The Texas Rangers franchise may have been around since the 1960s, but it has only been in recent years when the ball club has started seeing some success, though a World Series championship still eludes the Rangers. The team was founded in 1961 as the Washington Senators, playing in the nation’s capital for a decade. In 1972, the team would move down south to the Lone Star State and became the Texas Rangers, named after the state law enforcement agency.
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Rangers History
While in Washington, the team played its games at Griffith Stadium in its first year before moving to RFK Stadium beginning in the 1962 season. After the team moved to Arlington, Texas, in 1972, the Rangers would play its first two decades at Arlington Stadium. In 1994, the Rangers would move to The Ballpark in Arlington, which is known now as Globe Life Park in Arlington. The team will be moving in 2020 to their new stadium, Globe Life Field, which will be next to Globe Life Park.
Pennants
The Texas Rangers struggled for most of the franchise’s early years and would have to wait until 1996 for its first postseason appearance when it won its first West Division title. The Rangers would also win the division in 1998 and 1999, but would then have to wait until 2010 to make the postseason again. In 2010, the Rangers won its first American League Division Series in franchise history with a win over the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rangers would go on to beat the Yankees in the Championship Series to win its first AL Pennant and advance to the World Series, where it would lose to the San Francisco Giants in five games. The Rangers would return to the World Series again the following year, falling to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games, despite coming a strike away twice in Game 6 from winning the championship. The Rangers would make the postseason again the following year with a Wild Card berth and would win the West title again in 2015 and 2016.
Rangers Hall of Famers
One of the most beloved Rangers is Hall of Fame catcher Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, who played with the Rangers from 1991 to 2002 and then again for a short stint in 2009. Rodriguez is considered one of the best defensive catchers in MLB history, leading all catchers in putouts and setting the Major League record for most games catching behind the plate, but he also has had success with his bat, averaging .296 in his career with 2,844 total hits, 1,332 runs batted in and 311 home runs.
Pitcher Nolan Ryan is one of the Rangers’ all-time greats, playing in Arlington from 1989 to 1993, pitching seven no-hitters during his career, the most of any major league pitcher, though he never pitched a perfect game or won a Cy Young Award in his career. Ryan is also the MLB career leader in strikeouts with 5,714 and finished his career with a 324-292 record and a career ERA of 3.19.
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