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All-Century Roster: Rangers
By Gary Brooks
SportsLine Baseball Editor
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The Rangers, who spent 11 seasons as the third version of the Washington
Senators before moving to Texas for the 1972 season, are one of just two
teams that have been around since before the creation of division play in
1969, that have not won a playoff series. Only the Chicago White Sox, have
had as little October experience in the past four decades as the Rangers,
who have won one playoff game in their history.
 | | | Pudge Rodriguez was the AL MVP in 1999.(Allsport) | |
The Senators/Rangers organization began in 1961 but didn't qualify for
the playoffs until 1996. Texas won its first playoff game, against the New
York Yankees, but hadn't won another postseason game as the new century
began, having lost nine in a row to the Yankees in the '96, '98 and '99
playoffs.
The organization has had some awful times -- unavoidable in six 100-loss
seasons -- and made many poor decisions but has seen its share of stardom,
primarily in the past five years.
Aside from the 1974 season when Jeff Burroughs was the AL MVP and Fergie
Jenkins won 25 games, there wasn't much to root for until Texas' favorite
son, Nolan Ryan, moved from the Houston Astros to the Rangers in 1989.
Ryan, a fan favorite throughout baseball, etched the most significant
milestones in his 26-year career in a Rangers uniform. Though Texas didn't
win when he was playing, he brought a greater sense of respect to the
franchise which continued to improve in the later '90s.
The dynamic All-Star duo of Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez gave the
Rangers a pair of the best players in the game and made them a contender
each season from 1996-99. Missing bats in the postseason and a general lack
of outstanding pitching has kept the organization from making a lasting
imprint in baseball history as a team, though.
Lineup
| Ivan Rodriguez, Catcher, 1991-99 |
| Rodriguez is one of just five catchers with a career batting average of
.300 or better and the only one in the past 50 years. His seven consecutive
All-Star starts trail only Yogi Berra (8) and Johnny Bench (9). His eight
Gold Gloves are second only to Bench's 10. And now he has an MVP award to
link him to the truly elite. |
| Rafael Palmeiro, 1B, 1989-93, '99 |
| With a smooth swing providing both power and a high average, Palmeiro was
perhaps the most consistent player of the '90s. His 1,747 hits in the
decade were second only to Cubs first baseman Mark Grace. He played in the
most games in the decade (1,547) and won three Gold Gloves. Most of his
outstanding seasons came with Baltimore from 1994-98 but he's by far the
best the Rangers have had as well. |
| Julio Franco, 2B, 1989-93 |
| Franco isn't listed on many of the Rangers' career-best lists having spent
just three-plus seasons with Texas but those three seasons were outstanding
-- easily earning this spot. He hit .307 in his Rangers tenure and led the
majors in batting (.341) in 1991, the highest average in Rangers history.
He also brought some speed to Texas' lineup stealing 98 bases in three years. |
| Toby Harrah, SS, 1969, '71-78, '85-86 |
| When Harrah was the Rangers everyday shortstop he brought some extra power
to the lineup with three 20-homer seasons. He was selected to two All-Star
rosters, including 1975, his best season, when he hit .293 with 20 homers
and 93 RBI. |
| Buddy Bell, 3B, 1979-85, '89 |
| Bell played the middle of his 18-year career with the Rangers, being
selected to four All-Star teams in his seven Texas seasons. He was a strong
fielder who had a decent run-producing bat. His best season was his first
in Texas (1979) when he had 200 hits, drove in 101 runs and scored 89. |
| Juan Gonzalez, OF, 1989-99 |
| One of a dozen two-time American League MVP winners (1996, '98), Gonzalez
was among the top players in baseball from 1996-99. Gonzalez, traded away
after the '99 season, is the best hitter in Rangers history, having the top
five home run and top four RBI seasons. |
| Jeff Burroughs, OF, 1970-76 |
| Burroughs was one of the first stars in the Texas portion of the team's
history. His 1974 season was the best of his career and earned him the AL
MVP trophy. He hit .301 with 25 homers and 118 RBI, one of just two players
in the AL (Sal Bando) to reach 100 RBI that season. From 1973-75 he
averaged 28 homers and 99 RBI. |
| Ruben Sierra, OF, 1986-92 |
| Sierra appeared to have all the talent to be among the best players in
baseball, but though he did have some strong seasons, he'll have to settle
for being one of the best Rangers instead. He was a three-time All-Star as
a Ranger and drove in 100-plus runs three times. In 1989 he led the AL with
