Rangers-Angels could be budding rivalry

We do not need the forced rivalries of interleague play, or the historical rivalries in which passion expired long ago. We long for a genuine rivalry, two big dogs in an annual fight for supremacy.

We just might be in for a treat.

The Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds staged the last great baseball rivalry in the West, the Big Blue Wrecking Crew against the Big Red Machine. For seven years in the ‘70s, the Dodgers and Reds ruled the National League West.

The Reds won four times, with the Dodgers second each time. The Dodgers won three times, with the Reds second each time.

That brings us to the Texas Rangers, and hope for a great rivalry for this generation of Southern California baseball fans. The World Series visits Arlington for the first time Saturday, with the Rangers trailing the San Francisco Giants, two games to none.

If the Rangers are a one-year fluke, never mind. If they’re not, the Angels and Rangers could be gloriously bitter rivals for this new decade.

“The Angels operate at a level where, every year, they’re flat-out competing to win the whole thing,” said Chuck Greenberg, the Rangers’ new owner. “That’s where we intend to be.”

Greenberg took over the Rangers in August, in partnership with Texas legend and Rangers President Nolan Ryan. Arte Moreno took over the Angels on the heels of an unlikely World Series appearance, and Greenberg has taken more than a few pages out of Moreno’s playbook.

On Moreno’s first day as owner, he lowered the price of beer. Greenberg lowered the price of beer, soda and parking.

“And, because it was over 100 degrees, hot chocolate,” Greenberg quipped.

The Rangers secured a fat new television deal, just as Moreno did. They also set out to sell themselves beyond the confines of their neighborhood, just as Moreno did.

The Rangers play in the fifth-largest market in the country, but they never have sold three million tickets in a season.

“We should look at ourselves as a large-market team,” pitcher C.J. Wilson said. “The last ownership group was unwilling to commit to having good advertising. It’s the funniest thing — when you market the team well, people tend to show up.”

When you fail to win a postseason series in your first 38 years in town, that does not help.

“We were more of a North Texas-type franchise in the past,” Ryan said, “because of the lack of success that we’ve had.”

Ryan chuckled as he told of spotting Rangers gear in New York this year. When he signed on as team president in 2008, he said, “Our fans didn’t even wear it to the ballpark.”

The Rangers plan to make a strong pitch to retain ace Cliff Lee, who will be a free agent. Outfielder Josh Hamilton, their best player, cannot be a free agent until 2012. Neither can second baseman Ian Kinsler.

There are youngsters aplenty, with more on the way. Shortstop Elvis Andrus and closer Neftali Feliz are 22, starter Derek Holland is 23, starter Tommy Hunter is 24 and first baseman Mitch Moreland is 25.

The Rangers traded eight minor leaguers this summer to acquire Lee and infielders Jorge Cantu and Cristian Guzman. They spent prospects in lieu of cash wherever they could — the team was in bankruptcy proceedings beyond the trade deadline — but General Manager Jon Daniels said the cupboard is far from bare.

“We would not have made the moves we did if we had not started to put in place a second and third wave of players,” Daniels said.

The Angels finished third in the American League West this season, with their first losing record in seven years, but Daniels was not about to declare the division torch had been seized.

“They’re a model franchise, in a lot of ways,” Daniels said. “They’ve done it for a decade. We’ve done it for a year.”

The AL West could be a big-boy division in a few years. The Seattle Mariners are a mess, but they have financial resources. The Oakland Athletics have a promising foundation of young pitching, and maybe someday Commissioner Bud Selig will release them from stadium purgatory.

“One of the things that benefits the quality of play in the American League East is that the Yankees and Red Sox are like the moon pulling the tide,” Greenberg said. “It drives everyone to find a way to compete with them. Tampa has done that successfully. Toronto looks like it is on the way.”

For now, the AL West is all about the Rangers, the first team to represent the division in the World Series since the 2002 Angels.

“For a number of years, the Angels have had the competitive platform to themselves,” Greenberg said. “If we can operate at the level we intend to, it will be great for everybody in the division.”

On behalf of a generation of L.A. fans waiting for a classic rivalry, bring it on.

bill.shaikin@latimes.com