{"id":371264,"date":"2025-10-09T19:02:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T19:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/371264\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T19:02:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T19:02:25","slug":"getting-to-know-skip-schumaker-thanks-to-those-who-know-the-rangers-new-manager-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/371264\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting to know Skip Schumaker, thanks to those who know the Rangers\u2019 new manager best"},"content":{"rendered":"

When he and his wife found out their daughter would almost certainly be born with Down Syndrome<\/a>, Jake Burger\u2019s immediate response was stoic and resolute. This would not be a challenge, but a gift.<\/p>\n

Making that decision was the easy part. Living it is something else. He had to walk back into a baseball clubhouse full of testosterone, pranks and, well, dudes and figure out how to discuss real life. <\/p>\n

He knew immediately what to do: Go to Skip Schumaker<\/a>\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a life-changing moment and I had no real idea on how to navigate that in the clubhouse or how to speak about it,\u201d said Burger, the one Ranger who played for Schumaker during the incoming manager\u2019s two-year stint with the Miami Marlins. \u201cBut we had a genuine human interaction about it. No baseball. Just talking about real life. <\/p>\n

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\u201cHe said God doesn\u2019t do things wrong. This beautiful girl is getting put in your life for a reason. Don\u2019t view it as the be-all or end-all. It was just a comforting voice that made me feel even better about things. We were just there, in that moment. It was just real life.\u201d <\/p>\n

To those who have played with, played for and managed Schumaker, it\u2019s a common refrain. The 45-year-old who will be introduced as the Rangers 21st manager on Friday<\/a>, is a guy \u201cyou just do life with.\u201d <\/p>\n

We\u2019d attribute that quote, but we\u2019d have to attribute it twice. Both Adam Wainwright, perhaps Schumaker\u2019s best friend in baseball, and Cardinals manager Oli Marmol, on whose staff Schumaker served in 2022, used those exact words to describe him. <\/p>\n

But those who know him also describe a man of deep faith, an elite-level prankster, a diligent prepper (for baseball, not an apocalypse) and somebody who is unfailingly honest. <\/p>\n

Living an authentic life<\/p>\n

At Triple-A Memphis in 2005, Wainwright and his wife shared \u201ca wall,\u201d with the Schumakers, Skip and wife, Lindsey, as next-door roommates in an apartment complex. It provided a good starting point for a friendship. The Schumakers invited the Wainwrights over for dinner on an off night. <\/p>\n

Wainwright thought it would be a good idea to show up in the one suit he owned and his wife donned her single cocktail dress.<\/p>\n

An enduring prank war – and friendship – ensued.<\/p>\n

Along the way, after they reached the majors, Schumaker once commissioned a giant magnetic side plate to affix to the passenger side of the mini-van Wainwright drove. It had his head photoshopped onto Richard Simmons\u2019 body from a workout under a \u201cBody by Waino\u201d logo. Had a phone number, too. It was suspiciously close to Wainwright\u2019s actual number, but, hey, that might have been a prank too far. Since it was on the passenger side, Wainwright never saw it. It wasn\u2019t until a week later that his wife let him in on the joke. <\/p>\n

On the road, Schumaker regularly affixed a room service hangtag on Wainwright\u2019s door, ordering up bagels and lox (Wainwright has a visceral aversion to salmon of any kind) with the earliest possible delivery time and instructions \u201cplease knock loudly as I\u2019m a deep sleeper.\u201d But he never pulled the prank on a day Wainwright was scheduled to pitch. Because you respect the prank war, but you respect the game even more. <\/p>\n

But there was more to their relationship than just pranks – Wainwright got even with two weeks worth of dirty diapers he stashed in Schumaker\u2019s car in the middle of summer – and the non-stop old-school video games they played as young players. Wainwright, who went on to found Big League Impact, a charitable foundation that combines both action and financial commitment, and won the Roberto Clemente Award, was already a devout Christian. Schumaker was starting to lean into faith more deeply.<\/p>\n

Wainwright gave him a Bible that first year together. In it, he wrote: \u201cThe answers to everything you need to know are in here.\u201d Schumaker still carries that Bible with him. On a podcast with former pitcher Scott Linebrink earlier this year, Schumaker said he tries to live his life by a model of \u201cWhat Would Waino Do?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI think he saw that I was living an authentic life,\u201d Wainwright said. \u201cWhen I screwed up, I admitted it and I asked for forgiveness. It was just living life. We were intentionally loving on guys. When you do life with people, you know what they are really about. And during the season, you are doing life with those guys. It\u2019s really important to the way baseball works. It can\u2019t just be on-the-field baseball. Big league dinners. Bonding away from the field. Those things are important.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he did in Florida with a young team was so amazing. He\u2019s the top managerial prospect in all of baseball. It\u2019s his presence. He\u2019s very honest with players. He\u2019s going to let you know what he wants. And he\u2019s also great at giving positive reinforcement before the truth. That comes from parenting. To be a great parent is like being a great coach. I\u2019m going to tell you what you did well, where the mistake was and why I\u2019m doing what I\u2019m doing.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Miami<\/p>\n

Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker watches the action on the field during the first inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Sunday, May 26, 2024, in Phoenix. <\/p>\n

Ross D. Franklin \/ AP<\/p>\n

Stamp of approval<\/p>\n

In his last year in the majors, Michael Young<\/a> was traded from Philadelphia to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 31, when the waivers trade deadline was still a thing. A life-long Dodgers fan, it presented a nice coda to his career. <\/p>\n

