ARLINGTON, Texas -- At the end of an opening game so stuffed with gleaming storylines that Stephen King wouldn't know which one to choose, it was the redemption story that won out.
The goat-turned-hero in the Texas Rangers' 4-3, extra-inning win was catcher Jonah Heim, a central figure during the team's dramatic run to its first championship last fall, the World Series win commemorated before Thursday's game during a ceremony in which the championship banner was unfurled.
For more than eight innings and nearly three hours against the Chicago Cubs, Heim was not even a sidebar in a season opener that had a little of everything.