The first playoff series victory in franchise history. Back-to-Back American League Championships. Two consecutive World Series appearances.

And all in the past two seasons.

Not bad, particularly when you're creeping into middle age.

Texas Rangers baseball turns 40 Saturday, which officially marks the day the Washington (D.C.) Senators arrived to North Texas and settled in Arlington as the newly minted Rangers.

Congratulations from the City of Arlington.

In terms of growth, national recognition, identity and pride, the Rangers and Arlington have long been - and still remain - intertwined.

It was 1958 when a committee chaired by Arlington Mayor Tom Vandergriff was formed to study the feasibility of the city supporting minor league baseball. Snagging a major league team was considered a coup some 14 years later, particularly for a city that in 1972 was populated by 90,000 people and offered up a stadium seating 35,000 fans.

Mayor Richard Greene led an effort in 1989 to form a public/private partnership with the new owners to build a modern and much larger major league field, which is the Rangers Ballpark at Arlington.

This year Ranger players are sporting a 40^th Anniversary patch on the right sleeve of the team's white, blue, red and grey jerseys.

Expect this to be a season-long birthday celebration. While the Rangers will be in Detroit facing the Tigers on Saturday, at each home game a former Ranger will throw out the first pitch. On August 11, the unveiling of the all-time Rangers team selected by fan balloting.

Throwback uniforms worn way back when will also make their way onto the field along with throwback-themed giveaways to fans during those home games, beginning with the May 12 game against the Los Angeles Angels when the team sports 1974 uniforms.

That day the first 30,000 fans to the game will go home with a throwback of their own - a vintage 1974 Rangers cap.

By Kenneth Perkins