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PHOENIX − The Texas Rangers got off the plane at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, boarded two buses, and drove to their sprawling resort.

The Arizona Biltmore.

The Rangers broke into smiles, a little laughter, that brought back a lot of long lasting memories.

The last time they were here was 10 months and 6 days ago, partying into the night in the courtyard, and then the ballroom until the wee hours of the morning.

"It was the greatest time," Rangers GM Chris Young said. "I’ll never forget it. Seeing all of the joy, all of the happiness, the families all celebrating together."

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The Rangers had just become World Series champions, the first in franchise history, and when they flew back to Dallas the next day, they believed they could be right back for an encore in 2024.

This time, when the Rangers departed Phoenix, they left in silence, swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks, and coldly reminded they won’t be participating in the postseason.

Once again, for the 24^th consecutive year, no team will be repeating as World Series champions.

"I wish I knew what the answer was," Rangers manager Bruce Bochy told USA TODAY Sports. "Obviously, I don’t have it figured out."

Bochy has won four World Series championships as manager − 2010, 2012 and 2014 with the San Francisco Giants − and last year with the Rangers.

But never once has Bochy’s team reached the postseason the following season after winning the title, let alone even reaching the World Series in back-to-back seasons.

"So, you’re talking to the wrong guy," Bochy said, slowly breaking into a grin.

The Rangers, despite winning 15 of their last 25 games heading into Sunday, likely won’t even finish with a winning record this season, spending October at home wondering what went wrong.

"There’s been a number of reasons why we’re not where we want to be," said Bochy, sitting on the visiting bench at Chase Field, looking straight ahead to the spot where he was hoisting the World Series trophy 10 months ago. "Every season is different. It takes a life of its own whether guys aren’t having their normal year or injuries."

Bochy closes his eyes, reflecting back on the seasons after World Series championships, trying to come up with answers. No team since the New York Yankees in 1999 and 2000 have won back-to-back titles, and no National League team has repeated since the Big Red Machine days when Cincinnati won in 1975 and 1976.

"It shows how difficult it is to win a championship," Bochy says. "To repeat, a lot of good things have to happen. You need your guys to have a similar year to the year before. You need to avoid injuries. And you need a surprise or two.

"We didn’t hit on any of them, just being honest."

The Rangers’ high-powered offense never came close to hitting on all cylinders. The only person who remotely came close to duplicating the same numbers as their championship year was shortstop Corey Seager − hitting .278 with 30 homers, 74 RBI and a .864 OPS − but his season is over after undergoing hernia surgery.

Everywhere you look, up and down the lineup, they failed to get the production of a year ago.

Outfielder Adolis Garcia, who hit 39 homers and drove in 107 runs in 2023, winning the ALCS MVP award, is hitting just .216 with 22 homers and 75 RBI. His .663 OPS is 173 points lower.

Catcher Jonah Heim has had a nightmare of a season, hitting just .227 with a .587 OPS.

Center fielder Leody Taveras had 14 homers and 67 RBI with a .733 OPS last season, which has plummeted to 10 homers, 41 RBI and a .632 OPS.

Second baseman Marcus Semien is hitting .238 with a .704 OPS, compared to an .826 OPS in 2023.

And there were the injuries.

Outfielder Evan Carter, the Rangers’ prized rookie who was instrumental in their World Series run, was plagued with back problems and played in just 45 games, hitting .188.

Third baseman Josh Jung missed the first three months of the season with a broken wrist.

Three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer made just his ninth start Saturday.

Starter Jon Gray pitched in only 102 ⅔ innings before being shut down with groin and foot injuries, going 5-6 with a 4.47 ERA.

And two-time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom made his season debut on Friday.

"If we had been able to stay a little bit healthier, especially myself," Scherzer said, "we’ve been a lot more competitive. That’s what’s tough. Baseball is an ultra-marathon. This is six months every day, and then you play another month of baseball, and after a short turnaround, you’re in another ultra-marathon. That’s why it’s so hard to repeat.

