Skip's mom is obviously a big fan, but ... she watches HOW MANY of his games?!

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ARLINGTON -- To this day, Skip Schumaker’s mom, Marlene, watches every one of his games.

Between an 11-year playing career across three MLB teams, a handful of coaching gigs and now, his second managerial job, Marlene Schumaker has always made sure to watch Skip at every stop along the way of this journey.

“Every game,” Skip said. “My mom and my grandma, who just passed away, they watched every single game. They never missed a game that I've managed or coached, which says a lot being in different time zones and all that stuff. She knows about the Rangers, that's for sure.”

Schumaker raves about his father, Wayne, who coached him all throughout youth baseball. There’s no doubt the impact his father had on him growing up, working full-time and still making sure to be around for as many games and tournaments as possible.

But it was his mom who also filled the space in between. Sometimes his mom would even pitch to him at home.

“Everyone talks about their dads, and rightfully so,” Schumaker said. “I had a great dad, and it was amazing. But my mom was a stay-at-home mom. I was so blessed to have that in my life. She was like the one that would do most things with me. She, obviously, took care of us while my dad was working all day long.”

Schumaker, almost self-deprecatingly, joked that nobody really expected him to make it all the way to the Major Leagues, despite all the work he put in. The goal was always to get a college scholarship.

He ultimately played a year at Loyola Marymount in 1999 before transferring to the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2000. He was selected in the fifth round of the 2001 MLB Draft by the Cardinals, with whom he made his MLB debut in 2005 on his way to spending the first eight years of his career in St. Louis.

“Whenever I had a bad game, I would always call my mom, right?” Schumaker said. “It was always going to be OK. She was always my biggest supporter. And, obviously, my wife is and was that way when I was a player, too, but -- as a kid, your dad always wants the best for you, and rightfully so.

“But mom is the one that is always like, ‘Everything's always going to be OK.’ She was always that way for me in the game. I think parents have to be their kids' biggest supporters, not their biggest critic. She was always my biggest supporter.”

Schumaker was never a top prospect, and he came up with a team flush with future Hall of Famers. But he always had the work ethic and drive to get him to where he needed to be. That included a long playing career before becoming one of the most respected coaches in the game.

“My mom still cries when she sees people make their debuts, because she remembers how emotional she was when she saw me go out into Busch Stadium for the first time,” Schumaker said. “When Peyton Gray made his debut or Carter Baumler made his debut, she literally cried. It just shows you that most families go through so much, and there's so much sacrifice to make their kids' lives better than what they had.

“That's the goal of every parent. Mine definitely did that. And the sacrifice of an athlete's family is crazy, and I'm just lucky to have such a support system.”