During baseball season, the public buses in Houston flash a message as they rumble through the city: “Go Astros! !”A similar sort of communal baseball spirit has not typically surrounded the Texas Rangers, a team whose claim to the hearts of all Texans had, until their World Series victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday, been stymied by having never won a championship in their 51 years since relocating to the North Texas city of Arlington. Wedged between Dallas and Fort Worth, the city forms an almost seamless part of a sprawling urban agglomeration, a fast-growing and sports-crazed area of a fast-growing and sports-crazed state, where winners are prized and football — in particular, the Dallas Cowboys — has been dominant. But as the Rangers kept winning and winning, fans emerged. Excitement in October became palpable across the connected cities.

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Persons: Dallas Cowboys — Organizations: Astros, Texas Rangers, Texans, Arizona Diamondbacks, —, Dallas Cowboys, Rangers Locations: Houston, North Texas, Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth