The Rangers began as The
Washington Senators version 2.0. After the original Senators moved to
Minnesota in 1961, the
AL agreed to
place an expansion team in the U.S. capitol. The "replacement" Senators remained in the Beltway through the 1971 season until they moved
west to
Arlington,
Texas for the 1972 campaign.
The Rangers and Angels are the longest running AL franchises still waiting to win their first pennant. The Rangers have never even advanced to a League Championship Series, though they have won the Al west division three times.
The Senators days of the franchise were best represented by big Frank Howard, a slugger who dominated power numbers in the late 1960's. Mickey Vernon was the original manager, followed by Gil Hodges (prior to his successful Mets days), Jim Lemon, and then Ted Williams, who was never quite as effective on the bench as he was in the batters box.
The best finish in D.C. came in 1969 when Howard's 48 homers and 111 RBI paved the way to 86 wins and a 4th place finish. Williams made the trip to Texas but a pair of 100-loss seasons in 1973-1974 chewed him and two other managers up.
Billy Martin molded young talent (including MVP Jeff Burroughs) and created excitement about the new Rangers. By 1977 Martin was gone (of course) and four managers shuffled through. Despite the instability, the Rangers won a franchise record 94 games, finishing 2nd to the Royals. In 1978 the team again finished as bridesmaid.
Prominent players in the 1970s included Burroughs, Toby Harrah, Buddy Bell, Mike Hargrove, Al Oliver, Jim Sundberg, Bump Wills, Richie Zisk, Gaylord Perry, Ferguson Jenkins, Bert Blyleven, and Jim Kern. Rarely however, could the team keep it's best players for long.
The early 1980s brought some more managers (Pat Corrales, Don Zimmer, Doug Rader, Bobby Valentine) with mixed results. On the field Charlie Hough emerged as the ace and Larry Parrish, Ruben Sierra, Pete Incaviglia, and Bobby Witt starred.
Valentine sat at the helm for parts of seven seasons, finally being fired in 1992. Replacement Kevin Kennedy had a winner in 1994 but the player strike and cancellation of the World Series cost the team it's first post-season berth.
The 1990s Rangers boasted Juan Gonzalez (two-time MVP), Ivan Rodriguez (1999 MVP), Dean Palmer, Will Clark, Rafael Palmeiro, Rusty Greer, Mark McLemore, and Lee Stevens. Rarely did the pitching staff match the bats, and as a result the team exited the playoffs in the first round in 1996, 1998, and 1999. Two of those defeats came at the hands of the Yankees, who quickly became the Rangers rival in the latter part of the decade.
After the 1999 season the Rangers pulled the trigger on a blockbuster deal, sending Gonzalez to Detroit for several young players, including Justin Thompson and Gabe Kapler.
The team stumbled in 2000, but re-armed itself in 2001 with the signing of Alex Rodriguez. The superstar shortstop inked the largest contract ($256 million) in history, coming over from the Mariners. Veteran slugger Andres Galarraga also joined the team for 2001, giving the Rangers the best offense money could buy.
Unfortunately money (as the Beatles once sang) can't get everything. The 2001 Rangers were terrible, finishing last. Rodriguez paid dividends - setting a ML record for home runs by a shortstop, but the rest of the team (minus Frank Catalanotto, who had came from Detroit in the Gonzalez deal) slumped.
--TheBaseballPage.com
