| 1981 Texas Rangers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Division | West | |||
| Ballpark | Arlington Stadium | |||
| City | Arlington, Texas | |||
| Record | 57–48 (.543) | |||
| Divisional place | 2nd | |||
| Owner | Eddie Chiles | |||
| General managers | Eddie Robinson | |||
| Managers | Don Zimmer | |||
| Television | KXAS-TV (Eric Nadel,Mel Proctor) Vue-Pay (Mark Holtz,Norm Hitzges) | |||
| Radio | WBAP (Eric Nadel,Bill Merrill,Mel Proctor) | |||
| ||||

The1981 Texas Rangers season was the 21st of theTexas Rangers franchise overall, their 10th inArlington as the Rangers, and the 10th season atArlington Stadium. The Rangers finished second in theAmerican League West with a record of 57 wins and 48 losses. The season was suspended for 50 days due to the infamous 1981 players strike and the league chose as its playoff teams, the division winners from the first and second halves of the season, respectively.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Athletics | 64 | 45 | .587 | — | 35–21 | 29–24 |
| Texas Rangers | 57 | 48 | .543 | 5 | 32–24 | 25–24 |
| Chicago White Sox | 54 | 52 | .509 | 8½ | 25–24 | 29–28 |
| Kansas City Royals | 50 | 53 | .485 | 11 | 19–28 | 31–25 |
| California Angels | 51 | 59 | .464 | 13½ | 26–28 | 25–31 |
| Seattle Mariners | 44 | 65 | .404 | 20 | 20–37 | 24–28 |
| Minnesota Twins | 41 | 68 | .376 | 23 | 24–36 | 17–32 |
| AL West First Half Standings | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Athletics | 37 | 23 | .617 | — |
| Texas Rangers | 33 | 22 | .600 | 1+1⁄2 |
| Chicago White Sox | 31 | 22 | .585 | 2+1⁄2 |
| California Angels | 31 | 29 | .517 | 6 |
| Kansas City Royals | 20 | 30 | .400 | 12 |
| Seattle Mariners | 21 | 36 | .368 | 14+1⁄2 |
| Minnesota Twins | 17 | 39 | .304 | 18 |
| AL West Second Half Standings | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Royals | 30 | 23 | .566 | — |
| Oakland Athletics | 27 | 22 | .551 | 1 |
| Texas Rangers | 24 | 26 | .480 | 4+1⁄2 |
| Minnesota Twins | 24 | 29 | .453 | 6 |
| Seattle Mariners | 23 | 29 | .442 | 6+1⁄2 |
| Chicago White Sox | 23 | 30 | .434 | 7 |
| California Angels | 20 | 30 | .400 | 8+1⁄2 |
Sources:[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 2–2 | 6–6 | 3–6 | 4–2 | 6–7 | 5–3 | 2–4 | 6–0 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 5–2 |
| Boston | 2–2 | — | 2–4 | 5–4 | 7–6 | 6–1 | 3–3 | 6–7 | 2–5 | 3–3 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 3–6 | 4–0 |
| California | 6–6 | 4–2 | — | 6–7 | 7–5 | 3–3 | 0–6 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 2–8 | 6–4 | 2–4 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 6–3 | 4–5 | 7–6 | — | 2–5 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–4 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 2–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–2 | — | 1–5 | 4–4 | 3–6 | 2–1 | 7–5 | 3–2 | 8–4 | 2–2 | 4–2 |
| Detroit | 7–6 | 1–6 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 5–1 | — | 3–2 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 3–7 | 1–2 | 5–1 | 9–3 | 6–4 |
| Kansas City | 3–5 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 0–2 | 4–4 | 2–3 | — | 4–5 | 9–4 | 2–10 | 3–3 | 6–7 | 3–4 | 5–3 |
| Milwaukee | 4–2 | 7–6 | 3–4 | 1–4 | 6–3 | 8–5 | 5–4 | — | 9–3 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 4–5 | 6–4 |
