Two fans flew from Hawaii to DFW, twice, to watch the Rangers in the playoffs

Jason Mitchell grew up in Fort Worth, was raised a Rangers fan, and if they’re in the playoffs, so is he, even if that means flying through the night from Honolulu.

For the second time in one week, Mitchell and his 15-year-old son, Jonah, flew from their home in Hawaii to their previous home, Texas, just to watch the Texas Rangers in the playoffs.

“Exhausted,” Jason Mitchell said Wednesday afternoon, shortly after he arrived.

This is the level of loyalty, love, and commitment so many fans have for their respective teams that owners and front office types not only take for granted, but usually are unaware exists. There are other Jason and Jonah Mitchells out there, and without them all of us who work in sports would be wondering what to do with our lives.

“To be honest, I wasn’t even thinking of doing this,” Mitchell said. “I thought we might try to make it back for the World Series. Maybe.”

They already made it back for Game 3 of division series against Baltimore on Oct. 10, and had tickets for Game 4. Problem is there was no Game 4 as the Rangers swept the Orioles.

Jason would only say, “We’ll see” about coming back to Arlington for the American League Championship Series. “We’ll see” is parent speak for, “No way.”

On Monday, a text message from Jonah Mitchell’s high school baseball coach prompted this last-second investment.

“You SHOULD go to Texas for Game 3,” his coach wrote. “My parents went to the NLDS and NLCS and World Series one year. It was the best three weeks of their lives. You can’t replace those kinds of memories.

“You have permission to miss practice for the game.”

With that, Jason picked up his son after school on Tuesday and gave him the option of returning to Arlington for Games 3, 4, and 5 against the Houston Astros. That would mean missing some school, and having to make up a lot of missed homework.

Or, they could take their chances with the World Series. They didn’t want to bank on the Rangers making the World Series, and the chance to see a clinching game was too big to ignore.

They found airline tickets, and standing room only tickets for Game 3. They made it back to Arlington Wednesday afternoon.

“There is nothing as exciting as Rangers playoff baseball,” he said. “It’s so much fun when every single pitch matters. To be able to bring him to that game (of the ALDS), and have him experience the electricity and the vibe. He said he’s never seen anything like that. He loved it.

“He said when we got home that it was the best day of his life.”

Along with his wife, Sachi, and their daughter, Julia, 12, the Mitchells sold nearly all of their earthly possessions to pursue the dream of living in Hawaii five years ago. The couple ran their own small real estate firm in Fort Worth, and started one in Honolulu.

Jason and Sachi, both of whom graduated from Southwest, have family and friends in the area, but getting back here isn’t exactly a drive from Fort Worth to Euless.

Jason is one of those fans who can name the 25th man on the Rangers’ roster from the teams he grew up watching as a kid. He grew up on the Rangers teams that went from awful, to competitive, to a contender (ish).

He was there when the team played in Arlington Stadium, before the Ballpark in Arlington opened in 1994.

“My pops would pitch me a wiffle ball, or a tennis ball, in the back yard, and we’d have the Rangers game on the radio,” he said.

He loved all of it when the Juan Gonzalez, Pudge Rodriguez, Will Clark, Rusty Greer teams went to the playoffs in 1996, 1997 and 1998. He loved them all despite the fact those Rangers teams were eliminated by the New York Yankees in each of those playoff appearances, and lost nine straight postseason games.

He bought in when the team signed Alex Rodriguez in the winter of 2000. He kept watching after they traded A-Rod to the Yankees, and then owner Tom Hicks agreed to rip the whole thing down and build the team through the farm system.

He was in disbelief when they traded for pitcher Cliff Lee in 2010, and made the World Series that season. He died a little bit in Game 6 in 2011.

“I had a watch party at our house in Wedgewood,” he said. “And we were all so pumped they were finally going to do it.”

He is like so many fans of this beleaguered franchise who somehow stay all-in for this team despite results that said, “You might want to think about shopping somewhere else.”

The Miami Marlins, which started in 1993, have more World Series championships than the Rangers. The Rangers are one of six franchises in MLB to never win a World Series; the others are the Padres, Mariners, Rockies, Rays and Brewers.

Even after the Mitchells moved to Hawaii, both Jason and Jonah make Rangers’ games must-C-TV. Jason bought the MLB package on Amazon, and first-pitch in Hawaii is normally around 2 p.m.

“Why did I buy in to a team that lost so much?” he asked. “Because it’s just what we did.”

And what they still do.

Even if it means grabbing a flight from Hawaii to DFW for standing room only tickets.