119 RBI, 14 triples and a .543 slugging percentage. |
| Jim Sundberg, DH, 1974-83, 1988-89 |
| Sundberg, a six-time Gold Glove catcher, has played the most games (1,512)
in Texas Rangers history and has the third most hits (1,180). He
represented the Rangers in two All-Star games. |
Pitchers
| Nolan Ryan, SP, 1989-93 |
| Just 51 of Ryan's 324 wins came as a Ranger but nonetheless, he is an icon
for the Rangers and his home state of Texas. Ryan was elected to the Hall
of Fame, named on the second highest percentage of ballots ever. Of his
record seven no-hitters, three came with the Rangers. He won his 300th game
in 1990 and his 5,000th career strikeout (Rickey Henderson) came in his
first season with Texas, 1989, a season in which he won 16 games. |
| Kevin Brown, SP, 1986, '88-94 |
| Brown's 78 wins are fourth most in club history. He won 21 games, leading
the American League in 1992, and is just one of three 20-game winners in
Rangers history. He started and was the winning pitcher of the 1992
All-Star Game. |
| Charlie Hough, SP, 1980-90 |
| The knuckleball-chucking Hough won at least 10 games in each of his seasons
with Texas, compiling a club-record 139 wins. Hough also holds the career
record with 121 losses and 1,452 strikeouts. He was an All-Star in 1986
winning 17 games and won a career-best 18 games in 1987. |
| Ferguson Jenkins, SP, 1974-75, '78-81 |
| Jenkins' seventh 20-win season came with Texas in 1974 when he won a club
record 25 games and finished second in AL Cy Young voting. He completed 29
games that season, throwing 328 1/3 innings. He was 93-72 as a Ranger
adding to his Hall of Fame resume. |
| Kenny Rogers, SP, 1989-95 |
| Rogers spent his first four seasons with Texas as a reliever then went
44-25 as a starter from 1993-95 leading the team in wins each season. On
July 28, 1994, he pitched the 11th perfect game of the century, beating the
Angels. His 70 wins as a Ranger are fifth best in team history and his
winning percentage of .579 (70-51) is second best in team history. |
| John Wetteland, RP, 1997-99 |
| Jeff Russell owns the team record for saves (134) but Wetteland gets the
nod for his outstanding seasons for consecutive playoff teams. Wetteland
earned the most Rolaids reliever points of the decade and his 43 saves in
1999 and 42 in '98 are the two best single seasons in club history. |
| Bench |
| Frank Howard, Rusty Greer, Al Oliver, Dean Palmer, Larry Parrish,
Bump Wills |
| Best season |
The Rangers were swept by the Yankees for the second
consecutive season in the 1999 Division Series but it was just a poor
ending to the best season in club history.
 | | | Juan Gonzalez circles the bases after giving the Rangers their only run of the 1999 postseason.(Allsport) | |
The team's 95 wins were one of
many franchise records. They led the AL West the final 137 days of the
season, clinching in the 155th game, the earliest clinching spot since the
three-division format began in 1994. The Rangers were 47-28 after the
All-Star break, best in the AL.
Texas' offense led the AL with a .293
batting average and scored a club record 945 runs. Six players hit at least
20 homers, the seventh team in history to accomplish the feat. Four players
drove in 100 runs. And the team's 230 homers were a club record.
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| Worst season |
| They started their history with four consecutive 100 loss
seasons in Washington but it got worse in 1973, their second year as the
Texas Rangers, when they lost 105 games. Whitey Herzog didn't last the
season as manager, greatly because the pitching staff didn't even have a
10-game winner. Jim Bibby, who threw a no-hitter against Oakland, led the
team with nine wins. The team was an odd collection in a new city that had
too much fun off the field and generally stunk on it. |
| Best individual season, player |
| Juan Gonzalez won his second MVP award in
1998 when he became the first AL batter in 40 years to reach 150 RBI.
Gonzalez hit .318 with 50 doubles, 45 homers, 157 RBI and a .630 slugging
percentage. He was just the fifth player ever with 50 doubles and 40
homers. He received 21 of 28 first-place votes in MVP balloting. |
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| Best individual season, pitcher |
| The list of possibilities is far from deep
as the Rangers, even in their winning seasons, have had generally poor
pitching. But Fergie Jenkins did have an outstanding season in 1974,
winning 20 games for the seventh time in his career. Unfortunately for
Texas, the first six times came consecutively with the Chicago Cubs.
Jenkins went 25-12 with a nice 2.82 ERA. It's doubtful his 25-win club
record will ever be broken. |
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