Lone Star Series
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| First meeting | June 8, 2001 The Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington, Texas |
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| Latest meeting | September 4, 2016 Globe Life Park in Arlington, Arlington, Texas |
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| Next meeting | September 12, 2016 Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas | ||
| Statistics | |||
| Meetings total | 131 | ||
| Regular season series | 82–50, Rangers | ||
| Largest victory | 18–3, Rangers (May 21, 2005) | ||
| Longest win streak |
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| Current win streak | 1 Astros | ||
The Lone Star Series (also, Silver Boot Series) is a Major League Baseball rivalry featuring Texas' two major league franchises, the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers. It is an outgrowth of the "natural rivalry" established by MLB as part of interleague play as the Rangers are a member of the American League and the Astros were a member of the National League until 2012.
During interleague play, the winner of the 6-game series was awarded the Silver Boot. A 30-inch (760 mm) tall display of a size-15 cowboy boot cast in silver, complete with a custom, handmade spur. If the series was split (3-to-3), the winner was the club which scored the most runs over the course of the series.
In 2013, the Astros joined the American League West with the Rangers and changed their rivalry from an interleague to an intra-division rivalry.
The birth of baseball in Texas happened at the same time as the Civil War in 1861 with the formation of the Houston Base Ball Club to promote the game the same way Alexander Cartwright had during the 1840s with the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club in Manhattan. Baseball was played in Galveston and other Lone Star locations prior to the Civil War. The distribution of the game was interrupted by the Civil War but would pick up by the end of the war. Baseball was played during the Civil War mostly by Yankees but occasionally by Confederates. A humorous story by Texas-based Union soldier George A. Putnam told of a baseball game interrupted by Confederate gunfire. Putnam stated:
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