Texas Rangers
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Franchise |
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Also known as the Washington Senators Franchise Record: 3336-3807 World Series Titles: 0 American League Pennants: 0 Playoffs: 3 (1996, 1998, 1999) Franchise Players: Buddy Bell, Juan Gonzalez, Charlie Hough, Fergie Jenkins, Ivan Rodriguez, Nolan Ryan, Jim Sundberg |  Texas Rangers logo |
Contents |
[edit] Team History
[edit] 1960s
The current Texas Rangers began their life as the Washington Senators in the Expansion of 1961. This team replaced the original Senators who moved and became the Minnesota Twins. General Pete Quesada was the team's first owner. He owned the team for only two years before selling to James Johnston, James Lemon and George Bunker. In 1965, Johnston and Lemon would buyout Bunker. In 1968, the Senators got their third ownership group as Bob Short purchased the club. In 1969, the club named Hall of Famer Ted Williams manager. The team spent one season at the old Griffith Stadium before moving to D.C. Stadium, which was later renamed R.F.K. Stadium.
On the field, the club struggled to their highest finish of the decade. It was still only a 4th-place finish in 1969 and was helped by the realignment that season which made 6th place the new last. One of their few highlights was pitcher Dick Bosman leading the league in ERA during that 1969 campaign. Another star for the club was outfielder Frank Howard who became the team's first and only real power threat, hitting at least 44 home runs every season from 1968 to 1970. Other noteworthy Senators during the decade were Claude Osteen, Darold Knowles, Camilo Pascual, Dick Donovan, Pete Richert, Moose Skowron and Don Zimmer.
[edit] 1970s
The team started the seventies struggling in Washington and ended it competing in Texas. After two more seasons of subpar baseball in the nations capital, Short recevied permission to move the club to Arlington, TX for the 1972 season.
Playing in Arlington Stadium, the team beat the California Angels in their Texas debut. In 1973 the team selected David Clyde with the first choice in the 1973 amateur draft and rushed him to the big leagues 3 weeks later. Clyde pitched well in his debut, but would never become a star in the majors. 1973 also featured the first No-Hitter in team history as Jim Bibby shut down the Oakland A's. In 1974, the team got yet another owner as Bradford Corbett purchased the club. In 1977, the team went through four managers: (Frank Lucchesi, Eddie Stanky, Connie Ryan and finally Billy Hunter, on their way to a second-place finish.
The club finished in second place three times and came as close as 5 games out to winning their first division title. Despite never winning a division title, the Rangers of the seventies were full of stars featuring 1974 AL MVP Jeff Burroughs, Jim Sundberg, Toby Harrah, Mike Hargrove, Richie Zisk, Jim Spencer, Jim Fregosi, Rico Carty, Alex Johnson, Al Oliver, Bobby Bonds, Gaylord Perry, Fergie Jenkins, Bert Blyleven, Doyle Alexander, Jon Matlack and Doc Medich.
[edit] 1980s
The eighties were an up-and-down decade for the Rangers. The club once again failed to make the postseason and only had two second-place finishes, but finished in sixth or seventh five times. The team also once again had a change in ownership as Corbett sold the team to Eddie Chiles in 1980. Chiles would last as owner until 1989 when he sold to Rusty Rose and future United States President George W. Bush.
There were few on-field highlights for the team during the decade. Bobby Valentine made his mangerial debut for the Rangers in 1985. The club had some star players also during this time including Pete O'Brien, Buddy Bell, Gary Ward, Larry Parrish, Charlie Hough, Bobby Witt, Frank Tanana, Dave Schmidt, Mitch Williams and Rick Honeycutt.
The club made some positive moves before the 1989 season though. From December 5 to December 7, the team made three big moves that would help it compete in the future. First, on the fifth, they traded Williams, Curtis Wilkerson, Paul Kilgus, Steve Wilson, Luis Benitez and Pablo Delgado to the Chicago Cubs for Rafael Palmeiro, Jamie Moyer and Drew Hall. The next day, they traded O'Brien, Jerry Browne and Oddibe McDowell to the Cleveland Indians for Julio Franco. Finally, on the seventh they signed future Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan as a free agent. These moves combined with the team's young talent in Ruben Sierra, Jeff Russell, Kevin Brown and Kenny Rogers seemed to bode well for the nineties.
[edit] 1990s
At the start of the nineties, the Rangers struggled. The big-name moves made before the 1989 season did not pan out. Julio Franco won a batting title in 1991, but was injured for almost all of 1992 and left as a free agent after that season. Rafael Palmeiro played well during his first stint with the Rangers but really blossomed once he went to the Baltimore Orioles as a free agent after the 1993 season. Moyer would struggle in Texas but later find sucess as a memeber of the Seattle Mariners. In 1992, the club traded away three of its own homegrown players for one of the biggest names in baseball. The team sent Ruben Sierra, Bobby Witt and Jeff Russell to the Oakland A's for Jose Canseco. Unfortunatly Canseco's most memorable moment in Texas was having a ball bounce off his head and over the wall for a home run. Another memorable moment for Canseco came when he was injured because then-manager Kevin Kennedy allowed him to fulfill his life-long dream of pitching an inning or two during a major-league game. Nolan Ryan was the one bright spot of the early 1990s for the Rangers. Ryan threw his sixth and seventh No-Hitters, won his 300th game, and recorded his 5,000th strikeout as a Ranger. In 1999, he was enshrined in the Hall of Fame as a Ranger despite spending more time as member of both a California Angels and Houston Astros.
