The Texas Rangers 1989 season involved the Rangers finishing fourth in the American League West with a record of 83 wins and 79 losses. Nolan Ryan would achieve his 5,000th career strikeout during the season. He would finish as the American League leader in strikeouts.
| 1989 Texas Rangers | ||
|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |
| Division | West | |
| Ballpark | Arlington Stadium | |
| City | Arlington, Texas | |
| Owners | George W. Bush | |
| General managers | Tom Grieve | |
| Managers | Bobby Valentine | |
| Television | KTVT (Bob Carpenter, Steve Busby) HSE (Greg Lucas, Norm Hitzges, Merle Harmon) | |
| Radio | WBAP (Eric Nadel, Mark Holtz ) | |
| ||
This season, the Rangers were sold to a new ownership group; the managing partner was future United States President George W. Bush.
Offseason
edit- October 11, 1988: Guy Hoffman was released by the Rangers.[1]
- December 5, 1988: Paul Kilgus, Mitch Williams, Curtis Wilkerson, Steve Wilson, Luis Benitez (minors) and Pablo Delgado (minors) were traded by the Rangers to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Rafael Palmeiro, Jamie Moyer and Drew Hall.[2]
- December 5, 1988: Bobby Meacham was traded by the New York Yankees to the Texas Rangers for Bob Brower.[3]
- December 6, 1988: Pete O'Brien, Oddibe McDowell, and Jerry Browne were traded by the Rangers to the Cleveland Indians for Julio Franco.[4]
- December 7, 1988: Nolan Ryan was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.[5]
- January 6, 1989: Cecilio Guante was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.[6]
- January 6, 1989: Jim Sundberg was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.[7]
- January 23, 1989: Rick Leach was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.[8]
Regular season
edit- June 16, 1989: Sammy Sosa made his major league debut in a game against the New York Yankees.[9] In four at-bats, Sosa appeared in 4 at-bats and had 2 hits.
- August 22, 1989: Against the eventual World Champion Oakland A's, Ryan became the first pitcher ever to record 5,000 career strikeouts. He struck out Rickey Henderson in the fifth inning to break the 5,000 barrier.[10]
- September 12, 1989: Nolan Ryan threw 164 pitches before he was replaced on the mound by Kenny Rogers in the ninth inning. The Rangers lost the game, 6–5, to the Kansas City Royals.
- Rubén Sierra had a career year as he led the AL in triples and RBI but ranked 6th in home runs (29), third in runs scored (101) and 5th in hits (194). He set the club record for most total bases in a season (344), which also led the league.
Season standings
edit| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Athletics | 99 | 63 | .611 | — | 54–27 | 45–36 |
| Kansas City Royals | 92 | 70 | .568 | 7 | 55–26 | 37–44 |
| California Angels | 91 | 71 | .562 | 8 | 52–29 | 39–42 |
| Texas Rangers | 83 | 79 | .512 | 16 | 45–36 | 38–43 |
| Minnesota Twins | 80 | 82 | .494 | 19 | 45–36 | 35–46 |
| Seattle Mariners | 73 | 89 | .451 | 26 | 40–41 | 33–48 |
| Chicago White Sox | 69 | 92 | .429 | 29½ | 35–45 | 34–47 |
Record vs. opponents
editSources: [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 | — | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 10–3 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–6 |
| Boston | 7–6 | — | 4–8 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 11–2 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| California | 6–6 | 8–4 | — | 8–5 | 5–7 | 11–1 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 11–2 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–8 | — | 7–5 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 10–2 | 5–8 | 5–6 | 5–8 | 7–6 | 3–10 | 1–11 |
| Cleveland | 6–7 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 5–7 | — | 5–8 | 8–4 | 3–10 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 2–10 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 5–8 |
| Detroit | 3–10 | 2–11 | 1–11 | 8–4 | 8–5 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 2–11 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 6–6 | — | 8–4 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Milwaukee | 6–7 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 4–8 | — | 9–3 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–7 |
| Minnesota | 8–4 | 6–6 | 2–11 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 3–9 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 9–3 |
| New York | 5–8 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–5 | 4–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | — | 3–9 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–6 |
| Oakland | 7–5 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 10–2 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 9–3 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Seattle | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Texas | 3–9 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 10–3 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 7–6 | — | 5–7 |
