1979 Texas Rangers season

1979 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)	Bradford G. Corbett
General manager(s)	Eddie Robinson
Manager(s)	Pat Corrales
Local television	KXAS-TV (Jon Miller, Frank Glieber, Eric Nadel)
Local radio	WBAP (Jon Miller, Bill Merrill)
< Previous season     Next season  >

The 1979 Texas Rangers season involved the Rangers finishing 3rd in the American League West with a record of 83 wins and 79 losses.

Offseason

• October 3, 1978: Len Barker and Bobby Bonds were traded by the Rangers to the Cleveland Indians for Larvell Blanks and Jim Kern.^[1]
• October 24, 1978: Sandy Alomar was released by the Rangers.^[2]
• October 25, 1978: Mike Hargrove, Kurt Bevacqua, and Bill Fahey were traded by the Rangers to the San Diego Padres for Oscar Gamble, Dave Roberts and $300,000.^[3]
• November 10, 1978: Dave Righetti, Juan Beníquez, Mike Griffin, Paul Mirabella, and Greg Jemison (minors) were traded by the Rangers to the New York Yankees for Domingo Ramos, Mike Heath, Sparky Lyle, Larry McCall, Dave Rajsich, and cash.^[4]
• December 8, 1978: Jim Mason was traded by the Rangers to the Montreal Expos for Mike Hart.^[5]

Regular season

• June 24, 1979: Rickey Henderson made his major league debut for the Oakland Athletics in a game against the Rangers. Henderson had 4 at bats with 2 hits, and 1 stolen base.^[6]

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
California Angels	88	74	0.543	—	49–32	39–42
Kansas City Royals	85	77	0.525	3	46–35	39–42
Texas Rangers	83	79	0.512	5	44–37	39–42
Minnesota Twins	82	80	0.506	6	39–42	43–38
Chicago White Sox	73	87	0.456	14	33–46	40–41
Seattle Mariners	67	95	0.414	21	36–45	31–50
Oakland Athletics	54	108	0.333	34	31–50	23–58

Record vs. opponents

1979 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	8–5	9–3	8–3	8–5	7–6	6–6	8–5	8–4	5–6	8–4	10–2	6–6	11–2
Boston	5–8	—	5–7	5–6	6–7	8–5	8–4	8–4	9–3	5–8	9–3	8–4	6–6	9–4
California	3–9	7–5	—	9–4	6–6	4–8	7–6	7–5	9–4	7–5	10–3	7–6	5–8	7–5
Chicago	3–8	6–5	4–9	—	6–6	3–9	5–8	5–7	5–8	4–8	9–4	5–8	11–2	7–5
Cleveland	5–8	7–6	6–6	6–6	—	6–6	6–6	4–9	8–4	5–8	8–4	7–5	5–7	8–5
Detroit	6–7	5–8	8–4	9–3	6–6	—	5–7	6–7	4–8	7–6	7–5	7–5	6–6	9–4
Kansas City	6–6	4–8	6–7	8–5	6–6	7–5	—	5–7	7–6	5–7	9–4	7–6	6–7	9–3
Milwaukee	5–8	4–8	5–7	7–5	9–4	7–6	7–5	—	8–4	9–4	6–6	9–3	9–3	10–3
Minnesota	4–8	3–9	4–9	8–5	4–8	8–4	6–7	4–8	—	7–5	9–4	10–3	4–9	11–1
New York	6–5	8–5	5–7	8–4	8–5	6–7	7–5	4–9	5–7	—	9–3	6–6	8–4	9–4
Oakland	4–8	3–9	3–10	4–9	4–8	5–7	4–9	6–6	4–9	3–9	—	8–5	2–11	4–8
Seattle	2–10	4–8	6–7	8–5	5–7	5–7	6–7	3–9	3–10	6–6	5–8	—	6–7	8–4
Texas	6–6	6–6	8–5	2–11	7–5	6–6	7–6	3–9	9–4	4–8	11–2	7–6	—	7–5
Toronto	2–11	4–9	5–7	5–7	5–8	4–9	3–9	3–10	1–11	4–9	8–4	4–8	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• May 4, 1979: Bert Campaneris was traded by the Rangers to the California Angels for Dave Chalk.^[7]
• June 15, 1979: Dock Ellis was traded by the Rangers to the New York Mets for Bob Myrick and Mike Bruhert.^[8]
• June 15, 1979: Eric Soderholm was traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Texas Rangers for Ed Farmer and Gary Holle.^[9]
• August 1, 1979: Oscar Gamble, Amos Lewis (minors) and players to be named later were traded by the Rangers to the New York Yankees for Mickey Rivers and players to be named later. The Rangers completed the deal by sending Ray Fontenot and Gene Nelson to the Yankees on October 8. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Bob Polinsky (minors), Neal Mersch (minors), and Mark Softy (minors) to the Rangers on October 8.^[3]

