expand the park to accommodate major league crowds. Vandergriff's offer of a multimillion-dollar down payment prompted Short to make the move to Arlington. On September 21, 1971, American League owners voted 10–2 to allow the move of the franchise to Arlington for the 1972 season. Senators fans were livid, and enmity came to a head at the club's last game in Washington on Thursday, September 30. Thousands simply walked in without paying after the security guards left early, swelling the paid attendance of 14,460 to around 25,000, while fans unfurled a "SHORT STINKS" banner. With two outs in the top of the ninth inning and the Senators leading 7–5, several hundred youths stormed the field, raiding it for souvenirs. One man grabbed first base and ran off with it. With no security in sight and only three bases, umpire crew chief Jim Honochick forfeited the game to the New York Yankees. The nation's capital went without Major League Baseball for 33 years, until the relocation of the National League's Montreal Expos, who became the Washington Nationals in 2005. Texas Rangers (1972–present) Naming of the Rangers After moving from Washington, the Senators were renamed after the Texas Rangers, the state-wide investigative law-enforcement agency which was founded by Stephen F. Austin in 1823 when Texas was part of Mexico, and whose mythology led to fictional characters such as The Lone Ranger and Walker, Texas Ranger. But the Rangers also had bouts as vigilante squads, when they abused their authority, including by lynching Hispanics. In the wake of 2020's Black Lives Matter protests, prominent mainstream voices have shined a light on the historical racism associated with the law-enforcement agency and called for the baseball team to abandon the Rangers name. The baseball team responded by committing to keeping the Rangers name. The team subsequently made a statement clarifying that despite sharing the name, they are not affiliated with the law-enforcement agency and they stand for equality by "condemn[ing] racism, bigotry and discrimination in all forms." First years in Texas (1972–1984) Prior to the 1972 season, improvements were made to Turnpike Stadium, which reopened as Arlington Stadium, in preparation for the inaugural season of the Texas Rangers. The team played its first game on April 15, 1972, a 1–0 loss at the hands of the California Angels, their 1961 expansion cousins. The next day, the Rangers defeated the Angels, 5–1, for the club's first