| Toronto | 6–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 11–1 | 8–5 | 11–2 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 7–5 | — |
Notable transactions
edit- July 29, 1989: Sammy Sosa, Wilson Álvarez, and Scott Fletcher were traded by the Rangers to the Chicago White Sox for Harold Baines and Fred Manrique.[9]
Roster
edit| 1989 Texas Rangers | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
|
Outfielders
Other batters
|
Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Player stats
editBatting
edit| = Indicates team leader |
Starters by position
editNote: 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 | Chad Kreuter | 87 | 158 | 24 | .152 | 5 | 9 |
| 1B | Rafael Palmeiro | 156 | 559 | 154 | .275 | 8 | 64 |
| 2B | Julio Franco | 150 | 548 | 173 | .316 | 13 | 92 |
| 3B | Steve Buechele | 155 | 486 | 114 | .235 | 16 | 59 |
| SS | Scott Fletcher | 83 | 314 | 75 | .239 | 0 | 22 |
| LF | Pete Incaviglia | 133 | 453 | 107 | .236 | 21 | 81 |
| CF | Cecil Espy | 142 | 275 | 122 | .257 | 3 | 31 |
| RF | Rubén Sierra | 162 | 634 | 194 | .306 | 29 | 119 |
| DH | Harold Baines | 50 | 172 | 49 | .285 | 3 | 16 |
Other batters
editNote: 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Kunkel | 108 | 293 | 79 | .270 | 8 | 29 |
| Rick Leach | 110 | 239 | 65 | .272 | 1 | 23 |
| Fred Manrique | 54 | 191 | 55 | .288 | 2 | 22 |
| Geno Petralli | 70 | 184 | 56 | .304 | 4 | 23 |
| Jim Sundberg | 76 | 147 | 29 | .197 | 2 | 8 |
| Mike Stanley | 67 | 122 | 30 | .246 | 1 | 11 |
| Jack Daugherty | 52 | 106 | 32 | .302 | 1 | 10 |
| Sammy Sosa | 25 | 84 | 20 | .238 | 1 | 3 |
| Buddy Bell | 34 | 82 | 15 | .183 | 0 | 3 |
| Juan González | 24 | 60 | 9 | .150 | 1 | 7 |
| Scott Coolbaugh | 25 | 51 | 14 | .275 | 2 | 7 |
| Thad Bosley | 37 | 40 | 9 | .225 | 1 | 9 |
| Jeff Stone | 22 | 36 | 6 | .167 | 0 | 5 |
| Dean Palmer | 16 | 19 | 2 | .105 | 0 | 1 |
| Kevin Reimer | 3 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
edit| = Indicates league leader |
Starting pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nolan Ryan | 32 | 239.1 | 16 | 10 | 3.20 | 301 |
| Bobby Witt | 31 | 194.1 | 12 | 13 | 5.14 | 166 |
| Kevin Brown | 28 | 191.0 | 12 | 9 | 3.35 | 104 |
| Charlie Hough | 30 | 182.0 | 10 | 13 | 4.35 | 94 |
| Mike Jeffcoat | 22 | 130.2 | 9 | 6 | 3.58 | 64 |
| Jamie Moyer | 15 | 76.0 | 4 | 9 | 4.86 | 44 |
| Wilson Álvarez | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | inf | 0 |
Other pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Barfield | 4 | 11.2 | 0 | 1 | 6.17 | 9 |
Relief pitchers
editNote: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Russell | 71 | 6 | 4 | 38 | 1.98 | 77 |
| Kenny Rogers | 73 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2.93 | 63 |
| Cecilio Guante | 50 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 3.91 | 69 |
| Gary Mielke | 43 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.26 | 26 |
| Drew Hall | 38 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.70 | 45 |
| Craig McMurtry | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.43 | 14 |
| Brad Arnsberg | 16 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4.13 | 26 |
| Darrel Akerfelds | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.27 | 9 |
| Paul Wilmet | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.43 | 1 |
| Jeff Kunkel | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21.60 | 0 |
Awards and honors
edit- Julio Franco, Silver Slugger Award, 1989
- Jeff Russell, Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award 1989
- Nolan Ryan, American League Leader Strikeouts (301)
- Rubén Sierra, Silver Slugger Award, 1989
- Rubén Sierra, American League Leader, Triples (14)
- Rubén Sierra, American League Leader, RBI (119)
- Rubén Sierra, American League Leader, Total Bases (344)
- Julio Franco, second baseman, starter
- Rubén Sierra, outfield, starter
- Nolan Ryan, pitcher, reserve
- Jeff Russell, relief pitcher, reserve
Farm system
editLEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Charlotte
References
edit- ^ Guy Hoffman at Baseball Reference
- ^ Paul Kilgus at Baseball Reference
- ^ "Bobby Beacham: Career Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
- ^ Julio Franco at Baseball Reference
- ^ Nolan Ryan at Baseball Reference
- ^ Cecilio Guante at Baseball Reference
- ^ Jim Sundberg at Baseball Reference
- ^ Rick Leach at Baseball Reference
- ^ a b Sammy Sosa at Baseball Reference
- ^ "The Nolan Ryan Express | The Strikeout King". smackbomb.com/nolanryan. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
- 1989 Texas Rangers at Baseball Reference
- 1989 Texas Rangers at Baseball Almanac
- Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.