{"id":267804,"date":"2025-11-07T13:11:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T13:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/267804\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T13:11:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T13:11:12","slug":"day-in-the-life-of-skip-schumaker-shows-why-new-rangers-manager-will-prove-doubters-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/267804\/","title":{"rendered":"Day in the life of Skip Schumaker shows why new Rangers manager will prove doubters wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"

LADERA RANCH, Calif. \u2014 To understand what makes new Rangers<\/a> manager Skip Schumaker go, you must first know Clemente Bonilla. <\/p>\n

Besides having the greatest baseball name ever, Clemente Bonilla is the baseball coach at Capistrano Valley Christian School here in Orange County and has been for nearly 20 years. Before that, he played two years in the minors, getting exactly one at-bat above Class A and another four in independent baseball. Playing baseball was a nice summer gig for him while he was finding his true calling. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe is the nicest guy in the world,\u201d Schumaker recently said over an avocado benedict \u2014 hollandaise on the side, please \u2014 on a beautiful Southern California morning that would be perfect for surfing, if only he didn\u2019t have to spend it telling his life story.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, he was enemy No. 1.\u201d <\/p>\n

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The idea for the day is to get to know 45-year-old Jared Michael Schumaker, who has gone by \u201cSkip\u201d since T-ball, when his father dubbed him that because half the roster seemed to be named Jared. The explanation: Though the kid was athletic, there was one thing he couldn\u2019t do \u2014 skip. So an ultimately prophetic nickname was born. <\/p>\n

Former teammates and employers have called Schumaker \u201cthe kind of person you do life with.\u201d So the idea is to trail him throughout a normal day, which includes getting breakfast with him and Michael Young \u2014perhaps his closest friend in the game; trailing him to a speaking engagement with a junior college team; visiting his home; and stopping by his son Brody\u2019s high school practice, where he will step in and throw batting practice. <\/p>\n

What emerges is the tale of a disciplined, loyal and principled baseball man. Above all, he is a husband, father and servant who made his faith central to how he lived his life after being handed a Bible by a teammate 20 years ago with the inscription: \u201cThe answers to every question you need are in here.\u201d<\/p>\n

But you can\u2019t get to know Schumaker the baseball man without the Clemente Bonilla story. It goes like this: When they were both in high school nearly 30 years ago, Bonilla and Schumaker were invited to try out for the Area Code Games, one of the premier scouting showcases. To Schumaker, it was everything. He\u2019d hit .589 to lead one of the best baseball-producing counties in America as a junior. He went to the Area Code tryouts determined to leave a mark.<\/p>\n

Didn\u2019t make it out of the first round. A fellow shortstop from just up the road did: Clemente Bonilla.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always have this edge; I\u2019ve kind of kept receipts in my life,\u201d Schumaker says. \u201cIt\u2019s just what motivates me, what keeps me going. So I wrote in my hat \u2018Clemente Bonilla.\u2019 I wrote his name everywhere. Every rep I took off the tee, every set in the weight room, I was thinking Clemente Bonilla. It was that way through my senior year, college, into professional baseball. I was going to bury this guy. It was kind of an a-ha moment for me.\u201d <\/p>\n

As he will later share with the team at Saddleback College, a top junior college program just 10 minutes from his home, it was the thought of Bonilla, that made him change his diet, his workouts and galvanized in him a discipline so strict and regimented that, to clarify, he will say \u201cI\u2019m not OCD.\u201d But, he acknowledges he is definitely Type A.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Rangers Manager Skip Schumaker speaks to players at Saddleback College on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025 in Mission Viejo, Calif. He has had a long relationship with the local community college team and knows many of the players from helping coach his son\u2019s high school team.<\/p>\n

Nick Agro \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

As soon as he\u2019s done telling the Clemente Bonilla story (you can\u2019t do the guy justice with only a last name), Young butts in with a similar story from his own Area Codes experience when he went to try out for center field and ended up in a corner. A kid named Darrell Dent won the spot over him. For the next year, Young was obsessed with Dent, adding a bit of alliterative profanity as a sub for the first name. It drove him, too. <\/p>\n

It is a reminder of the similarities between these two, which is not an insignificant detail in the Schumaker story. Young, the Rangers legend, had been previously approached about managing the Rangers<\/a> \u2014 and other clubs. He\u2019s declined, choosing instead to spend more time with his family. While Young wasn\u2019t approached this time around, Schumaker shares a ton of similarities. <\/p>\n