"We knew it was going to be an absolute challenge coming in, and unfortunately as a team, we haven’t played our best, and with certain guys injured, like myself, it’s frustrating. I feel like if I was healthy, and out there making my starts, that would have given the team a lot better chance.

"We’re still very good, very talented, but everybody’s got to look into the mirror after the season and wish they could have done more."

When virtually every position player has a down year, with 28 different stints on the injured list, the recipe to repeat is burned in the kitchen.

"Injuries are not an excuse, every team has to deal with them," Bochy said, "but they hit us pretty hard with our core players. And our guys will tell you they haven’t had the years they had last year. We weren’t the same team offensively, and it’s hard to explain why. We just didn’t have that same slug as we did last year."

The Rangers, who received about $20 million less than the $111 million they expected in their TV contract, also didn’t jump into the deep waters of the free-agent pool and allowed postseason hero Jordan Montgomery to walk away. They fortified their bullpen with the signings of Kirby Yates and David Robertson, but largely ran the same team back again.

"I think we’re all surprised what’s happened there," said Montgomery, who signed a two-year, $47.5 million contract with the Diamondbacks. "I thought they’d be back, but I remember being with the Yankees and (Anthony) Rizzo kept talking about the World Series hangover they had with the Cubs. Maybe it’s real."

The team that loses the World Series, well, they still have that burning hunger. The Kansas City Royals lost the 2014 World Series in seven games to Bochy’s Giants, but returned the next year to beat the New York Mets and win it all. The D-backs are in position to pull off the same feat.

"I think it just speaks to how competitive the game is," D-backs first baseman Christian Walker said. "It’s not like the Rangers did something wrong to put themselves in a bad situation. You’re talking about a team that had a really, really good season last year. It’s not that they can’t repeat that, but it’s difficult to expect everybody on the team to go out and have another really, really good year.

"There’s a lot of expectations that come along with winning, and I think it gives the optics that a team didn’t play up to their standards. But it’s just a difficult game and how fast it moves. That team was looked at as an underdog last year, just like we were, and it’s hard to expect that standard every year."

Indeed, it wasn’t as if anyone expected anything from the Rangers last October. They lost the AL West title the last day of the regular season in Seattle, hit the road and were underdogs against Tampa Bay in the wild-card series, the Baltimore Orioles in the AL Division Series, the Houston Astros in the ALCS until reaching the World Series. Who could have imagined they’d go 11-0 on the road in the postseason?

And who could have imagined their nightmare this year, the latest World Series champion who failed to return to the dance.

"It’s not as much as to why teams don’t repeat," Young said, "but how magical it is when it does happen and have everything go right. So, to have all of those things go right for consecutive years, it’s really hard. We certainly experienced that this year whether it be injuries or underperformance. It just hasn’t lined up for us."

Now, with only two weeks remaining, the Rangers are left hoping to finish strong, perhaps giving them a carryover into spring training next year.

"Nobody’s happy or satisfied with the way this year has gone," said Young, who signed a multi-year contract on Friday to return to the Rangers. "But it’s important that we build momentum through the end of the season, which we hope will carry into 2025.

"If we can have a respectable finish here, we can look back and say that with everything that went wrong, we’re still not far off and be back next year."

Bochy pulled off the feat three times in San Francisco.

So, why not one more, in what could be the final season of his glorious managerial career?

Let the mantra begin: "One for the thumb."

Slump buster

Aaron Judge, baseball’s greatest slugger who ended his career-long 16-game homerless streak Friday night with his grand slam, has a history of annual slumps.

But when he comes out of them, look out.

Judge, who entered Saturday with 52 homers, has had 11 slumps in his career in which he has hit two or fewer homers in a stretch of 17 to 28 games.

In those slumps, he has hit 19 homers in 268 games, spanning 1,142 plate appearances and 964 at-bats, one homer every 50.7 at-bats.

The rest of his career, he has hit 290 home runs in 712 games, spanning 3,129 plate appearances and 2,561 at-bats, one homer every 8.8 at-bats.

This season, in 105 games from April 24-Aug. 25, he hit 48 home runs in 469 plate appearances and 370 at-bats, one homer every 7.7 at-bats.

