| 1981 Texas Rangers | |
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| Owner(s) | Eddie Chiles |
| Manager(s) | Don Zimmer |
| Local television | KXAS-TV (Eric Nadel, Mel Proctor) Vue-Pay (Mark Holtz, Norm Hitzges) |
| Local radio | WBAP (Eric Nadel, Bill Merrill, Mel Proctor) |
| < Previous season Next season > | |
The Rangers playing against the Oakland Athletics during a 1981 away game at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
The Texas Rangers 1981 season involved the Rangers finishing 2nd 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.
Contents
Offseason[edit]
- 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]
Regular season[edit]
Season standings[edit]
| AL West First Half Standings |
W | L | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Athletics | 37 | 23 | .617 |
| Texas Rangers | 33 | 22 | .600 |
| Chicago White Sox | 31 | 22 | .585 |
| California Angels | 31 | 29 | .517 |
| Kansas City Royals | 20 | 30 | .400 |
| Seattle Mariners | 21 | 36 | .368 |
| Minnesota Twins | 17 | 39 | .304 |
| AL West Second Half Standings |
W | L | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Royals | 30 | 23 | .566 |
| Oakland Athletics | 27 | 22 | .551 |
| Texas Rangers | 24 | 26 | .480 |
| Minnesota Twins | 24 | 29 | .453 |
| Seattle Mariners | 23 | 29 | .442 |
| Chicago White Sox | 23 | 30 | .434 |
| California Angels | 20 | 30 | .400 |
Record vs. opponents[edit]
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1981 American League Records
Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | — |
Notable transactions[edit]
- 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[edit]
| 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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Player stats[edit]
Batting[edit]
Starters by position[edit]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SS | Mendoza, MarioMario Mendoza | 88 | 229 | 53 | .231 | 0 | 22 |
Other batters[edit]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wagner, MarkMark Wagner | 50 | 85 | 22 | .259 | 1 | 14 |
| Jones, BobbyBobby Jones | 10 | 34 | 9 | .265 | 3 | 7 |
| Cox, LarryLarry Cox | 5 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 1 |
| Norman, NelsonNelson Norman | 7 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 2 |
Pitching[edit]
Starting pitchers[edit]
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darwin, DannyDanny Darwin | 22 | 146 | 9 | 9 | 3.64 | 98 |
| Honeycutt, RickRick Honeycutt | 20 | 127.2 | 11 | 6 | 3.31 | 40 |
Other pitchers[edit]
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Butcher, JohnJohn Butcher | 5 | 27.2 | 1 | 2 | 1.63 | 19 |
Relief pitchers[edit]
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
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| Comer, SteveSteve Comer | 36 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 2.56 | 22 |
| Babcock, BobBob Babcock | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.20 | 18 |
Awards and honors[edit]
- Buddy Bell, 3B, Gold Glove 1981
- Al Oliver, Silver Slugger Award, 1981
- Jim Sundberg, C, Gold Glove, 1981
Farm system[edit]
See also: Minor league baseball
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
- 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, N.C.: Baseball America. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.
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