1993 Texas Rangers season

1993 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)	George W. Bush
General manager(s)	Tom Grieve
Manager(s)	Kevin Kennedy
Local television	KTVT (Jim Sundberg, Steve Busby) HSE (Greg Lucas, Norm Hitzges)
Local radio	WBAP (Eric Nadel, Mark Holtz ) KXEB (Luis Mayoral, Mario Díaz Oroszo)
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The Texas Rangers 1993 season involved the Rangers finishing 2nd in the American League West with a record of 86 wins and 76 losses. Before the 1993 season, Nolan Ryan announced his retirement, effective at the end of that season.

Offseason

• December 15, 1992: Tom Henke was signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers.^[1]
• December 19, 1992: Manuel Lee was signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers.^[2]
• December 19, 1992: Doug Dascenzo was signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers.^[3]
• January 13, 1993: Mario Díaz was signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers.^[4]
• February 1, 1993: Billy Ripken was signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers.^[5]
• February 8, 1993: Steve Balboni was signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers.^[6]
• March 22, 1993: Mike Schooler was signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers.^[7]

Regular season

• On May 26, 1993, during a game against the Cleveland Indians, Carlos Martínez hit a fly ball that Canseco lost in the lights as he was crossing the warning track. The ball hit him in the head and bounced over the wall for a home run. The cap Jose was wearing on that play, which This Week in Baseball rated in 1998 as the greatest blooper of the show's first 21 years, is in the Seth Swirsky collection. After the incident, the Harrisburg Heat offered him a soccer contract.^[8]
• May 29, 1993 – José Canseco asked his manager, Kevin Kennedy, to let him pitch the eighth inning of a runaway loss to the Boston Red Sox. While pitching, he injured his arm, underwent Tommy John surgery, and was lost for the remainder of the season, leading him to suffer further indignity and ridicule.
• On August 4, just before the end, Ryan had yet another high profile moment – this time an on-the-mound fight. After Ryan hit Robin Ventura of the Chicago White Sox, Ventura charged the mound in order to fight Ryan, who was 20 years his senior. Ryan secured the 26-year-old Ventura in a headlock with his left arm, while pummelling Ventura's head with his right fist six times before catcher Iván Rodríguez was able to pull Ventura away from Ryan. Ryan stated afterwards it was the same maneuver he used on steers he had to brand on his Texas ranch. Videos of the incident were played that evening throughout the country. While Ventura and White Sox manager Gene Lamont were ejected, Ryan–who had barely moved from his spot on the mound in the fracas–was allowed to remain in the game and pitched hitless ball the rest of the way. Ryan had determined to be more aggressive after coming out on the wrong side of an altercation with Dave Winfield's beating in 1980.^[9]
• September 17, 1993: Greg Myers of the Angels was the final strikeout victim of Nolan Ryan.^[10] It would be Ryan's 5,714th strikeout.
• On September 22, 1993, Nolan Ryan's arm finally gave out. In Seattle, Ryan tore a ligament, ending his career two starts earlier than planned. Briefly attempting to pitch past the injury, Ryan threw one further pitch after tearing his ligament; with his injured arm, his final pitch was measured at 98 miles per hour. Ryan's last start was his worst; he allowed a single, four walks, and a grand slam in the top of the first without recording an out. (Ryan left trailing 5-0, and the fourth walk was completed by a reliever after Ryan's injury, but credited to Ryan.)

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Chicago White Sox	94	68	0.580	—	45–36	49–32
Texas Rangers	86	76	0.531	8	50–31	36–45
Kansas City Royals	84	78	0.519	10	43–38	41–40
Seattle Mariners	82	80	0.506	12	46–35	36–45
California Angels	71	91	0.438	23	44–37	27–54
Minnesota Twins	71	91	0.438	23	36–45	35–46
Oakland Athletics	68	94	0.420	26	38–43	30–51

