This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ARLINGTON -- Bruce Bochy watched the past three Opening Days from his couch in Nashville, Tenn. He still looked forward to one of baseball’s biggest days. The only difference was that he wasn’t in a Major League ballpark for the event.

On Thursday, Bochy made his triumphant return to the field for Opening Day in Arlington, his first as the Rangers manager. Pregame ceremonies were lively, with Hall of Famers Pudge Rodriguez and Nolan Ryan on hand for the ceremonial first pitch, before Jacob deGrom and the Rangers took the field in front of a sold-out crowd of 38,387 at Globe Life Field.

“My level of excitement, it's up there,” Bochy said the morning of Opening Day. “That never changes. This is my 26th year, but you take three years off and that raises the excitement. As a fan, I loved it, though. I would watch Opening Day and that made me miss being in the dugout even more. So to be back, it makes me even more grateful and appreciate it. Yeah, you're anxious and a little nervous. You don't sleep that much at night before thinking about the things that you need to get done or talk about, but it's a big day. You worked seven weeks to get to this point, so the players, all of us, we’re anxious to get it going.”

Bochy doesn’t have much of an Opening Day ritual. He mostly treats it like a normal day, despite knowing that it’s truly not.

When reflecting on the days that lead up to Opening Day, though, he thinks some of the best and worst times are the final cuts of camp. This year he was able to tell a trio of second-year players in Josh Smith, Bubba Thompson and Ezequiel Duran that they made the club, but also veterans like Ian Kennedy and Travis Jankowski.

“Yes, it's the best part of the game,” Bochy said. “This time of year is the worst and the best part of the game. Obviously some of the moves you have to make and guys that don't make the club, those are hard conversations. But when you tell guys they made the club, and there's a lot of pressure on them, it’s the most enjoyable part in that moment.”

deGrom labored through 3 2/3 innings against the Phillies, but the Rangers overcame a five-run deficit with a nine-run inning to claim an 11-7 victory. After the win, Bochy sat at the edge of the dugout, just like he had in many past seasons, shaking hands with pitching coach Mike Maddux and associate manager Will Venable.

It was almost like he never left. But in true Bochy fashion, it wasn’t about him. Robbie Grossman got a postgame Gatorade shower thanks to his three-run homer in the fourth inning. Cole Ragans secured his first big league win after recording one out in relief of Jacob deGrom.

It was an all-around team win to welcome Bochy back to the ballpark.

“This was about them, it wasn’t about me, trust me,” Bochy said with a smile. “But it's a great feeling to be back in the dugout. What an Opening Day, with the atmosphere, the roof open and of course all the fans. It was loud down there. It was just a really exciting game. Of course, the comeback made it that much more exciting. Like again, I’m just appreciating that here I am, back, doing what I love to do and being part of that game.”