Roster

1979 Texas Rangers
Roster
Pitchers 33 Doyle Alexander 23 Brian Allard 17,20 Bob Babcock 11 Steve Comer 44 Danny Darwin 17 Dock Ellis 30 Ed Farmer 27 Jerry Don Gleaton 31 Fergie Jenkins 38 John Henry Johnson 34 Jim Kern 28 Sparky Lyle 32 Jon Matlack 29 Larry McCall 42 Doc Medich 26 Dave Rajsich		Catchers 30 Greg Mahlberg 14 Dave Roberts 10 Jim Sundberg Infielders 25 Buddy Bell  3 Larvell Blanks 19 Bert Campaneris 12 Dave Chalk 24 Gary Holle 35 Mike Jorgensen 24 Willie Montañez  4 Nelson Norman 18 Pat Putnam 12 Eric Soderholm  1 Bump Wills		Outfielders  6 Johnny Grubb  0 Al Oliver 17 Mickey Rivers  5 Billy Sample 15 La Rue Washington 22 Richie Zisk Other batters  9 John Ellis  7 Oscar Gamble 23 Gary Gray		Manager 45 Pat Corrales Coaches 49 Jackie Brown 47 Fred Koenig 48 Frank Lucchesi  8 Connie Ryan

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
SS	Norman, NelsonNelson Norman	147	343	76	.222	0	21
LF	Sample, BillyBilly Sample	128	325	95	.292	5	35

Other batters

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
Gamble, OscarOscar Gamble	64	161	54	.335	8	32
Blanks, LarvellLarvell Blanks	68	120	24	.200	1	15
Roberts, DaveDave Roberts	44	84	22	.262	3	14
Gray, GaryGary Gray	16	42	10	.238	0	1

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Comer, SteveSteve Comer	36	242.1	17	12	3.68	86
Alexander, DoyleDoyle Alexander	23	113.1	5	7	4.45	50

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Allard, BrianBrian Allard	7	33.1	1	3	4.32	14

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Kern, JimJim Kern	71	13	5	29	1.57	136
Babcock, BobBob Babcock	4	0	0	0	10.12	6

Awards and honors

• Jim Kern, Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award
• Buddy Bell, 3B, Gold Glove
• Jim Sundberg, C, Gold Glove

All-Stars

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Tucson Toros	Pacific Coast League	Rich Donnelly
AA	Tulsa Drillers	Texas League	Jimmie Schaffer
A	Asheville Tourists	Western Carolinas League	Wayne Terwilliger
Rookie	GCL Rangers	Gulf Coast League	Andy Hancock

Notes

1. Larvell Blanks page at Baseball-Reference
2. Sandy Alomar page at Baseball Reference
3. Oscar Gamble page at Baseball Reference
4. Dave Righetti page at Baseball Reference
5. Jim Mason page at Baseball Reference
6. http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/henderi01.shtml
7. Bert Campaneris page at Baseball Reference
8. Dock Ellis page at Baseball Reference
9. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/soderer01.shtml

References

• 1979 Texas Rangers team page at Baseball Reference
• 1979 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.