Record vs. opponents

1993 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	6–7	7–5	4–8	8–5	5–8	7–5	8–5	8–4	6–7	10–2	7–5	4–8	5–8
Boston	7–6	—	7–5	7–5	5–8	6–7	5–7	5–8	7–5	6–7	9–3	7–5	6–6	3–10
California	5–7	5–7	—	7–6	5–7	4–8	6–7	7–5	4–9	6–6	6–7	6–7	6–7	4–8
Chicago	8–4	5–7	6–7	—	9–3	7–5	6–7	9–3	10–3	4–8	7–6	9–4	8–5	6–6
Cleveland	5–8	8–5	7–5	3–9	—	6–7	7–5	8–5	4–8	6–7	8–4	3–9	7–5	4–9
Detroit	8–5	7–6	8–4	5–7	7–6	—	5–7	8–5	6–6	4–9	8–4	7–5	6–6	6–7
Kansas City	5–7	7–5	7–6	7–6	5–7	7–5	—	5–7	7–6	6–6	6–7	7–6	7–6	8–4
Milwaukee	5–8	8–5	5–7	3–9	5–8	5–8	7–5	—	7–5	4–9	7–5	4–8	4–8	5–8
Minnesota	4–8	5–7	9–4	3–10	8–4	6–6	6–7	5–7	—	4–8	8–5	4–9	7–6	2–10
New York	7–6	7–6	6–6	8–4	7–6	9–4	6–6	9–4	8–4	—	6–6	7–5	3–9	5–8
Oakland	2–10	3–9	7–6	6–7	4–8	4–8	7–6	5–7	5–8	6–6	—	9–4	5–8	5–7
Seattle	5–7	5–7	7–6	4–9	9–3	5–7	6–7	8–4	9–4	5–7	4–9	—	8–5	7–5
Texas	8–4	6–6	7–6	5–8	5–7	6–6	6–7	8–4	6–7	9–3	8–5	5–8	—	7–5
Toronto	8–5	10–3	8–4	6–6	9–4	7–6	4–8	8–5	10–2	8–5	7–5	5–7	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• September 11, 1993: Mike Schooler was released by the Texas Rangers.^[7]

Roster

1993 Texas Rangers
Roster
Pitchers 45 Brian Bohanon 51 Jeff Bronkey 41 Kevin Brown 28 Todd Burns 31 Cris Carpenter 24 Steve Dreyer 30 Héctor Fajardo 50 Tom Henke 11 Craig Lefferts 32 Charlie Leibrandt 23 Gene Nelson 31 Robb Nen 28 Darren Oliver 38 Bob Patterson 59 Roger Pavlik 39 Rick Reed 37 Kenny Rogers 34 Nolan Ryan 23 Mike Schooler 27 Matt Whiteside		Catchers 12 Geno Petralli  7 Iván Rodríguez 17,25 John Russell Infielders  6 Mario Díaz 22,23 Benji Gil  9 Jeff Huson  2 Manuel Lee 25 Rafael Palmeiro 16 Dean Palmer  3 Billy Ripken 10 Jon Shave 20 Doug Strange		Outfielders 33 Jose Canseco 29 Doug Dascenzo 13 Butch Davis 12 Rob Ducey 19 Juan González 18 Donald Harris 15 David Hulse  4 Chris James 17 Dan Peltier  5 Gary Redus Other batters 36 Steve Balboni 14 Julio Franco		Manager 44 Kevin Kennedy Coaches 43 Mickey Hatcher 47 Perry Hill 42 Jackie Moore 26 Dave Oliver 48 Claude Osteen 46 Willie Upshaw

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
C	Iván Rodríguez	137	473	56	129
1B	Rafael Palmeiro	160	597	124	176
2B	Doug Strange	145	484	58	124
3B	Dean Palmer	148	519	88	127
SS	Manuel Lee	73	205	31	45
LF	Juan Gonzalez	140	536	105	166
CF	David Hulse	114	407	71	118
RF	Jose Canseco	60	231	30	59
DH	Julio Franco	144	532	85	154

^[11]

Other batters

Player	G	AB	R	H	Avg.	HR	RBI	SB
Gary Redus	77	222	28	64	.288	6	31	4

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Kevin Brown	34	233	15	12	3.59	142

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Tom Henke
Jose Canseco	1	1	0	0	0	27.00	0

Awards and honors

• Juan González, A.L. Home Run Champ
• Juan González, Silver Slugger Award
• Iván Rodríguez, C, Gold Glove

All-Star Game

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Oklahoma City 89ers	American Association	Bobby Jones
AA	Tulsa Drillers	Texas League	Stan Cliburn
A	Charlotte Rangers	Florida State League	Tommy Thompson
A	Charleston Rainbows	South Atlantic League	Walt Williams
A-Short Season	Erie Sailors	New York–Penn League	Doug Sisson
Rookie	GCL Rangers	Gulf Coast League	Chino Cadahia

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL Rangers

Notes

1. Tom Henke Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
2. Manuel Lee Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
3. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dascedo01.shtml
4. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/diazma01.shtml
5. Billy Ripken Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
6. Steve Balboni Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
7. Mike Schooler Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
8. New York Times article
9. Freeman, Denne H. "Raging Ryan strikes Ventura." Austin American-Statesman, August 5, 1993. Page C1.
10. The Nolan Ryan Express | The Strikeout King | smackbomb.com/nolanryan
11. http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TEX/1993.shtml

References

• 1993 Texas Rangers at Baseball Reference
• 1993 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.