He hustled to meet the Dodgers, who were in Colorado at the time. He got to his locker, was hustling to find some blue cleats to replace the Phillies red he\u2019d worn all season and was trying to get everything together when he heard a thud at his feet.<\/p>\n

Schumaker, who spent the first eight years of his career with St. Louis, had thrown down his 2011 World Series ring.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I faked a laugh, but I was running hot,\u201d Young, now a Rangers special assistant who was instrumental in making the connection to Schumaker a year ago<\/a>, said with a laugh. \u201cBut we got really, really close. I was kind of coming off the bench for the first time and I really picked his brain to get answers. I came away super, super impressed about his mind. And we would both sit there and literally play manager. It was the best way to anticipate how we\u2019d be used. We bonded as friends and as baseball minds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until they were teammates, they\u2019d only been passing acquaintances with a loose bond; both attended UC-Santa Barbara and were part of a small fraternity of Gauchos in the majors. They only spent a month together as big league teammates, but a dozen years later, Young considers Schumaker one of his best friends in the game. Even though Schumaker once did invite David Freese into a text stream of a group of 2013 Dodger teammates that existed solely to poke one another. Young responded: \u201cI hate you,\u201d to Freese.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t count many guys I\u2019ve felt that strongly about,\u201d Young said of Schumaker. \u201cNot just as a teammate, but as a friend. We talked about family life. Our families were in similar stages. I was considering retiring and he was my go to guy to talk about life after playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He still talks to Schumaker regularly about more than just the Rangers. Schumaker\u2019s oldest son, Brody, is a TCU<\/a> baseball commit and two years older than Young\u2019s middle son, Emilio, who is also a rising baseball star on the Southern California prep circuit. Young seeks out advice on handling the monolith that is elite youth baseball.<\/p>\n

Over the last year, they\u2019ve talked regularly about the Rangers. Young has watched as Schumaker, in his role as senior advisor, dove in head first on the organization, learning the makeup of people in the front office, going to the minor leagues and talking to players.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, he\u2019s already good at this,\u201d Young said, pointing to Schumaker\u2019s NL Manager of the Year Award for 2023. \u201cAnd he\u2019s had an entire year to look at the organization, from the top down. He understands it all. He\u2019s really well-positioned to manage this team. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople think that managers moonlight as part-time therapists, but he also holds players to a high bar. He cares about his players a lot as people, but, if you are wearing a big-league uniform, at game time, it\u2019s winning time. That should be the only thing on players\u2019 minds. He feels passionately about people, but equally as passionate about baseball and managing. He\u2019s as prepared as possible to put players in a position to succeed. It gets tossed around a lot, but he genuinely believes in the concept.\u201d <\/p>\n

Real life, real honesty<\/p>\n

When Marmol was named the Cardinals manager ahead of the 2022 season and started assembling a staff, he interviewed Schumaker, who was coming off four years as a coach with San Diego.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I wanted him right away,\u201d said Marmol, who was the youngest manager in baseball at the time. \u201cIf I had to narrow that meeting down to one word it was \u2018genuine.\u2019 I knew this was a tough gig and a tough town. You wanted people you can trust. I left that meeting knowing I could trust him. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s so good at building relationships. I wanted that. I knew he was the kind of guy other organizations would want to pluck; I want guys who aspire to do more. He had a lot of those qualities. He genuinely cares. Baseball is baseball. It comes and it goes. But he wants relationships that are not transactional, but meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schumaker was on the staff one year. The Cardinals won the NL Central. That winter, Miami came looking for a manager. The Marlins plucked Schumaker. He took them to the playoffs. Then the Marlins did what they\u2019ve always done in their 33-year history: They rewarded success with personnel changes at the top and a slashed payroll. <\/p>\n

It became very clear that it would be a transactional relationship with the club. Schumaker didn\u2019t wait around for the inevitable. He left the team just before the end of the year due to a death in the family. He informed the team he wouldn\u2019t be back in 2025. Real life. Real honesty. <\/p>\n

And now he\u2019s about to start his career with the Rangers. <\/p>\n

\u201cTexas got the best guy on the market,\u201d Marmol said. \u201cHe\u2019s a real one. I have immeasurable respect for Skip. He can do this for as long as he wants.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/a>Rangers starting pitching analysis: 2025 was as good as it gets. Can Texas do it again?<\/a><\/p>\n

It is conceivable the Rangers are about to enter the Golden Age of starting pitching in the franchise\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>Podcast: Cowboys\u2019 glass \u2018half-full,\u2019 Rangers\u2019 new manager and Texas-OU intrigue<\/a><\/p>\n

Kevin Sherrington, Evan Grant and Joe Hoyt discuss the latest hot sports topics in North Texas.<\/p>\n

Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When he and his wife found out their daughter would almost certainly be born with Down Syndrome, Jake…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371265,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2395],"tags":[5,3246,1816,778,58,4171,4,149,14902,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-371264","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-marlins","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-chris-young","10":"tag-marlins","11":"tag-miami","12":"tag-miami-marlins","13":"tag-miamimarlins","14":"tag-mlb","15":"tag-rangers","16":"tag-skip-schumaker","17":"tag-texas-rangers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115345761584360641","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=371264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}