1989 Texas Rangers season

1989 Texas Rangers
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1961)
Western Division (since 1972)
Location
Arlington Stadium (since 1972)
Arlington, Texas (since 1972)
Other information
Owner(s)	George W. Bush
General manager(s)	Tom Grieve
Manager(s)	Bobby Valentine
Local television	KTVT (Bob Carpenter, Steve Busby) HSE (Greg Lucas, Norm Hitzges, Merle Harmon)
Local radio	WBAP (Eric Nadel, Mark Holtz )
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The Texas Rangers 1989 season involved the Rangers finishing fourth in the American League West with a record of 83 wins and 79 losses.

Offseason

• 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 6, 1988: Pete O'Brien, Oddibe McDowell, and Jerry Browne were traded by the Rangers to the Cleveland Indians for Julio Franco.^[3]
• December 7, 1988: Nolan Ryan was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.^[4]
• January 6, 1989: Cecilio Guante was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.^[5]
• January 6, 1989: Jim Sundberg was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.^[6]
• January 23, 1989: Rick Leach was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.^[7]

Regular season

• June 16, 1989: Sammy Sosa made his major league debut in a game against the New York Yankees.^[8] 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.^[9]
• 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

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	99	63	0.611	—	54–27	45–36
Kansas City Royals	92	70	0.568	7	55–26	37–44
California Angels	91	71	0.562	8	52–29	39–42
Texas Rangers	83	79	0.512	16	45–36	38–43
Minnesota Twins	80	82	0.494	19	45–36	35–46
Seattle Mariners	73	89	0.451	26	40–41	33–48
Chicago White Sox	69	92	0.429	29½	35–45	34–47

Record vs. opponents

1989 American League Records Sources:
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

• 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.^[8]

Roster

1989 Texas Rangers
Roster
Pitchers 24 Darrel Akerfelds 43 Wilson Álvarez 28 Brad Arnsberg 27 John Barfield 41 Kevin Brown 51 Cecilio Guante 44 Drew Hall 49 Charlie Hough 30 Mike Jeffcoat 38 Craig McMurtry 50 Gary Mielke 39 Jamie Moyer 37 Kenny Rogers 40 Jeff Russell 34 Nolan Ryan 54 Paul Wilmet 36 Bobby Witt		Catchers  7 Chad Kreuter 12 Geno Petralli  5 Mike Stanley 10 Jim Sundberg Infielders 25 Buddy Bell 22 Steve Buechele 42 Scott Coolbaugh  8 Jack Daugherty  1 Scott Fletcher 14 Julio Franco 20 Jeff Kunkel 17 Fred Manrique  3 Rafael Palmeiro 16 Dean Palmer		Outfielders 13 Harold Baines 19,32 Thad Bosley  6 Cecil Espy 13,19 Juan González 29 Pete Incaviglia  9 Rick Leach 21 Rubén Sierra 17 Sammy Sosa 19 Jeff Stone Other batters 47 Kevin Reimer		Manager  2 Bobby Valentine Coaches 52 Dick Egan (Bullpen) 11 Toby Harrah (First Base) 35 Tom House (Pitching) 15 Davey Lopes (Bench) 26 Dave Oliver (Third Base) 31 Tom Robson (Hitting)

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

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	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

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Jack Daugherty	52	106	32	.302	1	10
Juan González	24	60	9	.150	1	7

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Nolan Ryan	32	239⅓	16	10	3.20	301
Bobby Witt	31	194⅓	12	13	5.14	166
Charlie Hough	30	182	10	13	4.35	94
Kevin Brown	28	191	12	9	3.35	104
Mike Jeffcoat	22	130⅔	9	6	3.58	64
Jamie Moyer	15	76	4	9	4.86	44

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
John Barfield	4	11⅔	0	1	6.17	9

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
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
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

Awards and honors

• Julio Franco, Silver Slugger Award, 1989
• Jeff Russell, Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award1989
• 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)

All-Star Game

• Julio Franco, Second Baseman, Starter
• Rubén Sierra, Outfield, Starter
• Nolan Ryan, Pitcher, Reserve
• Jeff Russell, Relief Pithcer, Reserve

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Oklahoma City 89ers	American Association	Jim Skaalen
AA	Tulsa Drillers	Texas League	Tommy Thompson
A	Charlotte Rangers	Florida State League	Bobby Jones
A	Gastonia Rangers	South Atlantic League	Orlando Gómez
Rookie	GCL Rangers	Gulf Coast League	Chino Cadahia
Rookie	Butte Copper Kings	Pioneer League	Bump Wills

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Charlotte

References

1. Guy Hoffman at Baseball Reference
2. Paul Kilgus at Baseball Reference
3. Julio Franco at Baseball Reference
4. Nolan Ryan at Baseball Reference
5. Cecilio Guante at Baseball Reference
6. Jim Sundberg at Baseball Reference
7. Rick Leach at Baseball Reference
8. Sammy Sosa at Baseball Reference
9. The Nolan Ryan Express | The Strikeout King | smackbomb.com/nolanryan

• 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.