History of the Texas Rangers
The Texas Rangers began in 1961 as a replacement for the Washington Senators team that moved to Minnesota and became the Twins in 1960. The new American League expansion team took the name of the team it replaced even though it was a completely new team. They struggled for many years, not seeing postseason play until 1996. They had their best regular season in 2011, when they had 96 wins and 66 losses. They won their first World Series in 2023.
1961-1969
The new Senators played poorly in their first six years, losing far more games than they won. They lost 100 or more games each year from 1961 through 1964. In 1967, Bob Short purchased the Senators and he hired Hall of Famer Ted Williams to manage the team in 1969. Williams led the Senators to their first winning season with 86 wins and 76 losses. However, the good fortunes did not last.
The Senators played their first home games in 1961 in Griffith Stadium. They moved the games to RFK Stadium the following year. In their first year, they had just 61 wins to 100 losses. Mickey Vernon was their first manager, followed in 1963 by Gil Hodges. Jim Lemon managed the team in 1968.
1970-1979
In 1971, for financial reasons, Short moved the failing Washington Senators to Arlington, Texas and the Texas Rangers were born. They moved to the AL West division in 1972, and began playing home games at Arlington Stadium.
Ted Williams resigned as manager at the end of the 1972 season and he was replaced by Whitey Herzog. However, Herzog did not last for even one full season and he was replaced in the latter part of the 1973 season by Billy Martin. Neither Williams nor Herzog led the team to winning seasons.
The changes in location and manager seemed to have a positive effect on the team and the Rangers finished the 1974 season in second place in the American League West division with an 84-76 record. That season brought several honors to Rangers' players and to Billy Martin, who was named the American League Manager of the Year. The 1974 Rangers included American League Rookie of the Year Mike Hargrove, American League MVP Jeff Burroughs and Comeback Player of the Year Ferguson Jenkins.
Despite Martin's success in 1974, he was fired during the 1975 season when the Rangers were losing. Frank Lucchesi became the new manager. By 1977, the Rangers were playing well again and their moderate success continued for a few years but they could not advance to first place in the AL West division.
Lucchesi was replaced as manager by Billy Hunter in 1977, and the Rangers had a winning season with 94 wins and 68 losses. However, even with that good record, they didn't get to the postseason, and the next year, Hunter was replaced by Pat Corrales. The Rangers continued to have winning seasons in 1978 and 1979, under the leadership of Corrales.
1980-1989
The Rangers struggled in the first half of the 1980s, having only losing seasons from 1980 through 1985. They went through five managers in those six years. Corrales was replaced by Don Zimmer in 1981, who was followed by Darrell Johnson in 1982, and Doug Rader in 1983. Rader was replaced by Bobby Valentine in 1985. Valentine led the Rangers to 87 wins and 75 losses in 1986, but that season was followed by two more losing ones.
In 1989, the Texas Rangers had a new partial owner, perhaps the most famous owner the team would ever have, former U.S. President George W. Bush. Under Bush and his group, the Rangers got a new stadium and a revitalized team. Valentine again led the team to a winning season in 1989.
1990-1999
The Rangers began to improve and they had winning seasons in 1990 and 1991 under Valentine's leadership. He was replaced by Toby Harrah in 1992, and they had a losing season that year. However, the Rangers had hopes for a better future with ace pitcher Nolan Ryan and catcher Ivan Rodriguez on their roster. Both helped the team to a winning season in 1993, but Ryan left the Rangers after that season.
In 1994, the Rangers' home games were moved to Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas. That year, they were leading the AL West division prior to the strike that ended the season. Two years later, they finally won an AL West division title, the first of three that they won in the late 1990s. Manager Johnny Oates, who won the AL Manager of the Year award in 1996, led the team to victories again in 1998 and 1999.
The Rangers finished the 1996 season with 90 wins and 72 losses. The next year, Oates led them to 88 wins and 74 losses, and in 1999, they had 95 wins and 67 losses. All three years, they faced the New York Yankees in the AL Division series and they lost all three series.
2000-2009
The start of the new century brought Alex Rodriguez to the Rangers with a huge 10-year, $252 million contract. Unfortunately, the bat of Rodriguez was not enough to help the Rangers and they once again went into decline and finished in last place in the AL West division in 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003. Rodriguez was traded to the New York Yankees after the 2003 season. Oates was fired as manager in 2001, and replaced by Jerry Narron. Buck Showalter took over the position in 2003.
