Only God Forgives

Following an August in which the Rangers went 20-7, September slithered into the picture and is currently doing its damn best to char the team’s lead and playoff chances by disintegrating them both to ashes with scorching hell fire.

Sep 9, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Yu Darvish (11) walks off the field in the sixth inning of the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

As things stand now, halfway through September, the Rangers find themselves 2-10 for the month, with a current 5-game losing streak at home.

Realistically, the Rangers’ chances at surpassing the Oakland A’s for the AL West division crown are gone, while the team’s playoff odds are simultaneously dwindling.

The Rays have arrived and are now tied for the Rangers atop of the Wild Card standings. Meanwhile, the Indians, Yankees, Royals and Orioles are still in the picture, but at varying odds.

Yet as we, the fans, board the seemingly sinking ship of the Rangers for the daily grind of the game of baseball, it is clear that this ship has transcended itself into a stark-lined hell, especially as our eyes glimmer hopelessly from the depths of the shadows of the team’s current state of play and from the still-painful wounds of seasons’ past.

But objectively speaking, it would still be a surprise if the Rangers are not one of the two Wild Card teams by season’s end.

If anything, based on the Rangers’ various stretches of play in 2013, in which the team seemed to have lost its firm grasp on a lead, whether it be for the AL West, or in this case, the Wild Card, only to follow such stretches with lengthy periods of winning baseball, as witnessed in the month of August, the Rangers will rebound — the only question that remains is if this inevitable rebound will occur in time to mean anything at all.

To put it simply, doubting this team would be premature — even as hope has been zapped after every game of this current home stand, and in all reality, the Rangers have proven themselves to be resilient after rough patches in 2013 — it is simply an emotionally draining style of play.

It has been said that baseball is a game of biblical proportions.

And if this is the case, the roots of the Rangers’ tree of life still hold strong — it is just the branches that sway violently within the caustic winds of this silent storm.

No storm lasts forever.