1979 Texas Rangers season

March 2026 November 2013 Texas Rangers 1979 American League West Arlington Stadium Arlington, Texas 83 79 y 3rd Bradford G. Corbett Eddie Robinson Pat Corrales KXAS-TV(Jon Miller, Frank Glieber, Eric Nadel) WBAP(Jon Miller, Bill Merrill) The 1979 Texas Rangers season was the 19th of the Texas Rangers franchise overall, their 8th in Arlington as the Rangers, and the 8th season at Arlington Stadium. The Rangers finished third 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.Larvell Blanks page at Baseball-Reference Bobby Cuellar and Dave Rivera were sent to Cleveland to complete the August 31, 1978 trade for Johnny Grubb.Johnny Grubb page at Baseball Reference October 24, 1978: Sandy Alomar Sr. was released by the Rangers.Sandy Alomar page at Baseball Reference 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.Oscar Gamble page at Baseball Reference 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.Dave Righetti page at Baseball Reference December 8, 1978: Jim Mason was traded by the Rangers to the Montreal Expos for Mike Hart.Jim Mason page at Baseball Reference 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.https://www.baseball-reference.com/h/henderi01.shtml Rickey Henderson Stats Season standings Texas Rangers Record vs. opponents TEX Notable transactions May 4, 1979: Bert Campaneris was traded by the Rangers to the California Angels for Dave Chalk.Bert Campaneris page at Baseball Reference June 15, 1979: Dock Ellis was traded by the Rangers to the New York Mets for Bob Myrick and Mike Bruhert.Dock Ellis page at Baseball Reference June 15, 1979: Eric Soderholm was traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Texas Rangers for Ed Farmer and Gary Holle.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/soderer01.shtml Eric Soderholm Stats 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. 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 = Indicates team leader 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 Jim Sundberg 150 495 136 .275 5 64 1B Pat Putnam 139 426 118 .277 18 64 2B Bump Wills 146 543 148 .273 5 46 SS Nelson Norman 147 343 76 .222 0 21 3B Buddy Bell 162 670 200 .299 18 101 LF Billy Sample 128 325 95 .292 5 35 CF Al Oliver 136 492 159 .323 12 76 RF Richie Zisk 144 503 132 .262 18 64 DH John Ellis 111 316 90 .285 12 61 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 Johnny Grubb 102 289 79 .273 10 37 Mickey Rivers 58 247 74 .300 6 25 Oscar Gamble 64 161 54 .335 8 32 Mike Jorgensen 90 157 35 .223 6 16 Eric Soderholm 63 147 40 .272 4 19 Willie Montañez 38 144 46 .319 8 24 Larvell Blanks 68 120 24 .200 1 15 Dave Roberts Dave Roberts (third baseman) 44 84 22 .262 3 14 Gary Gray Gary Gray (baseball) 16 42 10 .238 0 1 LaRue Washington 25 18 5 .278 0 2 Greg Mahlberg 7 17 2 .118 1 1 Bert Campaneris 8 9 1 .111 0 0 Dave Chalk 9 8 2 .250 0 0 Gary Holle 5 6 1 .167 0 0 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 Ferguson Jenkins 37 259.0 16 14 4.07 164 Steve Comer Steve Comer (baseball) 36 242.1 17 12 3.68 86 Doc Medich 29 149.0 10 7 4.17 58 Doyle Alexander 23 113.1 5 7 4.45 50 Jon Matlack 13 85.0 5 4 4.13 35 John Henry Johnson 17 82.1 2 6 4.92 46 Dock Ellis 10 46.2 1 5 5.98 10 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 Danny Darwin 20 78.0 4 4 4.04 58 Brian Allard 7 33.1 1 3 4.32 14 Ed Farmer 11 33.0 2 0 4.36 25 Jerry Don Gleaton 5 9.2 0 1 6.52 2 Larry McCall 2 8.1 1 0 2.16 3 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 Jim Kern 71 13 5 29 1.57 136 Sparky Lyle 67 5 8 13 3.13 48 Dave Rajsich 27 1 3 0 3.52 32 Bob Babcock Bob Babcock (baseball) 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 Minor League Baseball 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 2 References 1979 Texas Rangers team page at Baseball Reference 1979 Texas Rangers team page at www.baseball-almanac.com Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 3rd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 2007 978-1-932391-17-6 Category:Texas Rangers seasons Texas Rangers season Texas Rangers