The 2004 season turned out to be a good one for the Rangers and they finshed in third place in the AL West division, just three games behind the division leaders, under the leadership of AL Manager of the Year Showalter. Although they had lost Rodriguez, they had other strong bats, including that of Mark Teixeira, Alfonso Soriano, and Michael Young.
The next few seasons saw a decline in the success of the Rangers. Within a few years, they had a new manager, Ron Washington, and new players. Midway through the 2007 season, they traded Teixeira to the Atlanta Braves for young prospects, including shortstop Elvis Andrus, who joined the roster in 2009.
Under Washington's leadership, the Rangers had another winning season in 2009. That success would continue for several more years.
2010-2019
The Rangers were the dominant team in the AL West division in 2010 and 2011, winning the division title both seasons. In 2011, they added Adrian Beltre to the roster, and a year later, they added top Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish.
The Rangers finished the 2011 season with 96 wins and 66 losses, and for the second consecutive year, they won the AL West division title. They defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS in both 2010 and 2011. They won the ALCS also both years, first against the Yankees in 2010, and against the Detroit Tigers in 2011. They lost the World Series in 2010 to the San Francisco Giants and in 2011 to the St. Louis Cardinals.
In 2012, the Rangers had 93 wins and 69 losses and a second place finish in the AL West division. They won a Wild Card spot but they lost the Wild Card game to their former manager, Buck Showalter, and the Baltimore Orioles. Although the Rangers had 91 wins in 2013, they didn't get to the postseason.
After a losing season and fifth place finish in the AL West division in 2014, Ron Washington was replaced as manager by Jeff Banister. In his first season, Banister turned the team around, and they finished the 2015 season in first place in the AL West division with 88 wins and 74 losses. They lost the ALDS to the Toronto Blue Jays. Banister was named the AL Manager of the Year in 2015.
The 2016 season was a repeat of the previous season, with the Rangers again winning the AL West division title, this time with 95 wins and 67 losses. They once more faced the Blue Jays in the ALDS and lost the series in three straight games.
While Texas' other team, the Houston Astros, rose in the AL West standings, the Rangers went into a downhill slide. In 2017, they were in third place in the division with 78 wins and 84 losses. The 2018 season was worse, with 67 wins to 95 losses and a last place finish in the division. Banister was fired in September of 2018, and he was replaced with interim manager Don Wakamatsu. Chris Woodward was hired on November 4, 2018 to manage the Rangers in 2019.
Manager Chris Woodward led the Rangers to a third place finish in the AL West division in 2019. They had 78 wins and 84 losses.
2020-2025
In the shortened 2020 season, the Rangers finished in last place in the AL West division. They had 22 wins to 38 losses. The following season was even worse. The team finished in last place again in the division, with 60 wins and 102 losses. The loss number was the third most in the Rangers' history. They had 105 losses in 1973 and 106 losses in 1963.
After leading the Rangers to 51 wins and 63 losses in 2022, Chris Woodward was replaced as manager. The new manager, Tony Beasley, wasn't any better, leading the team to 17 wins and 31 losses. They finished the season in fourth place in the AL West division with 68 wins and 94 losses.
The Rangers had another new manager in 2023. Bruce Bochy did what the previous managers couldn't do, he led the team to the playoffs and a World Series win. They finished the regular season in second place in the AL West division with 90 wins and 72 losses. They won the ALWC series against the Rays in two games, the ALDS over the Orioles in three straight games, and the ALCS over the Astros in seven games. In the World Series, they defeated the Diamondbacks four games to one.
Top players for the Rangers in 2023 were Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia, and Marcus Semien. Seager won the World Series MVP award and he led the team in batting average during the regular season with .327. Adolis Garcia won the ALCS MVP award and he led the team in home runs during the regular season wtih 39. Semien led the team in hits with 185.
In 2024, the Rangers finished in third place in the AL West division. They had 78 wins and 84 losses.
The Rangers had another disappointing season in 2025, finishing in third place in the AL West division with 81 wins and 81 losses. At the end of the season they parted ways with Bruce Bochy as manager.
On October 3, 2025, the Rangers hired Skip Schumaker as their new manager for 2026.
Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Texas Rangers
Baseball Reference - Texas Rangers