Texas Rangers players celebrate their 2-0 victory against Washington Nationals after a baseball game at Globe Life Field, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2026, in Arlington.
Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News
ARLINGTON — It took the Rangers 25 seasons in the Texas heat to finally reach the playoffs. Thirty years later, it remains such a significant moment in the team’s history that this weekend the Rangers are hosting a reunion.
Took them another 14 years to actually win a playoff series. Went 13 more before hosting a parade.
There is a lesson hidden somewhere in there. Playoffs — and playoff races — have been all too infrequent visitors for the Rangers and their fans. They should be cherished. And, as luck would have it, the Rangers are smack dab in the middle of one with 20% of the season remaining. Record aside, that shouldn’t be overlooked. There is an opportunity to seize.
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“The goal is to get into the playoffs, not to have the best record,” manager Skip Schumaker said Friday ahead of the Rangers’ 2-1 walk-off victory over the Angels. “The goal is getting in and seeing what happens. I’ve been very grateful to be part of a lot of playoff teams as a player, coach and manager and the two times we won, we didn’t have the best record.”
This is the kind of thing a manager whose team doesn’t have the best record would say. But it’s also true.
In 2006, the Cardinals won an aughts version of this year’s AL West race, capturing the NL Central despite an 83-78 record, then won the World Series. In another year that shall not be named, the Cardinals were 10 games out in the NL Central and 10 ½ back in the wild card race after Game 129, coincidentally the same number of games the Rangers have played this season. Those Cards got healthy, got hot and squeaked in as the lone wild card team by a game over Atlanta. And then David Freese happened. Sorry about that, Rangers fans.
Yes, the Rangers have been a disappointment to this point. Disappointment and opportunity can, however, coexist. And opportunity now trumps disappointment. They began Friday a game out in the AL West and in a tie with Minnesota for the final wild card spot.
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It can — and should be — exciting.
Maybe that’s obvious, but at the same time, allow us to point out that outside of that magical 2023 season, the Rangers have spent exactly one day over the last decade within a game of a playoff spot at this point or later in a season. So, before you drill too deep into the Cowboys depth chart, it’s worth remembering there is meaningful baseball to be played.
“We have a chance to do something special,” said Joc Pederson, who has appeared in more playoff games than any current Ranger and takes none of them for granted. “In the past 10 years, this organization’s been in the playoffs one time. There is an incredible opportunity for the team, for the city and for the buzz around the town to rise up and make the best of this chance. We are in a great position.
“I was very fortunate to be a part of the Dodgers and Braves, where in my first seven seasons I was in the playoffs every year and it just became the norm. But I don’t take any of this lightly. I haven’t been since ‘22. I want to go back.”
Part of the conversation with Pederson on Friday was about perspective. He was in Arizona in 2024. The Diamondbacks went 90-72. Lost out on a wild card berth due to a tiebreaker. The record didn’t matter when they went home after Game 162.
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Part of it was a plea. Real playoff opportunities are few and far between. Despite everything that’s happened to this point, the Rangers are in the sprint. A buzz around a playoff race couldn’t hurt.
This Rangers team is veteran-laden. They are realistic enough to know they haven’t performed to preseason expectations to this point. They’ve also been around long enough to know that expectations don’t matter when there are 33 games left to play. All that matters then: Those 33 games.
“You’ve got to block the record out,” said Jacob deGrom, who despite 2,000 career strikeouts and two Cy Young Awards, has exactly one postseason start in the last decade. “You know where we’re at. I’ve said it before. There’s a lot of pitches I wish I could have back. There are a lot of games I wish I could have back. I’m sure there are a lot of guys who also wish they could have something back.
“But you can’t look at things that way. What is ahead of us and what can we accomplish? What can we do? We can go out and win as many games as possible, win as many series as possible, and hope that puts us in a good position to make the playoffs. And then you try to make something special happen.”
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Because the playoffs — and playoff races — are special.