1977 Texas Rangers season

The 1977 Texas Rangers season involved the Rangers finishing second in the American League West with a record of 94 wins and 68 losses. The 1977 Rangers were notable for having an American League record four managers in the same season. Frank Lucchesi began the season as the manager but team's board of directors decide to make a change after the Rangers entered June with a .500 record. Former Major League player and manager Eddie Stanky was introduced as the new manager on June 17 but changed his mind after one game and returned to his home in Alabama. Bench coach Connie Ryan served as the interim manager for six games before Billy Hunter was hired and led the team to a 60-33 record for the rest of the year.[1]

1977 Texas Rangers
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
OwnersBradford G. Corbett
General managersDan O'Brien Sr. / Eddie Robinson
ManagersFrank Lucchesi, Eddie Stanky, Connie Ryan, Billy Hunter
Local televisionKXAS-TV
(Dick Risenhoover, Tom Vandergriff)
Local radioWBAP
(Dick Risenhoover, Bill Merrill)
< Previous season     Next season >

Offseason

On December 10, 1976, shortstop Danny Thompson died of leukemia. Thompson had played in 64 games for the Rangers in 1976.

Notable transactions

Regular season

For one June day in 1977, Eddie Stanky was drawn back into the major leagues as manager of the Rangers.[10] After that day, he abruptly quit and left for Alabama, saying only that he was homesick.[11]

Season standings
AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Kansas City Royals 10260 0.630 — 55–26 47–34
Texas Rangers 9468 0.580 8 44–37 50–31
Chicago White Sox 9072 0.556 12 48–33 42–39
Minnesota Twins 8477 0.522 17½ 48–32 36–45
California Angels 7488 0.457 28 39–42 35–46
Seattle Mariners 6498 0.395 38 29–52 35–46
Oakland Athletics 6398 0.391 38½ 35–46 28–52

Record vs. opponents
1977 American League record

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —6–85–65–511–412–34–711–46–48–78–27–34–610–5
Boston 8–6—7–33–78–79–65–59–64–68–78–310–16–412–3
California 6–53–7—8–76–44–66–95–57–84–75–109–65–106–4
Chicago 5–57–37–8—6–44–68–76–510–53–710–510–56–98–3
Cleveland 4–117–84–64–6—8–73–711–42–93–127–37–32–99–5
Detroit 3–126–96–46–47–8—3–810–55–56–95–55–62–810–5
Kansas City 7–45–59–67–87–38–3—8–210–55–59–611–48–78–2
Milwaukee 4–116–95–55–64–115–102–8—3–88–75–57–35–58–7
Minnesota 4–66–48–75–109–25–55–108–3—2–88–67–88–79–1
New York 7–87–87–47–312–39–65–57–88–2—9–26–47–39–6
Oakland 2–83–810–55–103–75–56–95–56–82–9—7–82–137–3
Seattle 3–71–106–95–103–76–54–113–78–74–68–7—9–64–6
Texas 6–44–610–59–69–28–27–85–57–83–713–26–9—7–4
Toronto 5–103–124–63–85–95–102–87–81–96–93–76–44–7—

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

Roster
1977 Texas Rangers
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats
= Indicates team leader

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
CJim Sundberg149453132.291665
1BMike Hargrove153525160.3051869
2BBump Wills152541155.287962
3BToby Harrah159539142.2632787
SSBert Campaneris150552140.254546
LFClaudell Washington129521148.2841268
CFJuan Beníquez123424114.2691050
RFDave May12034082.241742
DHWillie Horton139519150.2891575

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
Ken Henderson7524463.258523
Tom Grieve7923653.225730
John Ellis4911928.235415
Kurt Bevacqua399632.333528
Sandy Alomar Sr.698322.265111
Bill Fahey376815.22105
Keith Smith236716.23926
Jim Mason365512.21817
Ed Kirkpatrick20489.18803
Lew Beasley25327.21903
Jim Fregosi13287.25015
Pat Putnam11268.30803
Roy Howell7170.00000
Eddie Miller1762.33301
Gary Gray120.00000

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
Gaylord Perry34238.015123.37177
Doyle Alexander34237.017113.6582
Bert Blyleven30234.214122.72182
Dock Ellis23167.11062.9090
Tommy Boggs627.1035.9315

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
Nelson Briles28108.1644.2457
Roger Moret1872.1333.7339
Len Barker1547.1412.6651
Mike Marshall1235.2224.0418
Jim Umbarger313.0115.545
John Poloni27.0106.435

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
Adrian Devine56116153.5867
Paul Lindblad424544.2046
Darold Knowles425243.2214
Steve Hargan61008.7610
Mike Wallace50007.562
Bobby Cuellar40001.353
Mike Bacsik200019.291

Awards and honors

All-Stars

All-Star Game

Other team leaders
  • Stolen bases – Bump Wills (28)
  • Walks – Toby Harrah (109)

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Tucson Toros Pacific Coast League Rich Donnelly
AA Tulsa Drillers Texas League Marty Martínez
A Asheville Tourists Western Carolinas League Wayne Terwilliger
Rookie GCL Rangers Gulf Coast League Joe Klein

Notes
  1. "'Won' and done: Remembering Eddie Stanky". MLB.com. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  2. Bert Campaneris page at Baseball Reference
  3. Doyle Alexander page at Baseball Reference
  4. Carl Morton page at Baseball Reference
  5. Dave Criscione page at Baseball Reference
  6. Dave Righetti page at Baseball Reference
  7. Fritz Peterson page at Baseball Reference
  8. Darold Knowles page at Baseball Reference
  9. Alomar traded to Rangers
  10. Eddie Stanky named new Ranger manager
  11. Durso, Joseph (June 7, 1999). "Eddie Stanky, 83, Spark Plug On 3 Pennant-Winning Teams". The New York Times. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
  12. Willie Horton page at Baseball Reference
  13. Mike Marshall page at Baseball Reference
  14. Jim Mason page at Baseball Reference
  15. Dave Moates page at Baseball Reference
  16. John Butcher page at Baseball Reference
  17. Dock Ellis page at Baseball Reference
  18. Jim Fregosi page at Baseball Reference

References
  • 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.
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