Meet the Rangers B aseball players are taught to be patient The greater the pressure they face the more they must relax and trust that their t their talent will shine through The same could be said for fans of of the Texas Rangers They went almost 40 years before their team made it to the World Series p How did the Rangers reward the patience of their fans The team found just the right mix of pitching and hitting and the wins started coming easily For many years the Rangers had fallen short of a league championship That is no longer true today Texas can proudly say it has won a pennant This book tells the story of the Rangers They began in in another part of the country in the 1960s and moved west in the in the 1970s It may have taken them a while to get used to their new address but these days the Rangers are feeling right at home in Texas Nelson Cruz returns to the dugout after scoring another run for the power packed Rangers 5
Glory Days T he Rangers are one of two teams that were once called the Washington Senators The other is the Minnesota Twins In 1961 the Senators moved to Minnesota after 60 seasons in Washington D C A new team also called the Senators replaced them in the nation’s capital Baseball fans who cheered for the Senators in 1960 rooted for an entirely different group of Senators in 1961 The new Senators played in the American League AL They were made up of unwanted players from other clubs The team found a few diamonds in the rough including pitchers Claude Osteen and Ron Kline plus hitters Chuck Hinton and Don Lock A trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1964 brought Frank Howard to the Senators He became one of the most feared sluggers in baseball 6
LEFT Frank Howard hit more than 40 homers three years in a row for the Senators RIGHT Third baseman Buddy Bell was known for his glove as well as his bat The team’s first winning season came in 1969 The Senators hired former All-Star Ted Williams to be their manager Williams was a great student and teacher of hitting The team’s batting average soared and Washington raised its record to 86 76 Unfortunately the Senators did not keep improving Soon they were looking for a new home In 1972 the team moved from Washington to Arlington Texas and became the Rangers Since the club did not have a lot of great hitters it focused on pitching During the next decade the Rangers had some of the best pitchers in baseball including Fergie Jenkins Gaylord Perry Jim Bibby Bert Blyleven Doc Medich Jon Matlack and Charlie Hough By the late 1970s the Rangers were also a good team at the plate Their offense was led by Buddy Bell Al Oliver Mike Hargrove Toby Harrah and Richie Zisk In the 1980s more talented hitters 7
