Based in Arlington, Texas, The Texas Rangers are a Major League Baseball team in the West Division of the American League (AL). The AL always wanted to bring a professional baseball team to the Dallas/Fort Worth area but this idea was shunned by many team owners. When Bob Short, became the new owner of the Senators in 1968, he moved the franchise to Arlington for the 1972 season. This enraged the Washington fans immensely and the Senators’ final game in RFK Stadium against the New York Yankees, was forfeited as the angry fans stormed the field and damaged the stadium.

First years in Texas: Turnpike Stadium (later renamed Arlington Stadium) was constructed in Arlington for the minor-league Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs in 1964 and no one knew that the 10,000-seat stadium would eventually serve as the Rangers' first home stadium. As the stadium’s seating capacity was increased during the off-season, Bob Short also named the franchise, the Texas Rangers. The team’s first game was played on April 15, 1972, and they lost to California Angels at 1-0. Their first victory was registered the very next day as they defeated the Angels 5-1. The first home game of Texas Rangers was also against the Angels on April 21. After the season, Ted Williams was retired and Whitey Herzog was the new manager and was later replaced by Billy Martin in the middle of the 1973 season.

They finished the 1974 season 84-76 emerging as real contenders and were placed second behind the eventual World Series champion Oakland Athletics. Texas Rangers are the only MLB team to finish above .500 after two consecutive 100-loss seasons. Now, Mike Hargrove was AL Rookie of the Year, Billy Martin was Manager of the Year, Jeff Burroughs was AL Most Valuable Player, and Ferguson Jenkins was the Comeback Player of the Year. After excellent seasons between 1977 and 79, Texas Rangers came very close in clinching a playoff spot in the first half of 1981 but Texas Rangers lost the game before the strike hit.

The losing streak lasted for 5 seasons after 1981 and a worse trade was made by getting future Brewers' manager Ned Yost from Milwaukee Brewers for multi-Gold Glove catcher Jim Sundberg.

Texas Rangers longest-serving manager has been Bobby Valentine at 1,186 games. He worked hard in the late 1980s and 1990s as talent infiltrated the team. 1986 season wins were greatly due to Rookies Ruben Sierra and Pete Incaviglia but the Rangers still finished 5 games behind division-winning California. Star Ryan was able to reach his 5,000th strikeout, 300th win and throw his sixth and seventh no-hitters with the Rangers. Fans has high expectations of Texas Rangers that had powerful batters like Juan González, Rubén Sierra, Julio Franco, Harold Baines, and Rafael Palmeiro and a pitching staff that included Charlie Hough, Bobby Witt, Kevin Brown, and Kenny Rogers.

During the 1992 season Valentine was sacked due to the consistent average performance. Catcher Geno Petralli was one of the team’s most popular players during this time.

The 1987 team the only team in Major League history to carry four catchers on their roster for the entire season. With Kevin Kennedy being the manager, the 1993 squad was in serious contention for a playoff berth into mid-September. The 1994 season featured a perfect game by Kenny Rogers.

Though, the new manager, Johnny Oates led the Texas Rangers to an ALL West division title in 1996, they eventually lost to the New York Yankees. The Texas Rangers 2006 season ended with a disappointing 80-82 record and a third-place finish in the American League West.


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