The Texas Rangers became an organization in 1972. Since then, the club has not won a World Series, but they made it to the Fall Classic in back-to-back years in 2010 and 2011. Here is an all-time starting lineup for the Texas Rangers.
1. Rusty Greer, Left Field (1994-2002)
Greer spent his whole nine-year career with the Rangers. He played in 1,027 career regular season games, including at least 105 games each year from 1995-2000. Greer had a career slash line of .305/.387/.478. He hit 119 homers, including a single-season best 26 in 1997. Greer also had at least 100 RBIs in three seasons in his big league career.
2. Adrian Beltre, Third Base (2011-2018)
Uniform Number 29 Retired by the Rangers in 2019
Beltre played for four teams in his MLB career, and the Rangers were his last. He debuted with the club in 2011, and played through the 2018 season. In 2012, Beltre finished in third for AL MVP when he slashed .321/.359/.561 in 156 games played. Beltre played in the 2011 World Series in his first year with Texas. He had an .889 OPS in the seven game series that they lost to the Cardinals.
3. Rafael Palmeiro, First Base (1989-1993, 1999-2003)
Palmiero leads the Rangers in multiple offensive categories, including offensive WAR (41.1), base on balls (805) and runs created (1,172). He is also second in some categories, such as home runs (321), RBIs (1,039) and runs scored (958). He had a single-season best 1.050 OPS in 1999 when he had 148 RBIs and 47 homers.
4. Josh Hamilton, Center Field (2008-2012, 2015)
Hamilton was on the Rangers for parts of six seasons. In that time, he made five All-Star games and won three Silver Sluggers along with an MVP. He won the MVP in 2010. That year, Hamilton slashed .359/.411/.633 with 75 extra-base hits, 100 RBIs and 95 runs scored. Hamilton was also the ALCS MVP that same year in 2010. He hit four homers with seven RBIs in that series.
5. Juan Gonzalez, Right Field (1989-1999, 2002-2003)
Gonzalez debuted with the Rangers in 1989 at just 19-years-old. He stayed with the team through 1999 and then played a few more seasons there in the early 2000s. After a few seasons with an OPS of at least .800, Gonzalez had a 1.000 OPS in 1993. He hit 46 long balls and 33 doubles that year. In his 13 seasons with Texas, he hit 372 home runs, 320 two-baggers and and 1,180 RBIs.
6. Ivan Rodriguez, Catcher (1991-2002, 2009)
Hall of Fame Inductee in 2017
Uniform Number 7 Retired by the Rangers in 2012
Like Gonzalez, Rodriguez spent parts of 13 seasons with the Rangers. “Pudge” had an impressive streak of making an All-Star game and winning a Gold Glove for 10 seasons in-a-row from 1992-2001. He also won an MVP and six Silver Slugger awards in that span. In his MVP season in 1999, Rodriguez had a career high in homers (35), RBIs (113) and hits (199).
7. Ian Kinsler, Second Base (2006-2013)
Kinsler debuted with the Rangers in 2006 and played with the club through 2013. He played in at least 120 regular season games in every season he was with the Rangers, except for 2010 when he played in 103 games. He made three All-Star games in his time there. His first All-Star game was in 2008 when he had a career high OPS of .892. The second basemen had 63 extra-base hits that year, including 41 doubles.
8. Larry Parrish, Designated Hitter (1982-1988)
Parrish was with the Rangers for seven seasons. In that time, he slashed.264/.323/.454 with 149 home runs, 147 doubles and 522 RBIs. In 1984, Parrish had a career high in doubles (42), RBIs (101) and hits (175). One of the two All-Star games Parrish made came when he was on the Rangers in 1987.
9. Michael Young, Shortstop (2000-2012)
Uniform Number 10 Retired by the Rangers in 2019
Of course Alex Rodriguez is a candidate for the shortstop stop, but Michael Young gets the spot for being with the Rangers for over 1,300 more games played. Young made seven All-Star games in his career with six of them coming consecutively from 2004-2009. He had a solid season in 2005 when he slashed .331/.385/.513. He hit a career high 24 homers that year as part of the 185 he hit in his MLB career.
Starting Pitcher- Nolan Ryan (1989-1993)
Hall of Fame Inductee in 1999
Uniform Number 34 Retired by the Rangers in 1996
Ryan didn’t throw his first pitch with the Rangers until he was 42-years-old. He closed out his career there, pitching five seasons. The Hall of Famer pitched 840 innings with a 3.43 ERA in his time there. In Ryan’s first year with Texas, he posted a 3.20 ERA and finished fifth in the AL Cy Young voting. He also had 301 strikeouts that year in 1989, which was his first time reaching over 300 strikeouts in a single-season since 1977.
Relief Pitcher- Neftali Feliz (2009-2015)
The seven seasons Feliz spent with the Rangers are easily some of his best seasons on the mound. The 2010 Rookie of the Year had a 2.69 ERA in 261 1/3 innings pitched with the club. The right-hander also performed in the Postseason with Texas. The two years he pitched in the playoffs, the team made it to the World Series both times. Feliz had a 2.70 ERA in the World Series across 6 2/3 innings pitched.
Feature Image Courtesy of AXS.
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