The Texas Rangers took game seven of the American League Championship from in-state rival Houston Astros 11-4, punching their ticket to play the Arizona Diamondbacks in the World Series.
The two teams start a best-of-seven series for the commissioner’s trophy on Oct. 27 at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
The Rangers, who last made the postseason in 2016, will appear in the Fall Classic for the first time since losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011. The Diamondbacks made it into the postseason in 2011, but fell to the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Division Series in five games.
Here’s a look back at some other notable moments in 2011.
Sports
It was a busy year for sports in the DFW area. In February, the Cowboys hosted Super Bowl XLV when the Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25. The MVP was quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The game overshadowed by an ice storm that paralyzed much of the Metroplex during the week leading up to the game.
In June, the Dallas Mavericks, led by MVP Dirk Nowitzki, claimed the NBA championship. The Mavs beat the Miami Heat’s “big three” — LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.
That Mavs roster included Jason Terry, J.J. Barea and Jason Kidd.
NFL owners locked players out from March 3 until July 6. The NBA’s 161-day lockout started July 1 and players didn’t hit the court until Dec. 8.
In the NHL, the Stars finished last in the division with a 42-29-11 record. The team was led by captain Brenden Morrow, Steve Ott and Jamie Benn. The Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks four games to three in the Stanley Cup.
The Cowboys also had a forgettable season, finishing 8-8 in Jason Garrett’s first full season as head coach. Their leading passer was Tony Romo, leading rusher was DeMarco Murray and leading receiver was Jason Witten.
TCU’s football team, under head coach Gary Patterson, went 11-2 in its last season in the Mountain West Conference. The season was capped off with a 31-24 win over Louisiana Tech in the Poinsettia Bowl.
Music
Some of the top artists, according to CBS’s list of the American Music Award winners, were Adele, the Foo Fighters, Bruno Mars and Maroon 5.
Similar to today, Taylor Swift was the craze. She won top country female artist, artist of the year and top country album with “Speak Now.” Swift just released “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” earlier this month.
Swift also won Top Billboard 200 artist and top country artist at the Billboard Music Awards.
Other notable Billboard Award winners from the year:
- Top new artist: Justin Bieber
- Top male artist: Eminem
- Top female artist: Rihanna (Ke$ha came in second)
- Top Hot 100 song: “Dynamite,” by Tao Cruz
- Top radio song: “Just the Way You Are,” by Bruno Mars
- Top country song: “Need You Now,” by Lady Antebellum
- Top rock artist: Train, who also had top rock song with “Hey, Soul Sister”
- Top Latin artist: Shakira
- Top alternative artist: Mumford & Sons
Movies
Some of the top movies that premiered in 2011 were:
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows: Part 2
- Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
- The Help
- Captain America: the First Avenger
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Thor
- Hugo
- The Thing
- X-Men: First Class
- Moneyball
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
- The Adventures of Tintin
- The Twilight Sage: Breaking Dawn – Part 1.
Tech and Toys
Apple released the iPhone 4s and mourned the death of founder Steve Jobs.
Amazon also joined the mobile tech arena, introducing the Kindle Fire, which provided digital versions of as books, movies and other media.
Netflix’s stock dropped from $300 to $70 as it moved away from DVD rentals and into online streaming. That transition from disk to digital aided in the downfall of Blockbuster. However, there was always a Redbox kiosk.
According to TIME’s list of the top 50 iPhone Apps from 2011, some of the most popular games were Angry Birds, Temple Run, Plants vs. Zombies, Doodle Jump and Fruit Ninja.
Some of the top toys from the year were Lalaloopsy dolls, Nerf guns, Monster High dolls, Lego Ninjago and Air Hogs remote control vehicles, according to CBS’s list of top holiday toys.
As far as video games go, IMDb ranked some of the top ones released in 2011. The top was The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, followed by Batman: Arkham City, L.A. Noire and the rest of the top 10:
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
- Portal 2
- Mortal Kombat
- Star Wars: The Old Republic
- Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
- Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
- Dark Souls
Some others just outside the top 10 were Saints Row: The Third and Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars.
Not on console, but not forgotten, Minecraft was released in November of 2011.
“Current” events
Other than the impending worry of the world ending in 2012 from the Maya “Doomsday” calendar, which was debunked by NASA, there were lots of other current events that shaped the year.
President Barack Obama dealt with a civil war in Libya, demonstrations in Syria and a major tsunami in Japan.
He also made two big military announcements: SEAL Team Six had officially killed Osama Bin Laden in May and there was an end to the Iraq War.
The Mars rover Curiosity was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in November.
The Rangers and Diamondbacks will start a best-of-seven series for the Commissioner’s Trophy on Oct. 27 at Globe Life Field in Arlington.
