Texas Rangers' worst nightmare comes true in regular-season finale

I remember a time not too long ago when scoring runs wasn't as difficult as sprinting the opposite way up an escalator in less than 10 seconds (but seriously, if you can do that, mad props). I also remember a time when opposing hitters didn't tee off with frozen ropes and towering blasts on a regular basis.

I remember a time when the Texas Rangers looked like a World Series contender.

That time was two weeks ago, but it feels like two years ago.

Did this week really happen? Halloween isn't too far off. Surely, then, a world where the Oakland A's, with a starting rotation made up of all rookies and a lineup where Brandon Moss hits fourth (OK, dude's on fire, but still ... Brandon Moss?) is a make believe world best suited for the haunted houses. This bizarro world can be scary in theory, but it ain't real.

Oops.

What really happened: The Rangers dropped a four-game lead in the American League West with six games to play, and were swept by Oakland (topped off by a 12-5 debacle on Wednesday) in three clunker games. With the final loss, the A's took the division.

Double oops.

The only saving grace in this whole calamity of a situation is Texas still made the playoffs as a wild card team. On paper, it would even seem to be a favorable matchup.

The Rangers will face the Orioles on Friday in a one-game, winner-take-all battle to decide who faces the Yankees on Sunday. Consider that:

• The game is in Arlington.
• Yu Darvish, who has looked like an ace over the last two months, takes the hill against Joe Saunders, a mediocre pitcher at best who has a career-ERA over 9.00 at Rangers Ballpark.
• Texas is 5-2 against Baltimore this year.
• Texas is 50-31 overall at home this season.

But somehow, none of those four bullet-points seem to matter. Not after how this last week has gone. Not after the fly ball that Josh Hamilton inexplicably botched that broke a tie game. Not with the way this offense is sinking into a lull lately, grounding into double plays at an alarming rate.

My confidence right now in this team is not particularly high. But baseball is an odd game. In no other sport could a team with one All-Star (Ryan Cook, mind you) take a division from a team with seven. It doesn't add up. This stuff sails over the head of all of us - the hardcore fans, the sabermetrics and the casual baseball fans.

The underdog and undervalued A's, taking pages straight out of the script of Moneyball, won the AL West in inspiring fashion over the Rangers and Angels. Baseball stories of the little teams that could rarely get old. It's the reason the 2010 Texas Rangers and their $40 million payroll are probably my favorite team in the history of any sport.

That is why baseball is the most intriguing game on the planet. For a game that's so calculated, from the pitching matchups to the batting orders, the results don't always go according to the managers' scripts. And that's what makes this time of the year so exciting.

With that in mind, maybe the Rangers rise out of this depression and make a run. Maybe some home cooking is what they needed to get back on track. The team is too talented to not at least give us a little postseason ray of hope, right? If this regular season taught us anything, it's that no one knows. No one knows how Yu Darvish will pitch in his first postseason MLB game. No one knows if the Rangers bats will wake up.

We can only hope. And as long as we can hope, I refuse to give up on this team. Not until there are no remaining games left on the 2012 schedule. Yes, the team has its back against the wall. Perhaps that's what will make tomorrow night so exciting. Let's get this.