| 1979 Texas Rangers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Division | West | |||
| Ballpark | Arlington Stadium | |||
| City | Arlington, Texas | |||
| Record | 83–79 (.512) | |||
| Divisional place | 3rd | |||
| Owner | Bradford G. Corbett | |||
| General managers | Eddie Robinson | |||
| Managers | Pat Corrales | |||
| Television | KXAS-TV (Jon Miller,Frank Glieber,Eric Nadel) | |||
| Radio | WBAP (Jon Miller, Bill Merrill) | |||
| ||||
The1979 Texas Rangers season was the 19th of theTexas Rangers franchise overall, their 8th inArlington as the Rangers, and the 8th season atArlington Stadium. The Rangers finished third in theAmerican League West with a record of 83 wins and 79 losses.
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California Angels | 88 | 74 | .543 | — | 49–32 | 39–42 |
| Kansas City Royals | 85 | 77 | .525 | 3 | 46–35 | 39–42 |
| Texas Rangers | 83 | 79 | .512 | 5 | 44–37 | 39–42 |
| Minnesota Twins | 82 | 80 | .506 | 6 | 39–42 | 43–38 |
| Chicago White Sox | 73 | 87 | .456 | 14 | 33–46 | 40–41 |
| Seattle Mariners | 67 | 95 | .414 | 21 | 36–45 | 31–50 |
| Oakland Athletics | 54 | 108 | .333 | 34 | 31–50 | 23–58 |
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 | — | 8–5 | 9–3 | 8–3 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 5–6 | 8–4 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 11–2 |
| Boston | 5–8 | — | 5–7 | 5–6 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–4 |
| California | 3–9 | 7–5 | — | 9–4 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 3–8 | 6–5 | 4–9 | — | 6–6 | 3–9 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 11–2 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 5–8 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | — | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 8–5 |
| Detroit | 6–7 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 6–6 | — | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 5–7 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 9–3 |
| Milwaukee | 5–8 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 7–5 | — | 8–4 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 9–3 | 10–3 |
| Minnesota | 4–8 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 4–8 | — | 7–5 | 9–4 | 10–3 | 4–9 | 11–1 |
| New York | 6–5 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 5–7 | — | 9–3 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 9–4 |
| Oakland | 4–8 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 4–9 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 3–9 | — | 8–5 | 2–11 | 4–8 |
| Seattle | 2–10 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 5–8 | — | 6–7 | 8–4 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 2–11 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 11–2 | 7–6 | — | 7–5 |
| Toronto | 2–11 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 1–11 | 4–9 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — |
| 1979 Texas Rangers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 150 | 495 | 136 | .275 | 5 | 64 |
| 1B | Pat Putnam | 139 | 426 | 118 | .277 | 18 | 64 |
| 2B | Bump Wills | 146 | 543 | 148 | .273 | 5 | 46 |
| SS | Nelson Norman | 147 | 343 | 76 | .222 | 0 | 21 |
| 3B | Buddy Bell | 162 | 670 | 200 | .299 | 18 | 101 |
| LF | Billy Sample | 128 | 325 | 95 | .292 | 5 | 35 |
| CF | Al Oliver | 136 | 492 | 159 | .323 | 12 | 76 |
| RF | Richie Zisk | 144 | 503 | 132 | .262 | 18 | 64 |
| DH | John Ellis | 111 | 316 | 90 | .285 | 12 | 61 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Grubb | 102 | 289 | 79 | .273 | 10 | 37 |
| Mickey Rivers | 58 | 247 | 74 | .300 | 6 | 25 |
| Oscar Gamble | 64 | 161 | 54 | .335 | 8 | 32 |
| Mike Jorgensen | 90 | 157 | 35 | .223 | 6 | 16 |
| Eric Soderholm | 63 | 147 | 40 | .272 | 4 | 19 |
| Willie Montañez | 38 | 144 | 46 | .319 | 8 | 24 |
| Larvell Blanks | 68 | 120 | 24 | .200 | 1 | 15 |
| Dave Roberts | 44 | 84 | 22 | .262 | 3 | 14 |
| Gary Gray | 16 | 42 | 10 | .238 | 0 | 1 |
| LaRue Washington | 25 | 18 | 5 | .278 | 0 | 2 |
| Greg Mahlberg | 7 | 17 | 2 | .118 | 1 | 1 |
| Bert Campaneris | 8 | 9 | 1 | .111 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Chalk | 9 | 8 | 2 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Gary Holle | 5 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ferguson Jenkins | 37 | 259.0 | 16 | 14 | 4.07 | 164 |
| Steve Comer | 36 | 242.1 | 17 | 12 | 3.68 | 86 |
| Doc Medich | 29 | 149.0 | 10 | 7 | 4.17 | 58 |
| Doyle Alexander | 23 | 113.1 | 5 | 7 | 4.45 | 50 |
| Jon Matlack | 13 | 85.0 | 5 | 4 | 4.13 | 35 |
| John Henry Johnson | 17 | 82.1 | 2 | 6 | 4.92 | 46 |
| Dock Ellis | 10 | 46.2 | 1 | 5 | 5.98 | 10 |
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 | 20 | 78.0 | 4 | 4 | 4.04 | 58 |
| Brian Allard | 7 | 33.1 | 1 | 3 | 4.32 | 14 |
| Ed Farmer | 11 | 33.0 | 2 | 0 | 4.36 | 25 |
| Jerry Don Gleaton | 5 | 9.2 | 0 | 1 | 6.52 | 2 |
| Larry McCall | 2 | 8.1 | 1 | 0 | 2.16 | 3 |
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Kern | 71 | 13 | 5 | 29 | 1.57 | 136 |
| Sparky Lyle | 67 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 3.13 | 48 |
| Dave Rajsich | 27 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3.52 | 32 |
| Bob Babcock | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.12 | 6 |