When the Texas Rangers arrive at Daikin Park on Friday, they’ll bring with them one of baseball’s better intrastate rivalries and a trophy that’s been sitting in Houston for the better part of a decade.
The Silver Boot Series, also known as the Lone Star Series, pits the only two major league franchises in Texas against each other for bragging rights and a 30-inch, size-15 cowboy boot cast in silver, complete with a custom handmade spur. It is not subtle. It is very Texas.
The rivalry predates the regular season version by nearly a decade. The Rangers and Astros first met at the end of spring training in 1992, with Texas winning 2-0 and claiming the very first Silver Boot. The two teams continued their exhibition tradition through the late 1990s before MLB made it official. On June 8, 2001, the franchises met for the first time in a game that counted, at The Ballpark in Arlington, with Houston winning 5-4 on a Moises Alou home run in the 11th inning. The Lone Star Series was born.
For the first twelve years, the rivalry was an interleague affair—the Rangers in the AL West, the Astros in the NL Central. They played six games a year, and the Silver Boot went to the winner. If the series split 3-3, total runs scored served as the tiebreaker. Texas dominated that stretch, winning the Boot in most years through 2016.
Everything changed in 2013, when the Astros moved to the American League West and joined the Rangers in the same division. The rivalry shifted from a novelty series to a full-blown division race, with the teams playing each other 19 times a season and later 13 times beginning in 2023. The Silver Boot was still on the line, but now so was the division title.
The Astros took over from there, though it took a few years to find their footing in the new arrangement. Houston has won nine consecutive Silver Boots from 2017 through 2025, with the only interruption being the COVID-shortened 2020 season, in which the teams went 5-5 and the Boot was not awarded. The Rangers last held the trophy in 2016.
The streak has not been without drama. In 2025, Houston trailed 4-6 in the season series heading into the final three games and swept Texas at Daikin Park to clinch their ninth straight Boot by a 7-6 margin. The Rangers won the only postseason meeting between the two clubs, taking the 2023 ALCS in seven games on the way to their World Series championship.
Through 299 all-time regular-season meetings, the two clubs are almost perfectly even. Texas leads 150-149 overall when postseason and exhibition games are included; the regular-season mark alone is a dead-even 146-146.
This weekend’s three-game set is part of MLB’s Rivalry Weekend. The event debuted in 2025 with the Astros and Rangers meeting at Globe Life Field. Spencer Arrighetti starts Friday’s opener for Houston. The Rangers arrive third in the AL West at 21-22, four games ahead of the Astros.
The Astros have packed the weekend with promotions. Friday’s game features a Hunter Brown Orange Jersey giveaway (first 10,000 fans, presented by SLB), First Bud Friday (5:00–7:00pm, presented by Budweiser), and a Friday Night Fireworks show presented by ConocoPhillips with a Texas Country theme. Saturday brings a Cowboy Baseball Hat giveaway (first 10,000 fans, presented by Turtlebox), Armed Forces Night presented by the Texas Lottery, and a Rodeo Street Fest presented by Jim Beam (game ticket required). Sunday wraps up with Kids Run the Bases presented by Olshan Foundation Solutions.
Heading to Daikin Park soon? Check the Astros promotions schedule before your next game.