1981 Texas Rangers season

March 2026 November 2013 Texas Rangers 1981 American League West Arlington Stadium Arlington, Texas 57 48 y 2nd Eddie Chiles Eddie Robinson Don Zimmer KXAS-TV(Eric Nadel, Mel Proctor)Vue-Pay(Mark Holtz, Norm Hitzges) WBAP(Eric Nadel, Bill Merrill, Mel Proctor) thumb|right|280px|The Rangers playing against the Oakland Athletics during a 1981 away game at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum. The 1981 Texas Rangers season was the 21st of the Texas Rangers franchise overall, their 10th in Arlington as the Rangers, and the 10th season at Arlington Stadium. The Rangers finished 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. Offseason 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.Willie Horton page at Baseball Reference December 18, 1980: Bob Jones was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.Bob Jones page at Baseball Reference Regular season Season standings Texas Rangers Record vs. opponents TEX Notable transactions April 1, 1981: Willie Horton was released by the Rangers. June 8, 1981: Ron Darling was drafted by the Rangers in the 1st round (9th pick) of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft.Ron Darling page at Baseball Reference Roster 1981 Texas Rangers roster Roster Pitchers 46 Bob Babcock 29 John Butcher 11 Steve Comer 44 Danny Darwin 40 Rick Honeycutt 49 Charlie Hough 31 Ferguson Jenkins 38 John Henry Johnson 34 Jim Kern 35 Bob Lacey 32 Jon Matlack 33 Doc Medich 53 Mark Mercer 24 Dave Schmidt 12 Len Whitehouse Catchers 20 Larry Cox  8 Bob Johnson 10 Jim Sundberg Infielders 25 Buddy Bell  9 John Ellis 14 Mario Mendoza  4 Nelson Norman 18 Pat Putnam 13 Bill Stein  3 Wayne Tolleson 30 Mark Wagner  1 Bump Wills Outfielders 21 Dan Duran  6 Johnny Grubb 27 Bobby Jones 15 Rick Lisi 16 Tom Poquette 17 Mickey Rivers 7,16 Leon Roberts  5 Billy Sample Other batters  0 Al Oliver 20 Don Werner Manager 23 Don Zimmer Coaches 41 Jackie Brown 37 Tommy Helms 22 Darrell Johnson 47 Fred Koenig 42 Wayne Terwilliger 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 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 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 Leon Roberts 72 233 65 .279 4 31 Bill Stein 53 115 38 .330 2 22 Mark Wagner Mark Wagner (shortstop) 50 85 22 .259 1 14 Tom Poquette 30 64 10 .156 0 7 John Ellis 23 58 8 .138 1 7 Bobby Jones Bobby Jones (outfielder) 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 Larry Cox (baseball) 5 13 3 .231 0 1 Nelson Norman 7 13 3 .231 0 2 Don Werner 2 8 2 .250 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 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 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 Charlie Hough 21 82.0 4 1 2.96 69 John Butcher John Butcher (baseball) 5 27.2 1 2 1.63 19 Len Whitehouse 2 3.1 0 1 16.20 2 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 Steve Comer Steve Comer (baseball) 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 Bob Babcock (baseball) 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 Awards and honors Buddy Bell, 3B, Gold Glove 1981 Al Oliver, Silver Slugger Award, 1981 Jim Sundberg, C, Gold Glove, 1981 All-Star Game Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Wichita Aeros American Association Rich Donnelly AA Tulsa Drillers Texas League Tom Burgess A Asheville Tourists South Atlantic League Tom Robson Rookie GCL Rangers Gulf Coast League Andy Hancock Notes 2 References 1981 Texas Rangers team page at Baseball Reference 1981 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 Rang