Both are Southern California kids. Both played collegiately at UC Santa Barbara. Both were fifth-round draft choices. Both are hard-wired to compete. And both keep receipts.<\/p>\n

It brings Schumaker to another a-ha moment in a playing career that spanned 11 major league seasons and now nearly a decade of front office\/coaching experience. That came at a UC Santa Barbara alumni game in 2001. He\u2019d not played much as a freshman at Loyola Marymount, the only Division I offer he\u2019d received, transferred to UCSB, dislocated his shoulder and missed the next season. And as he was going into his junior season, there was a question about whether he\u2019d play the field or pitch. He wanted to play.<\/p>\n

After doubling, he found himself at second base and was greeted by the alumni shortstop, who asked him about his situation. He quickly explained. <\/p>\n

The alumnus said: \u201cWell, in this game you either prove people right or prove them wrong.\u201d <\/p>\n

Then he walked off. That was his introduction to Michael Young. It left a mark. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was another one of those moments,\u201d Schumaker said. \u201cAnd after that, I just started stacking up the people I was going to prove wrong.\u201d <\/p>\n

Guided by principle and loyalty<\/p>\n

It\u2019s as good a place as any to turn the conversation to his time with the Miami Marlins, his first managerial job, and how he became available to the Rangers in the first place.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Rangers Manager Skip Schumaker greets his dogs Louie and Ribby at his home on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025 in Ladera Ranch, Calif. <\/p>\n

Nick Agro \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve retreated back to the kitchen island of the comfortable, airy cottage Schumaker and Lindsey, his wife of nearly 21 years, call home. Surrounded by his pair of twin 10-year-old white labs Louie (a nod to the organization in which he grew up) and Ribby (a play on RBIs), a retirement gift from Lindsey because she \u201cwasn\u2019t going to be his hobby,\u201d he\u2019s trying to explain the circumstances as best he can.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not entirely simple. <\/p>\n

How does a guy go from Manager of the Year as a rookie to unemployed in a year\u2019s time? Well, the easiest answer is: The Marlins. <\/p>\n

But there is more to it, a lot of which has to do with other non-negotiable essential elements of Schumaker. Namely, principle and loyalty. <\/p>\n

His road to managing started with principle a decade earlier. He retired in the middle of an intrasquad game as a non-roster player with San Diego in 2016. Just not with any announcement. His manager that day, Rod Barajas, had asked him if he wanted an extra at-bat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told him, \u2018If I make another out off this guy who was throwing like 84 mph, I\u2019m done,\u201d Schumaker says. \u201cAnd then I rolled over a pitch. Again. And I packed up my stuff and left. Rod thought I was done for the day, but I was done.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Padres rookie manager, Andy Green, tried to convince Schumaker to stick around. Took him for coffee the next morning and informed him he made the team. He didn\u2019t need to worry about spring training performance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI begged him,\u201d Green said. \u201cWe needed veteran leadership. But he was adamant. He looked at me and said, \u2018I can\u2019t in good conscience take a job from a player I know is better than me.\u2019 Those are just his core values. He\u2019s got a ton of integrity.\u201d <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Miami<\/p>\n

Green wouldn\u2019t let him go, though, until he addressed the team. Two weeks later, the Padres talked him into an advisory role, not dissimilar to the role he played with the Rangers the last year. He audited the system. He spent time on the phone with Green after almost every game. And, after the season, Green composed a hand-written letter to Lindsey to convince her that Schumaker should turn to coaching. <\/p>\n

And when he offered a spot on the staff as the first base coach with responsibilities that included baserunning, Schumaker responded with a spring training outline within the first week of the season, then booked a flight to go visit his old first base coach, Dave McKay, a coaching legend who was steeped in the \u201cCardinal Way.\u201d <\/p>\n

He spent four days with him to soak up whatever he could. While he fought and clawed to be on major league rosters early on as a player, as a coach he was on the fast track. By 2020 he was \u201cassociate manager,\u201d and in 2022 became St. Louis\u2019 bench coach. Still wasn\u2019t sure he was ready to manage when he talked to the Marlins and Kim Ng, the first female GM in baseball history, who was making her first managerial hire. No pressure there. <\/p>\n

\u201cA manager with experience was high on our list,\u201d Ng said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t have experience. But it was very clear, very quickly that we were in alignment on our offensive philosophy. I\u2019d seen a lot of carelessness with our club. I wanted attention to detail. I wanted commitment. I remember him talking about how you hit the base when running, just an example of the small details.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis set of non-negotiables and the way he talked about communication and accountability, it was all very genuine and well-thought-out. Ultimately, the room was divided. It was by no means a consensus. But I was sitting in the chair. It was my call. And, in my opinion, it was a no-brainer. Sometimes, there are just cases that are compelling and you go with your gut.\u201d<\/p>\n

