1981_Texas_Rangers_season
1981 Texas Rangers season
Major League Baseball team season
The Texas Rangers 1981 season involved the Rangers finishing second in the American 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.
Quick Facts Texas Rangers, League ...
| 1981 Texas Rangers | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | American League | |||
| Division | West | |||
| Ballpark | Arlington Stadium | |||
| City | Arlington, Texas | |||
| Owners | 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) | |||
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- December 12, 1980: Richie Zisk, Rick Auerbach, Ken Clay, Jerry Don Gleaton, Brian Allard, and Steve Finch (minors) were traded by the Rangers to the Seattle Mariners for Willie Horton, Larry Cox, Rick Honeycutt, Mario Mendoza, and Leon Roberts.[1]
- December 18, 1980: Bob Jones was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.[2]
Season standings
More information W, L ...
| AL West | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Athletics | 64 | 45 | 0.587 | — | 35–21 | 29–24 |
| Texas Rangers | 57 | 48 | 0.543 | 5 | 32–24 | 25–24 |
| Chicago White Sox | 54 | 52 | 0.509 | 8½ | 25–24 | 29–28 |
| Kansas City Royals | 50 | 53 | 0.485 | 11 | 19–28 | 31–25 |
| California Angels | 51 | 59 | 0.464 | 13½ | 26–28 | 25–31 |
| Seattle Mariners | 44 | 65 | 0.404 | 20 | 20–37 | 24–28 |
| Minnesota Twins | 41 | 68 | 0.376 | 23 | 24–36 | 17–32 |
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More information AL West First Half Standings, W ...
| 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 |
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More information AL West Second Half Standings, W ...
| 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 |
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Record vs. opponents
More information Team, BAL ...
Sources: | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | — |
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Notable transactions
- April 1, 1981: Willie Horton was released by the Rangers.[1]
- June 8, 1981: Ron Darling was drafted by the Rangers in the 1st round (9th pick) of the 1981 Major League Baseball Draft.[3]
Roster
| 1981 Texas Rangers roster | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
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Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
Other batters
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Manager
Coaches
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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
More information Pos, Player ...
| 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 |
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Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
More information Player, G ...
| 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 |
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Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
More information Player, G ...
| 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 |
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Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
More information Player, G ...
| 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 |
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Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
More information Player, G ...
| 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 |
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- Buddy Bell, 3B, Gold Glove 1981
- Al Oliver, Silver Slugger Award, 1981
- Jim Sundberg, C, Gold Glove, 1981
See also: Minor League Baseball
More information Level, Team ...
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- 1981 Texas Rangers team page at Baseball Reference
- 1981 Texas Rangers team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
- 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.