The 1996 Rangers: The Search for El Dorado at The Elysian Fields

Gaily bedight, a gallant knight

In sunshine and shadow

had journeyed long, singing a song

In search of El Dorado

But he grew old, this knight so bold

And o’er his heart fell a shadow,

As he found, no spot of ground

That looked like El Dorado.

That was Will Clark with the Rangers in the magical summer of 1996 when a variety of physical ailments had left him something less than the marvelous first baseman for the San Francisco Giants.

But he played on every day and so did Mickey Tettleton and the rest of them, a team of consummate professionals managed by an unforgettable special man in search of the first division title in Rangers history.

Still remember the night at famous baseball watering hole in Chicago where a dozen of them convened after midnight. They had won their seventh straight to open the season and Dean Palmer said, "You wouldn’t believe what’s happening in the dugout, everybody high-fiving each other. It’s incredible."

Mark McLemore – the Dr. of Defense as Mark Holtz called him – would gather them together right before first pitch and yell out, "27 outs, we have a job to do, let’s go."

They did it over the course of 162 games and they would gather at Bobby Witt’s house on an off-day for a barbecue and everybody would show up except Juan Gonzalez who would forever go his own way. But it wouldn’t matter because he would ultimately carry them in July and August and Bill James was wrong when he said in his Historical Abstract that Alex Rodriguez, then with Seattle, deserved the Most Valuable Player Award.

But there were many MVPs on that team and maybe none more so than the backup catcher, Dave Valle, who called a team meeting in Detroit and went around the clubhouse, looking each player in the eye and asking them if they were prepared to do what it takes to win.

The Rangers responded with a seven-game winning streak, which included John Burkett throwing a complete game shutout on Aug. 11 just after being acquired from the Florida Marlins, a trade made by general manager Doug Melvin that still may rank as the most important in-season transaction ever in club history.

They kept winning with a left fielder, Rusty Greer, who would hit .332 and throw his body at any ball he thought he could catcher, a shortstop, Kevin Elster, who would save them at a troubled position and drive in 99 runs, the best catcher in baseball and a starting rotation that proved to be the best ever in club history.

No, Bobby Witt did not have the career that everybody expected but he won nine tough games after the All-Star break and Darren Oliver won 14 that year, including a 6-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at The Ballpark in Arlington on Sept. 15 when people were starting to get nervous.

They were up six at that point, then went to Seattle and lost four in a row, cutting their lead to two and now it was getting quite hairy.

But manager Johnny Oates kept his cool and I still remember sitting alone with him in his office in the Kingdome and asking him what he was going to do.

"Nothing," he said. "We have the right guys out there and I believe in them. I still believe they’ll get it done."

They went to Anaheim and led 5-4 in the 10th before the Angels rallied in the bottom of the inning. The lead was down to one, but they were tied with Seattle in the loss column, and the clubhouse was deathly quiet until Daryl Hamilton started chirping and getting on people, and the sense of doom was lifted from their shoulders.

Then came the two most important games in Rangers history – bigger than the no-hitters, the perfect game and nickle beer night in Cleveland – as Burkett and Ken Hill delivered complete game performances to beat the Angels and the division was basically theirs for the taking.

This is the team they are going to honor next weekend in Arlington, a team that was just that in every sense of the word and a team that was a part of four of the best baseball games ever played in the Division Series and came close, so very close, to derailing the Yankees dynasty before it ever got started.

"If you didn’t love those games," Tom Schieffer said afterward. "Then you just don’t love baseball."

It came down to that last game, the Yankees leading 6-4 in the ninth with John Wetteland on the mound, Will Clark up with two on and one out.

Clark drove one to left-center but the strength just wasn’t there, Tim Raines caught the ball and that magical season finally came to an end.

Wrote Roger Kahn once, "Failure after great striving is the story of man, whose sweetest song tells of saddest thought."

Afterward Clark went into the manager’s office and told Johnny Oates, "I’m sorry, I gave it everything I had."

The 1996 Rangers did that to the end and it is still the greatest team in franchise history.

And when his strength, failed him at length.

He met a pilgrim shadow

Shadow, said he, where can it be

This Land called El Dorado

Over the Mountains of the Moon, Down the Valley of Shadow

Ride boldly ride

The Shade replied.

If you search for El Dorado.