But to do so, she also knew she was putting her job on the line to make the hire. Then they went about remaking the Marlins. <\/p>\n

\u201cI knew who did not want me and who did,\u201d Schumaker says. \u201cSo, I was going to prove one right and one wrong. That\u2019s my personality. I was going to make sure that they felt me and heard me loud and clear when I had a message and how I thought the direction of this organization should go compared to what they were doing, which was losing. I was not going to go down the path of losing anymore. They knew what losing looked like; I knew what winning looked like.\u201d <\/p>\n

On the field, it seemed to work OK. The Marlins won 84 games. No small accomplishment for an organization that had posted only four previous winning 162-game seasons in its 30-year history. They reached the playoffs for just the fourth time in team history, the first in a 162-game season since 2003. Schumaker was named NL Manager of the Year, only the ninth rookie manager to capture an MOY award. <\/p>\n

And ownership still sought change, opting to seek out a president of baseball operations over Ng. She got wind, knew she was being demoted or forced out and opted out of her contract option for 2024. Schumaker tried to work with a new administration that brought in a two-time manager in Gabe Kapler as assistant GM, but also had loyalty for Ng.<\/p>\n

Did he think about walking away when Ng did? <\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I don\u2019t quit. I had signed a two-year contract and I had a responsibility to those players in that organization to do whatever I could to keep some sort of stability and structure inside that organization. I\u2019m not a one-foot in, one-foot out type of person. This is what I signed up for.\u201d<\/p>\n

He reconciled it by asking the club to remove the option in his contract for 2025. Both sides would give the new arrangement a try. By the middle of a disappointing season, it was clear they were not on the same page. Schumaker knew he wouldn\u2019t be back. With two games left in the season, he left the club to spend a final day with his grandmother, who was in hospice.<\/p>\n

Some things still come above baseball.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever Ever Give Up\u201d<\/p>\n

Though he is intensely focused on baseball, it\u2019s clear he has other priorities, as well. They, more than the game, define him. <\/p>\n

In short: Family, faith and community.<\/p>\n

That is on display this afternoon. First stop is Saddleback College where he will address the baseball team. He\u2019s a regular on the baseball-speaker circuit in the large, but tight-knit Orange County baseball community. Many of the players on the team are familiar faces, having played with Brody, now a senior at Santa Margarita Catholic School, a year earlier. <\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Rangers Manager Skip Schumaker with Chris Malec, Santa Margarita Catholic High School\u2019s baseball head coach at practice at Santa Margarita Catholic High School on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025 in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. His son plays for the school\u2019s baseball team, the Eagles, and Schumaker is a fixture at practices often throwing in batting practice. Malec and Schumaker played baseball together at UC Santa Barbara. <\/p>\n

Nick Agro \/ Special Contributor<\/p>\n

He will share with the team the need to \u201cbloom where you are planted,\u201d a phrase he picked up from a buddy in his weekly bible study. The message is about doing your best, wherever you are. God, he says, has planted you there for a reason. It\u2019s about being present. The example: He was a utility player. He understood his role, but he also understood that it meant being the best possible role player he could be.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe you don\u2019t just do something every day to check boxes,\u201d he says. \u201cYou don\u2019t stay the same. I hate the phrase \u2018it is what it is.\u2019 I believe you are either getting better or getting worse. And I want to work to get better every day.\u201d <\/p>\n

About that, the study group is loosely called \u201cBible and Bourbon.\u201d Schumaker jokes there is at least some bible studied every week. The joke aside, you get the vibe his perspective on it is as intentional as everything else he does. As far as bourbon goes, even there, there is intent. He shares that he only drinks products from the Buffalo Trace distillery. Why? <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I like the story of the buffalo and the cow,\u201d he says. \u201cThe buffalo runs to a storm; the cow runs away from it. Everybody goes through storms, right? I\u2019d rather run through it and identify the problem. I\u2019m a fixer at heart. Leadership means you know storms are coming and you\u2019ve got to be ready for them. So, I\u2019m not going to run away from adversity or issues in life or in the clubhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the same field where he talks to players, he will hold a two-day camp in December. It will benefit the Jessie Rees Foundation, whose motto is \u201cNEGU,\u201d for \u201cNever Ever Give Up.\u201d The foundation supports pediatric cancer patients. The foundation was named for Jessie Rees, a 12-year-old girl who created \u201cJoy Jars,\u201d of toys, activities and other mementos for other pediatric cancer patients before succumbing in 2012.<\/p>\n

