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A PLACE WHERE BLIND MEN SEE — A stadium-record 40,861 fans filled the air with the lyrics of Scott Stapp Tuesday at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, as the Texas Rangers swept the Baltimore Orioles to advance to their first ALCS since 2011.
Creed had three consecutive platinum albums from 1997-2001 — even famously performing at halftime of a Dallas Cowboys game in 2001 — but why has the band become a bastion of baseball's hottest team more than 20 years later?
The exact origin may be a mystery, but pitcher Andrew Heaney told media before Sunday's Game 2 in Baltimore that the team began listening to the band during the "dog days" of an up-and-down season to lighten the mood, and it stuck.
Heaney added a request following his musical revelation; he wanted Creed played at some point in the stadium when the team returned to Texas.
The people at Globe Life Field made it happen, and the fans "took it higher," to borrow a popular Stapp phrase.
"Can you take me higher?!"#Rangers playing @Creed's "Higher" and fans singalong on videoboard. pic.twitter.com/5ycqhwhxKN
— Stefan Stevenson (@StefanVersusTex) October 11, 2023
The Rangers won the game 7-1 for their fifth straight win in an undefeated start to the playoffs. Texas will face the Houston Astros in the ALCS beginning Sunday in the first-ever postseason meeting between the two teams from the Lone Star State.
Just how much higher can Creed take the Rangers? Only time will tell, but you can be sure the fans in Texas will be waiting "with arms wide open" for their return.
