How to play the Texas Rangers history timeline game

Your cards in this deck are Rangers milestones, each with a short description under the title, and they go in order of the year they happened. The timeline starts with one card already placed and its year showing. You put each new card into a gap of your choosing. If you're right, its year is revealed. If you're wrong, the card still goes where it belongs, and you lose one of your three lives.

The Rangers started out in Washington before moving to Texas, and for a long time their history was about star players more than titles. One legendary pitcher fills several cards in a row, and they sit so close together that the details in each description really matter. The later cards turn to pennants, division crowns and some painfully close calls in October.

Want a longer game? On the deck tree you can tick this deck alongside any other one measured in release years and dates, and they shuffle into a single timeline together.

What's in the deck

Here are 24 of the 24 cards you might be dealt. Their values stay hidden until you place them.

Born as the new Washington Senators An expansion club begins play in the nation's capital
Move to Texas as the Rangers The Senators relocate to Arlington and take a new name
First winning season Jeff Burroughs wins MVP under fiery manager Billy Martin
Bobby Valentine takes over The young manager begins a long tenure in the dugout
Nolan Ryan arrives and fans 5,000 The Texas legend signs on and records his historic strikeout
Ryan's 300th win The Express reaches the milestone in his forties
Ryan's seventh no-hitter The ageless ace throws yet another gem
Ryan's farewell season The Hall of Famer retires after a final year in Arlington
The Ballpark in Arlington opens The club moves into a new retro-style stadium
First AL West title A first-ever playoff berth as Juan Gonzalez wins MVP
Second division title in three years Juan Gonzalez claims his second MVP
Pudge's MVP, another AL West Ivan Rodriguez wins the award and the club takes the division again
Signing Alex Rodriguez A record-shattering free-agent contract brings the shortstop to Texas
A-Rod's MVP season The shortstop wins the award on a last-place team
Trading A-Rod to New York The expensive star is dealt to the Yankees
Josh Hamilton's Home Run Derby A jaw-dropping first round lights up the Bronx
First pennant, new owners A first World Series trip against the Giants as Nolan Ryan's group buys the club
One strike away A second straight pennant ends in a seven-game Series loss to the Cardinals
The one-game wild card A late collapse forces a play-in loss to Baltimore
Comeback AL West title A late surge overtakes the Astros for the division
A 95-win division crown The American League's best record ends in an early exit
Beltre's 3,000th hit The third baseman reaches the milestone at home
Globe Life Field opens The club moves into a new retractable-roof ballpark
First World Series title Beat the Diamondbacks for the franchise's first championship