In his two bookend slumps, totaling 40 games, he has hit three homers in 179 plate appearances and 147 at-bats, one homer every 49.0 at-bats.

Around the bases

≻ While the Los Angeles Dodgers are not ruling out the possibility of Shohei Ohtani taking the mound if they reach the NLCS or the World Series, the simple idea reeks of desperation.

Ohtani just underwent his second elbow surgery last September, and while he’s rehabbing now, he still has yet to face a single batter.

Is a postseason relief appearance or two really worth a $700 million gamble and a potential third surgery? Oh sure, it would make a nice Hollywood story, and while Ohtani has continually defied the odds in his career, putting him into a situation without pitching in a game since Aug. 23, 2023, would be nothing short of reckless.

≻ Major League Baseball should suspend former Minnesota Twins Class A catcher Derek Bender for at least two years after throwing a game on Sept. 6 against Class A Lakeland when he informed opposing hitters what pitches were coming from starter Ross Dunn so that Fort Myers’ season would end.

The Twins immediately released him after the investigation, and with his horrendous actions so egregious, no organization should ever sign him to play baseball ever again.

≻ Two weeks remain and the San Francisco Giants ownership group still has not decided whether to bring Farhan Zaidi, president of baseball operations, back for the 2025 season in the final year of his contract.

≻ Chicago Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger, who’s in the first year of a three-year, $80 million contract, is fully expected to remain with the Cubs instead of opting out of his contract. He’ll be paid $27.5 million next year.

≻ There are five teams expected to make bids for free-agent outfielder Juan Soto in free agency this winter, baseball executives believe: the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies.

≻ While John Mozeliak, president of baseball operations for the St. Louis Cardinals, plans to step down after the 2025 season, special assistant Chaim Bloom is expected to have much greater authority next season, perhaps even become the top baseball decision-maker.

≻ The Chicago White Sox, who should break baseball’s all-time record of 120 losses this week, plan to cut payroll in 2025 after sustaining substantial losses in revenue during this horrific season.

≻ While Alex Bregman should be the highest-paid infielder in free agency this winter, Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Willy Adames may be the second-highest, with executives believing he’ll earn close to Matt Chapman’s recent six-year, $151 million deal with the Giants.

≻ Enough with all of the wild rumors and speculation. The Oakland A’s are playing in Sacramento next year, and at least through 2027, and no one is going to profit more than the Giants, who never returned the territorial rights the A’s gave them when they nearly moved to Tampa 30 years ago.

≻ When infielder Jose Iglesias was called up by the Mets on May 31, they were 23-33. They have since gone 58-33 and are fighting for a wild-card berth.

Maybe he’s their real MVP.

≻ The Minnesota Twins, whose collapse down the stretch (8-16) has enabled the Seattle Mariners, Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox to hang around the AL wild-card race, played Saturday for only the 18^th time this season with Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis in the same lineup.

≻ The Tigers’ decision to dump Jack Flaherty for a modest prospect package from the Dodgers may haunt them all winter. While Flaherty has emerged as the ace of the Dodgers’ staff, the Tigers can’t help but wonder if the trade cost them a legitimate shot to make the playoffs.

≻ Kudos to Tennessee Tians owner Amy Adams Strunk for flying defensive line coach Tracy Rocker and his wife, Lalitha, to Seattle after their practice to watch their son, Kumar Rocker, make his major-league debut with the Texas Rangers.

≻ Arizona Diamondbacks bench coach Jeff Bannister, instrumental in the D-backs’ turnaround from their 110-loss season in 2021, should be on everyone’s short list of managerial candidates this offseason.

≻ There are two weeks of the season remaining, and only five teams have been officially eliminated. The Brewers, the smallest market in baseball, should be the first team to clinch a division title this week with a magic number of five entering Saturday.

≻ While the Dodgers will soon be celebrating their 12th consecutive playoff spot, manager Dave Roberts concedes that much of the joy is stripped with the expectations of his club every year.

