Kinsler, Moreland after World Series heartbreak: ‘Let's cap it off this time'

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BOSTON — When Ian Kinsler and Mitch Moreland saw each other during the pennant-clinching celebration in Houston, their thoughts turned quickly to their time as teammates from almost a decade ago.

Paired on the right side of the infield with the Rangers, they made the World Series in consecutive seasons, in 2010 and 2011. Texas lost both series, the latter in heartbreaking fashion to the Cardinals, who rallied twice in Game 6 with the Rangers a strike away from a title.

“That was the first thing we said the other day when we met each other on the field and hugged to celebrate in there,” Moreland said. “I said, ‘Let’s do this again, let’s cap it off this time.’ It’s something that sits there with us, for sure.”

Now 33, Moreland was a rookie in 2010. Kinsler, 36, was in his fifth season then. They knew seven years ago they may never again have the opportunity they've earned as Red Sox in 2018.

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“I think if you win you realize that. I don’t think the results matter,” Kinsler said. “The World Series is a very difficult thing to get to. It’s not easy. Fans, or media or whoever talk about it, in just conversation — ‘They should just do it. They’re the best team, they should go to the World Series.’ It ain’t that easy. 

“So you take every moment as best you can. You try to embrace everything that you’re doing, because it’s a long baseball season. There’s a lot of things that can happen. There’s a lot of adversity you deal with. Whether it’s injuries... There are so many different things that can happen through the course of the season, and to be at this point, one of the last two teams standing, it’s a privilege. You take it for what it’s worth, and you give everything you have.”

The Rangers lost to the Giants four games to one in the 2010 World Series. But it was the next year’s campaign that really hurt. Not only because it was a second shot, but because the Rangers were a strike away from winning it all, with a two-run advantage over the Cardinals in both the ninth and 10th innings of Game 6. 

The Cards won Game 6 on a walk-off homer from David Freese, and then closed out the Rangers in the next game.

“You don’t get over it,” Moreland said. “And it doesn’t matter if — I mean, if I win four more before I’m done playing, you know, I don’t think you get over ‘em. It’s what you work so hard for all year and everything. … Looking forward to this one, hoping we can be on the right end.”

Moreland homered in Game 5 in 2010, and had a hit in every World Series game in 2010. A bit of trivia: Moreland homered off Jonathan Sanchez in Game 3. The three-run shot made Moreland the first left-handed batter in history to homer off a southpaw in the World Series after never previously doing so in the majors, regular season or postseason.

Kinsler had a huge moment in Game 2 in 2011, narrowly stealing a base against longtime Cards catcher Yadier Molina with the Rangers down 1-0 in the ninth inning. The whole place knew he was going, and he he later scored, helping the Rangers to a 2-1 win.

The Cardinals come back in Game 6 was epic for St. Louis, and devastating for the Rangers.

“Every now and then, yeah,” Moreland said when asked if he replays anything from those two World Series. “But it’s just one of those things man. You play the game, you never know the outcome. That’s the reason we get to play.”

Moreland and Kinsler remained teammates through the 2013 season. Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski traded for Kinsler ahead of the 2014 season while with with the Tigers, and Dombrowski traded for Kinsler again midseason.

"There was other times that we’ve spoken about it,” Kinsler said of Moreland. “We played for [two] years together after it. There’s been times that we talked about it. It’s not like a fresh wound or anything. 

"I don’t know if we talk about what we could have done different or anything like that. It was one of the best World Series ever. And we felt like we had one of the best teams ever. It was tough to swallow, but that’s the game."

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