jimmy Siders.
"I’ve been a fan since I was 6 or 7, coming to the game with my grandfather, my dad," Joe Garcia recalled.
Many people watched all the action on FOX 4.
PHOTOS: Texas Rangers Championship Parade
An estimated 300,000 Texas Rangers fans packed into the Arlington Entertainment District Friday to watch the team's World Series championship parade.
The 179 game season was capped off with a longer than scheduled parade.
Truck after truck drove along the parade route allowing coaches, players and their families to each have their moment.
Local high school and college bands also performed.
Arlington school bands to perform in Rangers parade
Parade-goers will see all six Arlington ISD high school bands perform together for the Texas Rangers World Series victory parade. The school district, and several others in the area, are closed for the day so students and their families can attend.
The rally cry for the Rangers postseason was ‘Can You Take Me Higher.’ Now, four weeks after the wildcard round, the Rangers have reached the mountaintop.
Several North Texas school districts canceled class on Friday to allow students and staff to go to the parade and to avoid traffic issues that could be caused by the parade.
"I just walked out here, parked about a mile and walked," one fan said.
Fans also have deep connections to the players, like first baseman Nathaniel Lowe.
"We’re supporting. Nathaniel’s mom is actually battling cancer, we’d like to say the win of the World Series was for her. My cousin’s also battling cancer, it’s a very touchy subject so we’re just here to support the Rangers on their winning the World Series," Amanda Baca said.
When the players hit the route, they did so in Texas fashion by being on truck beds.
World Series MVP Corey Seager showed off his MVP trophy, which earned him an errantly tossed beer, but seconds later, one of Arlington’s finest played cutoff man.
Once at the main stage, longtime public address announcer Chuck Morgan was emotional addressing the history of the moment.
"For now, and forever, when we hear the names of the players on this team, when we talk Rangers baseball with our kids, and our grandkids, we will tell them about one of the greatest Rangers teams ever," he said.
The crowd was especially excited for manager Bruce Bochy.
He returned from retirement in 2023 to coach the team and ended up with his 4th World Series title.
"Over the last 36 hours I've been asked, does this ever get old? No, not when you get to watch these guys with their deep determination and the heart and play as one to do what they did," Bochy said.
Seager, pitcher Nathan Eovaldi, right fielder Adolis Garcia, and second baseman Marcus Semien spoke to the crowd.
The mic drop moment came from the often soft-spoken Seager.
After the hard-fought, and at times feisty, series with the Astros, Seager made a comment that sounded awfully similar to something Astros 3rd baseman Alex Bregman said to celebrate his team winning the AL West.
"Everyone was wondering what would happen if the Rangers didn't win the World Series, I guess we will never know," Seager said.
Arlington police were expecting a World Series championship crowd of 250,000 to 300,000 people, but those estimates increased as the day went on.
"Imagine having two Cowboys games and three to four Rangers game going on at the same time. It’s about the size of the crowd we’re expecting," said Tim Ciesco, with Arlington PD before the event.
Arlington police received support from Grand Prairie police, the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office, and Texas DPS troopers to prioritize safety for all.
For the fans who got up before sunrise and waited hours to see the team, many are still in shock of the history that was made this week.
"I could not believe it. As soon as we had the final pitch I went crazy. In my whole life I never thought this was going to happen," said Wagner.
There were a lot of young people out at the parade on Friday.
Parents at the parade told FOX 4 that if their kids classes weren't already canceled then they pulled their kids out of school.
They said moments like this don't happen often, so they wanted their children to be able to say they were there in 2023 to see the World Champs.