“I think whatever is expected,’’ Roberts said, “it certainly takes the elation out of whatever outcome versus if it’s not expected.

"It’s our cross to bear. It’s where we’re at. We still expect to win and try to win. But I do think it does take the joy out.’’

≻ The National League batting race is virtually over with, yep, Padres infielder Luis Arraez winning it again. He’ll be the first player to win a batting title with three different teams, and, in three consecutive seasons, too.

≻ The Executive of the Year award belongs to Kansas City Royals GM J.J. Picollo, and it shouldn’t even be close, making shrewd moves during the winter and at the trade deadline, turning a 106-loss team to a dangerous postseason team.

≻ The Miami Marlins have used an MLB-record 70 players this season, so, almost two entire 40-man rosters.

No wonder manager Skip Shumaker will be bolting the minute the season ends.

≻ The baseball gods have a curious sense of humor.

It’s quite possible the Mets could wind up spending an entire week in Milwaukee while the Padres spend a week in Phoenix.

The Mets end the regular season in Milwaukee, and if they win the final wild-card berth, they likely will open the postseason one day later against the Brewers in Milwaukee.

The Padres end the regular season in Phoenix, and if they wind up with the second wild-card spot with the D-backs having the top spot, the Padres will open the postseason in Phoenix.

≻ NL Rookie of the Year favorite Jackson Merrill of the Padres is just the sixth player 21 or under to hit at least 23 homers with 25 doubles and six triples. He joins an illustrious group: Hall of Famers Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Frank Robinson along with Mike Trout, Ken Keltner and Hal Trosky.

≻ Kudos to Xander Bogaerts, who reluctantly moved from shortstop to second base at the start of the season for Ha-Seong Kim, swallowed his pride and now is back at shortstop for the Padres.

He agreed to the move simply to get Donovan Solano in the lineup at first base, shifting Jake Cronenworth to second base.

“Everything,” Bogaerts told reporters, “is about winning. I don’t see any other way that you can put it.’’

≻ Congratulations to Tampa Bay Rays infielder Christopher Morel, who received his high-school diploma this week after leaving school at the age of 16 in the Dominican Republic to pursue his baseball career.

“It was more so for my mom,” Morel, 24, told reporters. “I’m the first one born in the family, and I’m the last one getting it. My two younger siblings have already graduated. So, I wanted to do it for her.”

≻ Bowden Francis, meet Dave Stieb.

Dave Stieb, meet Bowden Francis.

Stieb had three no-hitters and a perfect game spoiled in the ninth inning during his career with the Blue Jays before his first no-hitter on Sept. 2, 1990.

It’s still the only no-hitter in Blue Jays history.

Now, Francis is trying to join him, flirting with three no-hitters in three weeks, losing two no-hitters in the ninth inning and another in the seventh inning.

Francis is one of only five pitchers with multiple no-hit bids lasting at least eight innings since 1974, joining Max Scherzer (2015), Nolan Ryan (1974 and 1989), Tom Browning (1988), and Stieb (1988).

≻ Just when you didn’t think the White Sox could get any worse, they are 6-44 since the All-Star break, and have lost 28 of their last 29 home games.

≻ Comeback Player of the Season: Say hello to Diamondbacks third baseman Eugenio Suarez.

He is hitting .328 and has a major-league leading 22 home runs and 60 RBI since July 1. The first three months: He was hitting .196 with six home runs, 32 RBI and was nearly released.

≻ The last time Atlanta was healthy and able to put their opening-day lineup on the field? Opening day, which lasted only seven innings.

≻ What a cool moment for Twins reliever Griffin Jax, a graduate of the Air Force Academy, to see his brother (Capt. Parker Jax) and his sister-in-law (Capt. Chandler Jax) completing an F-35 flyover before the Twins game against the Los Angeles Angels at Target Field.

When the flyover was completed, Griffin Jax’s twin brother, Capt. Carson Jax, threw out the ceremonial first pitch caught by Griffin.

For an encore, with Jaxes’ parents in attendance, Jax pitched two scoreless innings in the Twins’ 6-3 victory.

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale