Opening Daze: Rangers’ 10 most unforgettable

Trotting out a team likely to lose 90-plus games in a lame-duck stadium feels more deserving of a eulogy than a work-skipping party but, who knows, maybe Mike Minor will do something major.

The Rangers play their 48^th Opening Day game in Texas Thursday when they host the Chicago Cubs at 1 p.m. It will be their 28^th – and last – in Globe Life Park. Opening Day in Arlington has proven a microcosm of the Rangers’ existence. A few highlights sprinkled in, but mostly mediocre baseball launching seasons that start with promise but end without a championship.

The Rangers are 24-23 in openers, going 12-10 in Arlington Stadium and 12-13 at Globe Life Park.

Bad news: They are 0-3 in Opening Day games played in March.

Good news: The last time they faced Cubs starter Jon Lester on Opening Day, they beat him and the Red Sox in 2011 and went on to the World Series.

A look at the 10 Most Memorable lid-lifters in franchise history:

10. 4.4.89 – Rangers 4, Tigers 0

41-year-old chain-smoking knuckle-baller Charlie Hough outduels Jack Morris before 40,374. Scott Fletcher and Rafael Palmeiro get the key hits and, in an unfathomable performance in today’s era of specialization, Hough throws 128 pitches in his complete-game victory over Morris, who unleashes 122.

9. 4.11.94 – Brewers 4, Rangers 3

       I was fortunate enough to attend this inaugural game at The Ballpark in Arlington on the porch of Troy Aikman’s luxury suite in left field. Other than that, though, it wasn’t a particularly scintillating debut. Tornado watches lurked as 49,292 saw the Rangers never lead in their new $190 million home. Owner George W. Bush is on hand, Van Cliburn plays the national anthem and RBI are provided by Will Clark and Jose Canseco. Kenny Rogers throws a decent game, but the Rangers muster nothing in the 9^th against Milwaukee relievers Jesse Orosco and Bob Scanlan.

8. 4.9.04 – Rangers 12, Angels 4

Texas actually trails 3-1 before rattling off 11 unanswered runs before 50,370 in its highest-scoring game in Opening Day history. The Rangers clobber Anaheim’s Ramon Ortiz and Aaron Sele, with a lineup led by Michael Young, Gerald Laird, Alfonso Soriano, Mark Teixeira, Kevin Mench and Hank Blalock amassing 18 hits and four homers.

7. 4.9.76 – Rangers 2, Twins 1

Back in the day when pitchers throw longer and games are played faster, 37-year-old ace Gaylord Perry goes all 11 innings of this classic before 28,947. The game, which takes only 2 hours and 48 minutes, features a duel between future Hall of Famers Perry and Minnesota’s Bert Blyleven. Perry amazingly throws 142 pitches, allowing seven hits and nary a walk. The Rangers walk off the win – sans mosh-pit celebration or Gatorade bucket dumps – when Toby Harrah knocks home Jim Sundberg with a late-night single.

6. 4.10.80 – Rangers 1, Yankees 0

For the second time in three seasons, Jon Matlack shockingly outpitches New York ace Ron Guidry deep into the night of an Opening Day doozy before 33,196. Sundberg has three of the Rangers’ four hits and – in the 12^th inning – former Yankee Mickey Rivers scampers home with the winning run on future Hall-of-Fame closer Goose Gossage’s wild pitch, capping the only 1-0 game in Rangers’ Opening Day history.

5. 3.31.14 – Phillies 14, Rangers 10

The Rangers get revenge on former teammate Cliff Lee, but they don’t get the win. With 49,031 hoping the home-team bats would bludgeon the former pitcher who bolted town via free agency after only one season, Prince Fielder, Alex Rios and the Rangers box Lee’s ears to the tune of 11 hits and eight runs in five innings. Problem: Starter Tanner Scheppers is worse, paving the way for Lee to actually get the win in the highest-scoring Opening Day in franchise history.

4. 4.5.10 – Rangers 5, Blue Jays 4

Fueled by president Nolan Ryan’s bold prediction that his team will win 92-plus games, the Rangers rally for an improbable walk-off win. No-hit by Toronto starter Shaun Markum into the 7^th inning, they produce four hits, a walk and two runs in the 9^th against closer Jason Frasor. To the delight of a sellout of 50,299, Young begins the rally with a double, followed by a Vladimir Guerrero single, a Nelson Cruz RBI double and Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s game-winning single. Texas goes on to win only 90 games, but does make its first World Series.

3. 4.21.72 – Rangers 7, Angels 6

Proof that you’ll always have a soft spot for your first, I remember sitting among the 20,105 in Arlington Stadium’s metal outfield bleachers and watching Frank Howard sear a homer to center field to spark the new franchise’s inaugural DFW victory. Lenny Randle and Toby Harrah have three hits and – despite the Rangers sinking to an eventual 54-100 record – one 7-year-old boy is forever hooked.

2. 4.5.13 – Rangers 3, Angels 2

At least for one glorious day – and to hero-turned-villain Josh Hamilton’s chagrin – Arlington is indeed a “baseball town.” With Hamilton back an Angel, the fans he spurned in free agency and insulted in interviews over the Winter are out in full-throated boos. It couldn’t have worked out any sweeter for the 48,845, as Hamilton strikes out twice and pops out harmlessly in the 9^th against Rangers’ closer Joe Nathan. Craig Gentry scores the winning run in the 8^th, racing home on Ian Kinsler’s single and just ahead of Hamilton’s bouncing throw to the plate.

1. 4.8.78 – Rangers 2, Yankees 1

To understand my 14-year-old giddiness this night, you must consider that A) The Yankees are defending World Series champions; B) Guidry is (almost) unbeatable. Matlack matches pitches with Guidry, who goes on to a 25-3 record and the Cy Young Award. Before 40,078 fans on the edge of our seats on every pitch of an old-school pitchers’ duel, the Yankees run themselves out of rallies when Chris Chambliss is thrown out at 2^nd by Al Oliver in the 8^th and Reggie Jackson is picked off 2^nd by Matlack in the 9^th. In the Rangers’ 9^th Guidry hands the ball to Gossage, who promptly allows a lead-off, walk-off homer to Richie Zisk. Before the fireworks, we simply revel in delirium.