| Dallas Rangers | |
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| Dixie Series titles(3) |
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| League titles(12) |
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| First-half titles(3) |
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| Second-half titles(3) |
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Previous parks | Burnett Field |
TheDallas Rangers were a high-levelminor league baseball team located inDallas, Texas, from 1958 to 1964. The team was known by the Dallas Rangers name in 1958, 1959, and 1964 and as theDallas-Fort Worth Rangers from 1960 to 1963. It played in theDouble-ATexas League in 1958, theTriple-AAmerican Association from 1959 to 1962 and the Triple-APacific Coast League in 1963 and 1964. Its home stadium wasBurnett Field.
Both Dallas andFort Worth had long and storied histories in the Texas League.
Dallas was a mainstay in the Texas League from1902 to1958. Over the years, it was known by many nicknames—theGriffins (1902),Giants (1903–1916),Submarines (1917–1918),Marines (1919–1922),Steers (1923–1938),Rebels (1939–1942, 1946–1948) andEagles (1949–1957), before it was dubbed the Rangers[1] in its final TL campaign.
The Fort Worth team was called thePanthers (1902–1935) and theCats (1936–1942, 1946–1958, 1964).
Dallas won theDixie Series, a postseason interleague championship between the champions of the Southern Association and theTexas League, in 1926,[2] 1946,[3] and 1953.[4]
ForOpening Day in 1950, the Eagles opened the season with nine retired major league stars in the field:pitcherDizzy Dean,catcherMickey Cochrane,first basemanCharlie Grimm,second basemanCharlie Gehringer,shortstopTravis Jackson,third basemanHome Run Baker, and anoutfield ofTy Cobb,Duffy Lewis, andTris Speaker. Dean allowed awalk to the only batter he faced, and then the Eagles team replaced the retired stars on the field. The promotion drew 54,151 fans th theCotton Bowl, setting aMinor League Baseball record.[5]
In 1959, the American Association expanded and admitted Dallas as an unaffiliated club and Fort Worth as an affiliate of theChicago Cubs. Dallas' Rangers outdrew Fort Worth's Cats, 130,000 to 97,000, and the two teams were merged in 1960 as the topfarm team of theKansas City Athletics. TheDallas Cowboys,Clint Murchison's new NFL franchise, were originally to be called the "Dallas Rangers" because the baseball team's owners had told him in 1959 that they were disbanding. When the owners reversed course the following year, Murchison volunteered to rename his new team to avoid confusion.[6]
The Rangers struggled on the field and at the gate in 1960, finishing last and drawing only 113,000 fans. In 1961, the team was affiliated with the expansionLos Angeles Angels, and then in 1962 the Angels split the working agreement with thePhiladelphia Phillies. During this two-year period, the Rangers featured future MLB stars such as the Angels'Jim Fregosi andDean Chance. But they continued to lag behind other Association members in attendance.
When the American Association itself folded after the1962 season, the Rangers joined the Pacific Coast League and affiliated with theMinnesota Twins, inheriting the players of the defunctVancouver Mounties. The1963 Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers, managed byJack McKeon and led by Triple-ArookieTony Oliva, whohit .304 with 23home runs, finally reached the .500 level. But the Minnesota affiliation lasted only that one season.
The lowly Kansas City A's returned as the team's parent in1964. Moreover, that season the Texas League placed a team (another Cubs' affiliate) in Fort Worth, and the Rangers reverted to their Dallas-only identity.
The last Dallas Rangers club, managed byJohn McNamara, won only 53 of 157 PCL games.Starting pitchersLew Krausse Jr. andBill Landis lost 19 and 17 games, respectively. The team drew only 39,000 fans all season. The franchise then moved in1965 to, coincidentally,Vancouver. The Dallas-Fort Worth regional name was then applied to the Texas League club, which played inArlington and became known as theDallas-Fort Worth Spurs through 1971. The old nickname Rangers was revived for the major leagueTexas Rangers, who moved toTurnpike (renamed Arlington) Stadium in 1972.
| Year | Record | Finish Full Season | League | Attendance | Manager | Postseason |
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| 1958 | 76–77 | Fifth | Texas League | 116,085 | Davey Williams George Schepps Fred Martin | DNQ |
| 1959 | 75–87 | Fourth (Western Division) | American Association | 130,334 | Fred Martin Jim Fanning | DNQ |
| 1960 | 64–90 | Eighth | 113,849 | Jim Fanning | DNQ | |
| 1961 | 72–77 | Fifth | 105,933 | Walker Cooper | DNQ | |
| 1962 | 59–90 | Sixth | 86,034 | Dick Littlefield Ray Murray | DNQ | |
| 1963 | 79–79 | Third (South Division) | Pacific Coast League | 118,350 | Jack McKeon | DNQ |
| 1964 | 53–104 | Sixth (East Division) | 39,391 | John McNamara | DNQ |