ST. PETERSBURG, -- The Texas Rangers mobbed Cliff Lee in front of the pitcher's mound before trotting off to the clubhouse for a celebration of 50 seasons in the making.
Champagne was on ice, but first the AL West champions slipped on the red T-shirts, fitted themselves with the goggles and toasted the first playoff series victory in the franchise history with plastic bottles of ginger ale.
The bubbly flowed only after Josh Hamilton left the room.
The major league batting champion, who overcame alcohol and drug problems to revive his career, appreciated the show of the support.
"I'm speechless. This is so unbelievable," Hamilton said Tuesday night after the Rangers beat Tampa Bay 5-1 in the decisive Game 5 of the AL division series.
"For my teammates to understand why I can't be part of the celebration, for them to adapt it, it's amazing," he added. "It shows a lot about them."
Cliff Lee added another impressive line to his sparkling October resume, striking out 11 in a six-hitter that stopped the Rays from finishing an improbable comeback in a series in which the road team won every game -- a first in major league history.
"It was a lot of fun, I know that much," Lee said. "We had our back against the wall today and we came out and performed."
The Rangers will host the defending champion Yankees in the opener of the best-of-seven ALCS on Friday night. Texas' three previous playoff appearances ended with first-round losses to New York, in 1996, '98 and '99.
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