In 1993, the team got a new stadium as the Ballpark in Arlington, later renamed Ameriquest Field was opened. This coincided with a rebirth of the Rangers. Led by young stars like Juan Gonzalez, Ivan Rodriguez, Dean Palmer, Rusty Greer, Roger Pavlik, Rick Helling and Darren Oliver, the club began a playoff push. This group of youngsters was supported by veterans like Will Clark, Mark McLemore, Ken Hill, John Burkett and Mickey Tettleton. Kennedy had the team in first place, but under .500 when the strike wiped out the 1994 season.
Then Johnny Oates was hired to manage the Rangers. After a bit of a struggle in 1995, the team won its first division title in 1996. The Rangers also won their first-ever playoff game, beating the New York Yankees in Game 1 of the division series. But that one win stands as the only post-season victory in Rangers history as of the 2006 season. Despite winning division titles in 1998 and 1999, the team would never advance out of the first round, being swept by the eventual World Series Champion New York Yankees each time.
During their playoff years, the club acquired a number of stars to help the reach the post-season. 1996 World Series MVP John Wetteland was signed just weeks after winning the series. Aaron Sele, Mike Morgan and Esteban Loaiza were all brought in to to contribute to the starting rotation, with varying degrees of success. Darryl Hamilton, Tom Goodwin, Kevin Elster, Fernando Tatis and a returning Rafael Palmeiro helped get the offensive juggernaut running.
While this playoff run was happening Tom Hicks purchased the club from Texas Governor George W. Bush and his partner Rusty Rose.
[edit] 2000s
The first decade of the 21st century has been rough on the Rangers as of 2006. They are yet to make the post-season and have only finished in either 3rd or 4th in the AL West. Popular manager Johnny Oates was forced to step down from his position after being diagnosed with a serious brain tumor in 2001. Oates died in 2004. The club lost many of its now veteran stars as Juan Gonzalez was traded away, and Rafael Palmeiro and Ivan Rodriguez left as free agents. The club made a big splash in the winter of 2000, signing shortstop Alex Rodriguez to a 10-year, $252 million contract. The deal would cripple the team financially, as it kept them from acquring any pitching to go along with their strong offense. The best management could do was sign right-hander Chan Ho Park to a mega-deal which backfired, as he flopped and became a financial liability also.
The club does have some good young players as they continue to try to scrape together some pitching. A very strong infield of Mark Teixeira, Ian Kinsler, Michael Young and Hank Blalock have brought many fans into Ameriquest Field.
[edit] Ownership
The Rangers are currently owned by Tom Hicks. Hicks purchased the team in 1998 from George W. Bush and Rusty Rose. Hicks is the eighth owner in the team's history.
- General Pete Quesada 1961 - 1962
- James Johnston, James Lemon and George Bunker 1963 - 1964
- Johnston and Lemon 1965 - 1967
- Bob Short 1968 - 1974
- Bradford Corbett 1974 - 1980
- Eddie Chiles 1980 - 1989
- George W. Bush and Rusty Rose 1989 - 1998
- Hicks 1998 - Present
[edit] Front Office
The Rangers' current general manager is Jon Daniels. Daniels is the youngest general manager in baseball history as of 2006. He is part of the youth movement going on in front office throughout the game. His assistant is Thad Levine. Former Rangers GMs include John Hart, Tom Grieve, Doug Melvin and Joe Burke.
[edit] Current Staff
- Manager - Ron Washington
- Bench Coach - Art Howe
- Pitching Coach - Mark Connor
- Hitting Coach - Rudy Jaramillo
- 1st Base Coach - Gary Pettis
- 3rd Base Coach - Matt Walbeck
- Bullpen Coach - Dom Chiti
[edit] Current Minor League Teams
- AAA - Oklahoma RedHawks
- AA - Frisco RoughRiders
- A - Bakersfield Blaze
- A - Clinton Lumber Kings
- A Short-Season - Spokane Indians
- Rookie - AZL Rangers
[edit] All-Star MVP`S
[edit] Award Winners
[edit] MVP
The Rangers have won five AL MVP awards.
[edit] Cy Young Award
No Texas Ranger pitcher has ever won the Cy Young Award. The closest was a 2nd-place finish by Fergie Jenkins in 1974.
[edit] Rookie of The Year
The Rangers have won one AL Rookie of the Year Award.
