Bases loaded, two outs, bottom of the ninth.

2-2 count.

The game, the season, the Texas Rangers' playoff hopes and dreams -- all on the line.

Anaheim reliever Troy Percival from the stretch...

the pitch...

Brian Jordan strikes out swinging.

Game over.

Entering the 2004 season, the Texas Rangers were given virtually no chance of competing in the cutthroat American League West Division, with the Seattle Mariners, Anaheim Angels and Oakland Athletics receiving all of the preseason hype.

The Charlotte Observer said, "...Another last-place finish [for Texas] seems likely." According to the Contra Costa Times, "...Texas will remain among the dregs of baseball." And then there's the New York Daily News: "Once again, Buck Showalter's Texas Rangers will finish last in the AL West..."

Granted, much of those expectations were attributed to the team's 71-91 record in 2003, a sheer lack of starting pitching and a big off-season trade involving baseball's best player, Alex Rodriguez.

As they had done for much of the team's 33-season residence in Arlington, Texas, the Rangers were predicted to wilt in the August heat like a neglected plant.

And while Monday's emotional 5-3 defeat to the Angels has most likely sealed Texas' playoff elimination, the Rangers -- with an incredible coaching staff, a never-say-die attitude and team chemistry that would make Robert Boyle proud -- have planted the seeds for a potential dynasty that, with two more reliable starting pitchers, is going to win next year's World Series.

This season has brought unbridled hope to the Metroplex, but it sure didn't start that way. Prior to spring training, A-Rod, the stuck-up superstar of a shortstop who signed a $252 million contract with Texas in December of 2000, demanded a trade to a contender, later calling his experiences with the Rangers in an exclusive ESPN interview, "[Myself] and 24 kids."

Hate to break it to you, A-Rod, but the kids have grown up, and they're here to stay.

Kids like the hard-nosed gamer Michael Young, who has assumed a leadership role and the shortstop position following Rodriguez's departure. Or Hammerin' Hank Blalock, the masher of a third baseman who has drawn comparisons to a young George Brett. Alfonso Soriano, Mark Teixiera and Kevin Mench also come to mind--selfless players who have all bought into the team's concept, a framework established by Showalter, the most underrated manager in baseball.

This is the same Buck Showalter who brought the Yankees to the playoffs in 1995, and the Diamondbacks to the World Series doorstep in and 2000, respectively, only to be fired from both jobs the year before those teams would win it all. Similarly, Showalter demands nothing but excellence, character and constant improvement from his players, taking a ragtag group of vagabonds and shaping them into playoff contenders.

The fact that the Rangers have hung in the race this late into the season is purely remarkable, especially considering Texas' lackluster, and at times, dreadful pitching staff.

Texas, unable to find five consistent arms, has used 16 different starting pitchers this year who have combined for an earned run average of 5.13 and a 52-55 overall record. Two of those pitchers -- Kenny Rogers and Ryan Drese -- are responsible for 31 of those wins, and that tandem has accounted for more than 45 percent of the rotation's total innings.

Those statistics become even more convincing when looking at the starting rotations for Oakland and Anaheim, the Rangers' intra-division rivals.

Oakland's extraordinary pitching staff led by Mark Mulder has an overall record of 64-42 with a 4.20 ERA, while Anaheim's numbers are 64-53 and 4.71.

In order to maximize its potential for next season, Texas desperately needs starting pitching, which will be available due to free agency. Three names that come to mind are Florida's Carl Pavano, St. Louis' Matt Morris and Chicago's Matt Clement, three righties who go deep in their starts and take the ball every fifth day with tenacity and resolve. They are the type of pitchers who will develop and mature magnificently under the direction of Texas pitching coach Orel Hershiser.

This year's Rangers team looks eerily reminiscent to the early to mid-90s Cleveland Indians teams, built by now-Texas GM John Hart. In 1993 Cleveland finished with a losing record. In the strike-shortened season of 1994, the Indians were 66-47 and in second place. And in 1995, Cleveland torched the American League, amassing a 100-44 record before ultimately losing in the World Series. Both Cleveland, then, and Texas, now, have been structured around a young nucleus of talent, a core that was supplemented by a collection of veteran role players and a fireman of a closer -- Cleveland with Jose Mesa, Texas with Francisco Cordero.

It will be exciting to watch Texas' ascent in the upcoming seasons, because it's been a long time coming for such a historically unsuccessful franchise.

Since the Washington Senators moved to Arlington before the 1972 season, the team has reached the playoffs just three times: 1996, 1998 and 1999, bowing out each time to the Yankees.

Because of difficult losses on Friday, Sunday and Monday, Texas' playoff aspirations have to be put on hold for one more season.

With only five games remaining, it will be extremely difficult for Texas to prevail over both Oakland and a surging Anaheim team in such a short time. Every game from here is a must-win for the Rangers, their backs firmly set against the outfield wall.

But then again, for an 86-win team that has outperformed every critic and thrived in one of baseball's toughest divisions, nothing at this point seems too far-fetched.