![]() With a lineup that featured Juan Gonzalez (47 HR, 144 RBI. Pitching has always been the Achilles Heel for Texas, but by the mid-1990's they had assembled an offensive lineup devastating enough to overcome it. Businessman Thomas Hicks would purchase the club in 1992. Bush bought the franchise in March, 1989. He would toss his sixth no-hitter the next year and his seventh in 1991.Īlso of note, a group of businessmen headed by George W. They did enjoy some great individual feats, including Larry Parrish hitting three grand slams in one week (July 1982), Oddibe McDowell's cycle (July 1985) and Nolan Ryan's 5,000th career strikeout in 1989 (against Rickey Henderson). The Rangers plodded through the 1980's with mostly inconsequential seasons, their best showing being a second place finish with manager Bobby Valentine in 1986. The Rangers had respectable second and third place seasons the rest of the decade. Veteran Fergie Jenkins, acquired in a blockbuster trade with the Cubs for third baseman Bill Madlock, won 25 games.Īs was the case with many of Martin's managerial posts, he wore out his welcome quickly and was gone the next season as the Rangers underperformed to a 79-83 record. 301 average, 25 home runs and 118 runs batted in, and Mike Hargrove was Rookie of the Year. Jeff Burroughs won the Most Valuable Player Award with a. It had one of its best seasons in 1974, going 84-76 and finishing five games behind West Division champion Oakland. Martin's in-your-face personality and fiery demeanor ignited the team. Williams retired after the 1972 season (the team lost 100 games again, which might have hastened his departure).Īfter Whitey Herzog took the helm for the first 138 games of 1973, in which the team won only 35 percent of the time, Herzog was replaced by Billy Martin. They won their first game the next day, 5-1. The newly named Texas Rangers opened for business on Apwith a 1-0 loss to the Angels on the west coast. The Senators were leading the game 7-5 with two outs in the ninth when swarms of fans rushed onto the field, eventually forcing the forfeit. The Senators concluded an era of baseball futility with a forfeit loss to the New York Yankees on September 30, 1971. With Washington lawmakers now indifferent to the move (due to the embroiling controversies of the era like the Vietnam War), baseball gave its approval. Seeing his opportunity, Short closed a deal to move the Senators to Dallas for the 1972 season. Baseball had seriously looked at this area for its 1969 expansion, but decided to go elsewhere. While Howard was slugging and Williams was managing, new owner Bob Short (he bought the club in 1968) was being wooed by the city fathers of Dallas-Ft. Howard hit more than 40 homers in 19 as well. The only excitement for the franchise was the slugging of big Frank Howard, who had one of his best years for the 1969 team with 48 home runs, 111 runs batted in and a. ![]() They returned to their losing ways in 1970-71. In the next few seasons they climbed to the middle of the pack, and when they hired Ted Williams to manage the team in 1969 they hit their high water mark with an 86-76 record and fourth place. In their first four years this edition of the Senators lost 100, 101, 106, and 105 games. As the decade progressed, fans and lawmakers alike must have wondered why they wanted the Senators back. The second generation of Washington Senators picked up where their predecessors left off, losing their first-ever game to the White Sox 4-3 on Apat Griffith Stadium. ![]() Knowing lawmakers on Capitol Hill were not pleased without the national pastime (the same lawmakers who decided whether baseball was exempt from antitrust laws) the Lords of the game awarded an expansion franchise to Washington right after Griffith departed. Owner Calvin Griffith saw greener pastures to the west and moved his franchise to Minnesota in 1960. But after years of losing seasons the fan base became disinterested and distracted. Washington, DC, owned one of the American League's six original franchises. Like magicians using sleight of hand, the Lords of Baseball played a round of "now-you-see-them-now-you-don't" with the Washington Senators in 1960, and then added a "now-you-see-them-again" to finish the trick. TEXAS RANGERS The Official History of the Texas Rangers | Baseball Almanac ![]()
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