Baseball Teams - American League West
Texans Rangers
| Team's name: Texas Rangers League: American League Division: West  Location: Arlington, Texas Nickname: Rangers Mascot: Ranger Captain Team Colours: Blue, White and Scarlet Red Joined the League: 1961 Team's President: Nolan Ryan Manager: Ron Washington General Manager: Jon Daniels Baseball Field: Rangers Ballpark Arlington Current Capacity: 49,115 First Year of Baseball: 1891 League Titles: AL Pennants: none West Div: 1996, '98, '99 Wild Card berths: none World Series: none |
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball club in the American League's Western Division. The team is based in Arlington, Texas.
The team began as an expansion franchise in 1961 as the Washington Senators - a replacement team for the original Senators, who had moved to Minnesota. The new team's first decade was a rocky one, and finally, the team was moved to Texas in 1972.
The team experienced its first major success during the mid 1990s under the leadership of Kevin Kennedy. In 1996, after hiring manager Johnny Oates, the team claimed its first division title and went to a playoff series for the first - and thus far only - time in franchise history. The Rangers lost to the New York Yankees, but Oates was named AL Manager of the Year and Juan Gonzalez AL MVP.
In 1998 and 1999, Oates again led the team to an AL West Division championship, but in mid 2001, with the team free falling toward last place, the manager resigned.
In 2003 the Rangers finished last place for the fourth consecutive year despite the addition of superstar shortstop Alex Rodriguez. By the end of the season, Rodriguez was traded to the Yankees for Alfonso Soriano and Joaquin Arias.
In 2004, the Rangers pulled themselves out of last place. In fact, the team battled with the LA Angels and the Oakland Athletics for first place in the AL West. Texas finally finished third, only three games away from first. (The Seattle Mariners, at fourth place, were 29 games down from first.)
The next several seasons were unimpressive for the Rangers,
In 2007 the Rangers finished fourth in the league with a sub-.500 record, 75-87. 2008 proved a slightly better year, with the team finishing second place in its division with a 79-83 record and a .488 winning percentage.
Including the 2008 season, the Rangers franchise has won 3,570 games and lost 4,049, giving a .468 lifetime average winning percentage. The franchise is 1-9 in individual playoffs and 0-3 overall for postseason series.
Texas Rangers 2009 Roster
| Pitchers | |||||||
| NO. | NAME | POS | BAT | THW | AGE | HT | WT |
| 53 | Joaquin Benoit | RP | R | R | 31 | 6-3 | 220 |
| 55 | Willie Eyre | RP | R | R | 30 | 6-2 | 205 |
| 50 | Frank Francisco | RP | R | R | 29 | 6-3 | 232 |
| 18 | Eddie Guardado | RP | R | L | 38 | 6-0 | 225 |
| 60 | Warner Madrigal | RP | R | R | 25 | 6-0 | 200 |
| 57 | Dustin Nippert | RP | R | R | 27 | 6-8 | 224 |
| 59 | Josh Rupe | RP | R | R | 26 | 6-2 | 210 |
| 36 | C.J. Wilson | RP | L | L | 28 | 6-1 | 215 |
| -- | John Bannister | SP | R | R | 25 | 6-4 | 218 |
| 37 | Kris Benson | SP | R | R | 34 | 6-4 | 205 |
| -- | Thomas Diamond | SP | R | R | 26 | 6-3 | 230 |
| 39 | Scott Feldman | SP | L | R | 26 | 6-5 | 210 |
| 54 | Matt Harrison | SP | L | L | 23 | 6-4 | 225 |
| 35 | Tommy Hunter | SP | R | R | 22 | 6-3 | 255 |
| -- | Eric Hurley | SP | R | R | 23 | 6-4 | 195 |
| 28 | Jason Jennings | SP | L | R | 30 | 6-2 | 235 |
| 20 | Brandon McCarthy | SP | R | R | 25 | 6-7 | 200 |
| -- | Luis Mendoza | SP | R | R | 25 | 6-3 | 210 |
| 33 | Kevin Millwood | SP | R | R | 34 | 6-4 | 230 |
| -- | Guillermo Moscoso | SP | R | R | 25 | 6-1 | 160 |
| 44 | Vicente Padilla | SP | R | R | 31 | 6-2 | 220 |
| -- | Omar Poveda | SP | R | R | 21 | 6-4 | 215 |
| Catchers | |||||||
| NO. | NAME | POS | BAT | THW | AGE | HT | WT |
| -- | Max Ramirez | C | R | R | 24 | 5-11 | 175 |
| 21 | Jarrod Saltalamacchia | C | B | R | 23 | 6-4 | 235 |
| 2 | Taylor Teagarden | C | R | R | 25 | 6-1 | 200 |
| Infielders | |||||||
| NO. | NAME | POS | BAT | THW | AGE | HT | WT |
| 1 | Elvis Andrus | SS | R | R | 20 | 6-1 | 190 |
| -- | Joaquin Arias | 2B | R | R | 24 | 6-1 | 165 |
| 9 | Hank Blalock | 1B | L | R | 28 | 6-1 | 200 |
| 19 | Chris Davis | 1B | L | R | 23 | 6-4 | 235 |
| -- | German Duran | 3B | R | R | 24 | 5-10 | 185 |
| 5 | Ian Kinsler | 2B | R | R | 26 | 6-0 | 200 |
| 13 | Omar Vizquel | SS | B | R | 41 | 5-9 | 175 |
| 10 | Michael Young | SS | R | R | 32 | 6-1 | 200 |
| Outfielders | |||||||
| NO. | NAME | POS | BAT | THW | AGE | HT | WT |
| -- | Brandon Boggs | LF | B | R | 26 | 5-11 | 205 |
| -- | Julio Borbon | CF | L | L | 23 | 6-1 | 180 |
| 22 | Marlon Byrd | CF | R | R | 31 | 6-0 | 235 |
| 17 | Nelson Cruz | RF | R | R | 28 | 6-3 | 230 |
| -- | Greg Golson | CF | R | R | 23 | 6-0 | 190 |
| 32 | Josh Hamilton | CF | L | L | 27 | 6-4 | 235 |
| 25 | Andruw Jones | CF | R | R | 31 | 6-1 | 240 |
| 7 | David Murphy | RF | L | L | 27 | 6-4 | 195 |