ARLINGTON, Texas – A few hours before winning the game that catapulted them into first place for the first time since the season’s opening week, about half the players in the Texas Rangers clubhouse sported snazzy shorts with an American-flag print.
The newly arrived shorts were courtesy of Mike Napoli, who rejoined the club Aug. 7 after a 2 ½-year absence, and they bore the Rangers logo as well as the slogan they have lived by all season: Never ever quit.
Napoli has seen that mind-set put to action in his brief time back, and it explains better than any statistic why Texas is now a half game ahead of Houston in the American League West after Tuesday's 6-5 walk-off win against the Astros.