1986 Texas Rangers season

1986 Texas Rangers
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1961)
Western Division (since 1972)
Location
Arlington Stadium (since 1972)
Arlington, Texas (since 1972)
Other information
Owner(s)	Eddie Chiles
General manager(s)	Tom Grieve
Manager(s)	Bobby Valentine
Local television	KTVT (Bob Carpenter, Steve Busby) HSE (Bob Carpenter, Norm Hitzges, Merle Harmon)
Local radio	WBAP (Eric Nadel, Mark Holtz )
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The Texas Rangers 1986 season involved the Rangers finishing 2nd in the American League west with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses.

Offseason

• November 9, 1985: Chris Welsh was released by the Rangers.^[1]
• November 25, 1985: Wayne Tolleson and Dave Schmidt were traded by the Rangers to the Chicago White Sox for Ed Correa, Scott Fletcher and a player to be named later. The White Sox completed the trade by sending José Mota to the Rangers on December 11.^[2]
• December 20, 1985: Ellis Valentine was released by the Rangers.^[3]
• December 20, 1985: Dickie Noles was released by the Rangers.^[4]

Regular season

• September 13, 1986: Rubén Sierra became the youngest player in history to hit home runs from both sides of the plate in one game. This was accomplished against the Minnesota Twins.
• Ed Correa set a club record for most wins by a rookie pitcher.
• In his rookie year, Pete Incaviglia tied the club record for most home runs in a season.

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
California Angels	92	70	0.568	—	50–32	42–38
Texas Rangers	87	75	0.537	5	51–30	36–45
Kansas City Royals	76	86	0.469	16	45–36	31–50
Oakland Athletics	76	86	0.469	16	47–36	29–50
Chicago White Sox	72	90	0.444	20	41–40	31–50
Minnesota Twins	71	91	0.438	21	43–38	28–53
Seattle Mariners	67	95	0.414	25	41–41	26–54

Record vs. opponents

1986 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	4–9	6–6	9–3	4–9	1–12	6–6	6–7	8–4	5–8	5–7	6–6	5–7	8–5
Boston	9–4	—	5–7	7–5	10–3	7–6	6–6	6–6	10–2	5–8	7–5	8–4	8–4	7–6
California	6–6	7–5	—	7–6	6–6	7–5	8–5	5–7	7–6	7–5	10–3	8–5	8–5	6–6
Chicago	3–9	5–7	6–7	—	5–7	6–6	7–6	5–7	6–7	6–6	7–6	8–5	2–11	6–6
Cleveland	9–4	3–10	6–6	7–5	—	4–9	8–4	8–5	6–6	5–8	10–2	9–3	6–6	3–10–1
Detroit	12–1	6–7	5–7	6–6	9–4	—	5–7	8–5	7–5	6–7	6–6	6–6	7–5	4–9
Kansas City	6–6	6–6	5–8	6–7	4–8	7–5	—	6–6	6–7	4–8	8–5	5–8	8–5	5–7
Milwaukee	7–6	6–6	7–5	7–5	5–8	5–8	6–6	—	4–8	8–5	5–7	6–6	4–8	7–6
Minnesota	4–8	2–10	6–7	7–6	6–6	5–7	7–6	8–4	—	4–8	6–7	6–7	6–7	4–8
New York	8–5	8–5	5–7	6–6	8–5	7–6	8–4	5–8	8–4	—	5–7	8–4	7–5	7–6
Oakland	7–5	5–7	3–10	6–7	2–10	6–6	5–8	7–5	7–6	7–5	—	10–3	3–10	8–4
Seattle	6–6	4–8	5–8	5–8	3–9	6–6	8–5	6–6	7–6	4–8	3–10	—	4–9	6–6
Texas	7–5	4–8	5–8	11–2	6–6	5–7	5–8	8–4	7–6	5–7	10–3	9–4	—	5–7
Toronto	5–8	6–7	6–6	6–6	10–3–1	9–4	7–5	6–7	8–4	6–7	4–8	6–6	7–5	—

Notable transactions

• June 2, 1986: John Barfield was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 11th round of the 1986 amateur draft. Player signed June 5, 1986.^[5]
• June 2, 1986: Wayne Rosenthal was drafted by the Rangers in the 24th round of the 1986 Major League Baseball draft.^[6]
• September 30, 1986: Randy Kramer was traded by the Rangers to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jeff Zaske.^[7]

Roster

1986 Texas Rangers roster
Roster
Pitchers 43 Kevin Brown 18 Ed Correa 23 José Guzmán 27 Greg Harris 45 Dwayne Henry 49 Charlie Hough 46 Mike Loynd 42 Mickey Mahler 16 Mike Mason 38 Ron Meridith 34 Dale Mohorcic 30 Dave Rozema 40 Jeff Russell 28 Mitch Williams 48 Bobby Witt 24 Ricky Wright		Catchers  7 Orlando Mercado 12 Geno Petralli 17 Darrell Porter  4 Don Slaught Infielders  8 Jerry Browne 22 Steve Buechele  1 Scott Fletcher 11 Toby Harrah 20 Jeff Kunkel  9 Pete O'Brien 15 Larry Parrish  5 Mike Stanley 19 Curtis Wilkerson		Outfielders 51 Bob Brower 5,29 Pete Incaviglia  6 Bob Jones  0 Oddibe McDowell 44 Tom Paciorek  3 Rubén Sierra 32 Gary Ward 26 George Wright		Manager  2 Bobby Valentine Coaches 41 Joe Ferguson 14 Tim Foli 35 Tom House 10 Art Howe 31 Tom Robson

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
1B	Pete O'Brien	156	551	160	.290	23	90
SS	Scott Fletcher	147	530	159	.300	3	50
LF	Gary Ward	105	380	120	.316	5	51
CF	Oddibe McDowell	154	572	152	.266	18	49
RF	Pete Incaviglia	153	540	135	.250	30	88
DH	Larry Parrish	129	464	128	.276	28	94

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Rubén Sierra	113	382	101	.264	16	55
Orlando Mercado	46	102	24	.235	1	7
Bob Jones	13	21	2	.095	0	3

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Charlie Hough	33	230.1	17	10	3.79	146
Ed Correa	32	202	12	14	4.23	189
José Guzmán	29	172	9	15	4.54	87
Bobby Witt	31	158	11	9	5.48	174
Kevin Brown	1	5	1	0	3.60	4

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Mickey Mahler	29	63	0	2	4.14	28

Relief pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Greg A. Harris	73	111	10	8	20	2.83	95
Mitch Williams	80	98	8	6	8	3.58	90

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Oklahoma City 89ers	American Association	Dave Oliver
AA	Tulsa Drillers	Texas League	Bill Stearns
A	Salem Redbirds	Carolina League	Mike Bucci
A	Daytona Beach Admirals	Florida State League	Chino Cadahia
Rookie	GCL Rangers	Gulf Coast League	Rudy Jaramillo

References

1. Chris Welsh at Baseball Reference
2. Wayne Tolleson at Baseball Reference
3. Ellis Valentine page at Baseball Refefence
4. Dickie Noles at Baseball Reference
5. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/barfijo01.shtml
6. Wayne Rosenthal at Baseball Reference
7. Randy Kramer at Baseball Reference

• 1986 Texas Rangers at Baseball Reference
• 1986 Texas Rangers at Baseball Almanac
• 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.