| Minnesota | 0–6 | 5–2 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 3–9 | — | 3–3 | 2–8 | 3–6–1 | 5–8 | 5–1 |
| New York | 6–7 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–3 | 10–2 | 3–3 | 3–3 | — | 4–3 | 2–3 | 5–4 | 2–3 |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 5–7 | 8–2 | 6–7 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 8–2 | 3–4 | — | 6–1 | 4–2 | 10–2 |
| Seattle | 2–4 | 3–9 | 4–6 | 3–3 | 4–8 | 1–5 | 7–6 | 2–2 | 6–3–1 | 3–2 | 1–6 | — | 5–8 | 3–3 |
| Texas | 1–2 | 6–3 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 3–9 | 4–3 | 5–4 | 8–5 | 4–5 | 2–4 | 8–5 | — | 6–2 |
| Toronto | 2–5 | 0–4 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 2–4 | 4–6 | 3–5 | 4–6 | 1–5 | 3–2 | 2–10 | 3–3 | 2–6 | — |
| 1981 Texas Rangers roster | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders
Other batters | Manager Coaches | ||||||
| = Indicates team leader |
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Jim Sundberg | 102 | 339 | 94 | .277 | 3 | 28 |
| 1B | Pat Putnam | 95 | 297 | 79 | .266 | 8 | 35 |
| 2B | Bump Wills | 102 | 410 | 103 | .251 | 2 | 41 |
| SS | Mario Mendoza | 88 | 229 | 53 | .231 | 0 | 22 |
| 3B | Buddy Bell | 97 | 360 | 106 | .294 | 10 | 64 |
| LF | Billy Sample | 66 | 230 | 65 | .283 | 3 | 25 |
| CF | Mickey Rivers | 99 | 399 | 114 | .286 | 3 | 26 |
| RF | Johnny Grubb | 67 | 199 | 46 | .231 | 3 | 26 |
| DH | Al Oliver | 102 | 421 | 130 | .309 | 4 | 55 |
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leon Roberts | 72 | 233 | 65 | .279 | 4 | 31 |
| Bill Stein | 53 | 115 | 38 | .330 | 2 | 22 |
| Mark Wagner | 50 | 85 | 22 | .259 | 1 | 14 |
| Tom Poquette | 30 | 64 | 10 | .156 | 0 | 7 |
| John Ellis | 23 | 58 | 8 | .138 | 1 | 7 |
| Bobby Jones | 10 | 34 | 9 | .265 | 3 | 7 |
| Wayne Tolleson | 14 | 24 | 4 | .167 | 0 | 1 |
| Bob Johnson | 6 | 18 | 5 | .278 | 2 | 4 |
| Rick Lisi | 9 | 16 | 5 | .313 | 0 | 1 |
| Dan Duran | 13 | 16 | 4 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Larry Cox | 5 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 1 |
| Nelson Norman | 7 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 2 |
| Don Werner | 2 | 8 | 2 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danny Darwin | 22 | 146.0 | 9 | 9 | 3.64 | 98 |
| Doc Medich | 20 | 143.1 | 10 | 6 | 3.08 | 65 |
| Rick Honeycutt | 20 | 127.2 | 11 | 6 | 3.31 | 40 |
| Fergie Jenkins | 19 | 106.0 | 5 | 8 | 4.50 | 63 |
| Jon Matlack | 17 | 104.1 | 4 | 7 | 4.14 | 43 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlie Hough | 21 | 82.0 | 4 | 1 | 2.96 | 69 |
| John Butcher | 5 | 27.2 | 1 | 2 | 1.63 | 19 |
| Len Whitehouse | 2 | 3.1 | 0 | 1 | 16.20 | 2 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Comer | 36 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 2.56 | 22 |
| John Henry Johnson | 24 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2.66 | 8 |
| Jim Kern | 23 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2.70 | 20 |
| Bob Babcock | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.20 | 18 |
| Dave Scmiidt | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.13 | 13 |
| Mark Mercer | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4.70 | 8 |
| Bob Lacey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 0 |