Someone forgot to tell these guys

The Texas Rangers are confused.

Like many of their predecessors, this 2004 team looks around the clubhouse and sees copious amounts of talent.

They see quick bats, young, fresh arms and a capable coaching staff.

This year's squad knows that they play in a gorgeous park in a metropolitan city with a devoted (although depleting) fan base.

All of these things are clear to the recently revamped Texas Rangers.

Someone, however, has failed to explain to these upstarts the thing that all who came before them knew about this organization: they're the Texas Rangers.

They don't win in June. They don't beat the Yankees. They're losers.

The Rangers are currently a game and a half behind division leading Oakland, and their blistering start excited fans around the Dallas Metroplex.

A high-scoring offense and a few fresh faces created a buzz around the team not seen since the strike-shortened season in 1994.

They even won their home series against the Yanks.

Then, all at once, Ranger fans everywhere had their Groundhog Day moment: "Wait, I've been here before, and I know how this story ends."

The only problem was that none of the players had this epiphany.

During a recent four game skid in which the Rangers scored only six runs and lost two games each to the White Sox and Blue Jays, Texas' all-world shortstop, Michael Young, shrugged off the team's troubles saying, "It's not really deflating... this group of guys doesn't seem to dwell on negative things too much."

Excuse me? Where is the despair? Where is that "here we go again" attitude? Who are you and what have you done with Juan Gonzalez?

Following the losing streak the Rangers won four of their next five including an 8-1 win in New York against the Yankees.

In the past the Bronx was where Texas' hopes and dreams went to die, and although the team dropped two out of three to the Yanks in the series, both losses came by one run and Texas outscored New York's supposed "greatest lineup in history" by five runs.

More importantly, there wasn't the usual sense of falling that comes from losing a series to the Evil Empire.

In the past the Rangers' early successes have been deflated by any number of things from the major to the mundane.

Clubhouse turmoil, injuries, the O.J. trial, any of these things could be counted on to send the season into a meltdown of Lou Pinella proportions.

This year, however, the team has handled all of these things like a veteran ball club.

Still, fans must feel like they're watching Titanic for the 347th time.

You know the ship is going to sink, it's only a matter of time.

Only this time the captain and the passengers don't look scared, and the old girl is dodging icebergs left and right.

Surely this thing is going to go down sometime, right?

They can't stay afloat forever, can they? Maybe they can.

Orel Hersheiser has shaped a pitching staff that can finally be described as respectable.

The success of the youthful arms both in the rotation and in the bullpen has been matched only by the triumphant return of Kenny Rogers.

Texas' infield is one of the most dangerous in the majors in every column on the stat sheet.

The rest of the team is made up of unselfish veteran leadership and sparkplug utility players that round out what can most aptly be described as a scrappy baseball team.

The success of traditionally futile franchises is nothing new in today's age of parity.

The past three World Series champs came from so far out of nowhere that I had to double check to make sure that they were major league teams.

Many teams that have made their living being the doormats of their respective divisions have recently risen up and shouted, "Why not us?"

The Texas Rangers don't have that personality.

They have don't have the drive or vision of the Angels team from 2002 or the stars aligned like the Diamondbacks did in 2001.

No, they're just living out that most worn out of sports cliches," ... one game at a time." Most importantly though, this team has forgotten how to lose.

Whether the Rangers will have the pitching and veteran leadership to make it to the post-season is still in question.

What we do know is Buck Showalter and his staff have this team supremely confident in their ability to win any game against any team.

If you're still skeptical of the Texas Rangers' ability to put together an entire winning season, I can't blame you.

This franchise has a history of bursting the collective bubbles of its fans every July, but if you really want to know what's different about this year, take a look at this team.

Look into their eyes and ask them if they are worried about the annual Rangers meltdown.

Ask them if they're waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the party to end.

They'll just stare back at you blankly. They have no idea what you're talking about.