Texas Rangers find themselves in the midst of a 30 game, 31-day stretch...wait, what?

The Texas Rangers have not had an off day since Thursday, June 8th. With the struggles that the team has had on the field, that seems like forever ago. In reality it has only been nine days and nine games. Texas is 3-6 in that nine-game stretch, which is why it seems much longer.

If the team and fans are hoping for a few off days to help the team reset, everyone is going to be disappointed. The next off day is this coming Thursday, June 22nd, while on the road. This off day will come at the end of a 13 game, 13-day stretch, and will be the only breather before embarking on a push to the All-Star break of 17 games in 17 days. No matter how busy you are right now, there are plenty of opporunites to watch Rangers' baseball this summer.

Texas Rangers' schedule is full of action

After today's game at home to finish off the Toronto series (and hopefully take the series!), the boys will hop on a plane and head to the southside of Chicago, where they will have a three-game series against the White Sox. As mentioned earlier, the lone respite will come Thursday, as the team heads to New York to take on the Yankees in a weekend series. This will start the march to the All-Star break which will be the next breather for the club.

Following the Yankees road series, the Rangers will come home and have an oddity of back-to-back four game series. The first will be against Detroit and the later against Houston. Texas will then head back to the northeast starting on July 4th, to take on Boston and wrap up the marathon of games in the nation's capital where they will play Washington.

Tackling a task of 30 games in 31 days is both physically and mentally demanding. If things are going well, it seems like no big deal, but if things are playing out like they have in the first third of this stretch, it can test the most mature professionals. One advantage that the Rangers have, is the mix of both young and veteran players. The veterans can help pace the young guys, and the young guys can help energize the veterans. Also, with Bruce Bochy at the helm, the team is going to stay on an even keel throughout the next several weeks.

Texas Rangers could use lessons from the ranch to get through tough stretch in schedule

One of many things that my father taught me was that there is nothing wrong with hard work. Along those same lines, he instilled in my brother and I that the only way to tackle a big task is to just jump in, put your head down, and make a hand. That is exactly the mindset that the Rangers need to have at this stage of their season. As a kid, when we would bale and haul hay, or perhaps repair and build fence, it was all about getting in a rhythm with the work and getting it done. No matter how big the job, it wasn't going to get done unless we got out there and did a little at a time. And before we knew it, we would be down to the short rows, and have that job finished up, and be on to the next one.

The Rangers' schedule isn't going to get any easier after the All-Star break, but there will be many more off days that will make it easier to manage the pitching staff and give the position players some breathers. Coming out of the All-Star break (which is four days for the Rangers this year, except for all of the actual All-Stars that we will be sending to Seattle - go vote!) the Rangers will be hosting Cleveland, Tampa Bay, and the Los Angeles Dodgers, before finishing out July on the road against Houston and San Diego.

The gauntlet, that is the Rangers schedule over the next month and a half, is going to be tough. But this team is gritty, and should be able to rise to the occasion. In May, when faced with eight home games compared to 19 road contests, the club went 18-9. The temps in Texas are heating up, it is officially the dog days of summer. Find a good shade tree or some a/c, kick back and listen or watch as the Rangers continue to play entertaining baseball. They are going to put their heads down and go to work and give us some more baseball to be excited about.