NEGU ties together so much for Schumaker. In 2009, dealing with some performance anxiety over a position change to add infield duties, Wainwright and Matt Holliday suggested he join them for a visit to a pediatric cancer wing. They hoped to take his mind off what was bothering him. As usual, he didn\u2019t simply make a visit and fade away. The visit gave him perspective, allowed him to overcome his own fears and allowed him the opportunity to give back. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s made regular visits to kids ever since and expects to bring some of his players along with him in 2026. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t take the visits because of my anxiety, but it helped with it,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I haven\u2019t thought about it since. I saw life differently. It wasn\u2019t just baseball. My identity shouldn\u2019t just be baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Cade<\/p>\n

Cade Spinello first met new Rangers manager Skip Schumaker when he was 7, battling cancer. Spinello, now 19, has addressed the Padres, Cardinals and Marlins clubhouses at Schumaker s request and will undoubtedly do the same with the Rangers this season. (Courtesy\/Mike Spinello)<\/p>\n

Courtesy\/Mike Spinello<\/p>\n

Along the way, he met Erik Rees, who runs the foundation in his daughter\u2019s memory, and he met Cade Spinello, then a 7-year-old, who\u2019d undergone surgery to remove a brain tumor, had a stroke while on the table and had lost the use of his right side. Schumaker took on Spinello as a baseball student, bringing him home to hit in the cage at his house as he slowly made progress. Spinello, now 19, has addressed the Padres, Cardinals and Marlins clubhouses at Schumaker\u2019s request and will undoubtedly do the same with the Rangers this season.<\/p>\n

Both Rees and Cade\u2019s father, Mike Spinello, are now part of the bible study group.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just gets it,\u201d Mike Spinello said. \u201cHe sees the importance of the role he plays. He takes the time. He gives them attention and interaction. He\u2019s not just there to pose for a picture with these kids. It\u2019s very easy to write a check; that\u2019s awesome. But he genuinely wants to be involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said Rees: \u201cHe is just a guy who wants to make a difference. He\u2019s not a one-and-done kind of person. He wants to move needles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back where he belongs<\/p>\n

Back at the house, between throwing to Brody\u2019s team and taking Presley, an elite soccer player, to an evening practice, Schumaker and Lindsey are talking about the coming year.<\/p>\n

When he was in Miami, it was a six-hour flight and virtually impossible to do for a quick weekend visit without interrupting the kids\u2019 schedules. He didn\u2019t see any of Brody\u2019s games last year as he rose to a top prospect in Orange County. There is hope that he\u2019ll get to see some games in college, though, especially since Brody is a TCU commit. He\u2019s hoping Presley and SMU match up for soccer. But both he and Lindsey know the next year will be full of separation. <\/p>\n

But, Lindsey says, she can\u2019t really imagine Skip being whole without baseball. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s such a perfectionist and that\u2019s why he\u2019s so good at what he does,\u201d she says. \u201cHe\u2019s so intentional about relationships; I always tell him it\u2019s one of his best qualities. He\u2019s got such a gift for baseball. He knows how to do this so well and it would be tragic if he stopped. He was born to do this.\u201d <\/p>\n

Said Ng: \u201cWhen he got the job, I just sent him a text that said \u2018you are back where you belong.\u2019 He deserves the world.\u201d <\/p>\n

Where he belongs now is Arlington. Come April, he will plant himself there. And there he intends to bloom. And maybe keep a receipt or two.<\/p>\n

\"SportsDay<\/a>SportsDay Rangers Episode 22: The one with Skip Schumaker<\/a><\/p>\n

The Rangers\u2019 new manager joined the show to discuss his new gig, what makes him tick and more.<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/a>Texas Rangers announce start times for 2026 home games<\/a><\/p>\n

The Rangers announced home time starts and sale dates for season ticket and suite rentals for the 2026 with no major changes from the 2025 arrangement.<\/p>\n

Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LADERA RANCH, Calif. \u2014 To understand what makes new Rangers manager Skip Schumaker go, you must first know…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267805,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[1331,49,48,7573,462,11714,96203,82,3992],"class_list":{"0":"post-267804","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-article","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-feature","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-rangers","14":"tag-skip-schumaker","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-texas-rangers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}