1996 Texas Rangers season

1996 Texas Rangers
1996 AL West Champions
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1961)
Western Division (since 1972)
Location
The Ballpark in Arlington (since 1994)
Arlington, Texas (since 1972)
Other information
Owner(s)	George W. Bush
General manager(s)	Doug Melvin
Manager(s)	Johnny Oates
Local television	KXTX-TV KXAS-TV (Mark Holtz, Tom Grieve)
Local radio	KRLD (Eric Nadel, Brad Sham ) KXEB (Luis Mayoral, Josue Perez)
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The Texas Rangers 1996 season involved the Rangers finishing 1st in the American League west with a record of 90 wins and 72 losses. It would be the first post-season appearance for the Rangers in franchise history.

The Rangers would win their first post-season game at Yankee Stadium against the New York Yankees, but would lose the last three games to lose the division series. The one post-season win would be the club's only post-season success until 2010.

Offseason

• October 8, 1995: Scott Podsednik was sent by the Rangers to the Florida Marlins to complete an earlier deal (the Rangers sent players to be named later to the Marlins for Bobby Witt, and sent Wilson Heredia to the Marlins on August 11) and made on August 8, 1995.^[1]
• December 21, 1995: Ken Hill was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.^[2]
• December 22, 1995: Mike Henneman was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.^[3]
• January 16, 1996: Kevin Elster was signed as a Free Agent with the Texas Rangers.^[4]

Regular season

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Texas Rangers	90	72	0.556	—	50–31	40–41
Seattle Mariners	85	76	0.528	4½	43–38	42–38
Oakland Athletics	78	84	0.481	12	40–41	38–43
California Angels	70	91	0.435	19½	43–38	27–53

Record vs. opponents

1996 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	7–6	6–6	4–8	5–7	11–2	9–3	9–3	7–5	3–10	9–4	7–5	3–10–1	8–5
Boston	6–7	—	8–4	6–6	1–11	12–1	3–9	7–5	6–6	7–6	8–5	7–6	6–6	8–5
California	6–6	4–8	—	6–6	4–9	6–6	4–8	7–5	4–8	7–6	6–7	5–8	4–9	7–5
Chicago	8–4	6–6	6–6	—	5–8	10–3	7–6	6–7	6–7	6–7	5–7	5–7	8–4	7–5
Cleveland	7–5	11–1	9–4	8–5	—	12–0	7–6	7–6	10–3	3–9	6–6	8–4	4–8	7–5
Detroit	2–11	1–12	6–6	3–10	0–12	—	6–6	4–8	6–6	5–8	4–8	6–6	4–9	6–7
Kansas City	3–9	9–3	8–4	6–7	6–7	6–6	—	4–9	6–7	4–8	5–7	7–5	6–6	5–8
Milwaukee	3–9	5–7	5–7	7–6	6–7	8–4	9–4	—	9–4	6–6	7–5	4–9	6–7	5–7
Minnesota	5–7	6–6	8–4	7–6	3–10	6–6	7–6	4–9	—	5–7	6–7	6–6	7–5	8–5
New York	10–3	6–7	6–7	7–6	9–3	8–5	8–4	6–6	7–5	—	9–3	3–9	5–7	8–5
Oakland	4–9	5–8	7–6	7–5	6–6	8–4	7–5	5–7	7–6	3–9	—	8–5	7–6	4–8
Seattle	5–7	6–7	8–5	7–5	4–8	6–6	5–7	9–4	6–6	9–3	5–8	—	10–3	5–7
Texas	10–3–1	6–6	9–4	4–8	8–4	9–4	6–6	7–6	5–7	7–5	6–7	3–10	—	10–2
Toronto	5–8	5–8	5–7	5–7	5–7	7–6	8–5	7–5	5–8	5–8	8–4	7–5	2–10	—

Notable transactions

• April 13, 1996: Jack Voigt was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.^[5]
• June 4, 1996: Travis Hafner was drafted by the Rangers in the 31st round of the 1996 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 2, 1997.^[6]
• July 31, 1996: Mark Brandenburg and Kerry Lacy were traded by the Rangers to the Boston Red Sox for Mike Stanton and a player to be named later. The Red Sox completed the deal by sending Dwayne Hosey to the Rangers on November 4.^[7]

Roster

1996 Texas Rangers
Roster
Pitchers 48 José Alberro 51 Mark Brandenburg 33 John Burkett 42 Dennis Cook 46 Kevin Gross 32 Rick Helling 39 Mike Henneman 37 Gil Heredia 44 Ken Hill 28 Darren Oliver 46 Danny Patterson 59 Roger Pavlik 40 Jeff Russell 32 Mike Stanton 52 Ed Vosberg 27 Matt Whiteside 36 Bobby Witt		Catchers  6 Kevin Brown  7 Iván Rodríguez 10 Dave Valle Infielders 22 Will Clark 18 Kevin Elster 23 Benji Gil 88 Rene Gonzales  3 Mark McLemore 16 Dean Palmer 11 Lee Stevens  1 Kurt Stillwell 15 Mickey Tettleton 24 Craig Worthington		Outfielders  2 Damon Buford 30 Rikkert Faneyte 14 Lou Frazier 19 Juan González 29 Rusty Greer  4 Darryl Hamilton 21 Warren Newson 24 Jack Voigt Other batters  9 Luis Ortiz		Manager 26 Johnny Oates Coaches 17 Dick Bosman (pitching) 20 Bucky Dent (bench) 25 Larry Hardy (bullpen)  8 Rudy Jaramillo (hitting) 12 Ed Napoleon (first base)  5 Jerry Narron (third base)

Player stats

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

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Jack Voigt	5	9	1	.111	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Bobby Witt	33	199.2	16	12	5.41	157

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

ALDS

Game 1, October 1

Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Texas	0	0	0	5	0	1	0	0	0	6	8	0
New York	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	10	0
WP: John Burkett (1-0)   LP: David Cone (0-1) Home runs: Tex: Juan González (1), Dean Palmer (1) NYY: None

Game 2, October 2

Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, New York

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	R	H	E
Texas	0	1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	8	1
New York	0	1	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	5	8	0
WP: Brian Boehringer (1-0)   LP: Mike Stanton (0-1) Home runs: Tex: Juan González (2, 3) NYY: Cecil Fielder (1)

Game 3, October 4

The Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington, Texas

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	7	1
Texas	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	6	1
WP: Jeff Nelson (1-0)   LP: Darren Oliver (0-1)   Sv: John Wetteland (1) Home runs: NYY: Bernie Williams (1) Tex: Juan González (4)

Game 4, October 5

The Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington, Texas

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	3	1	0	1	0	1	6	12	1
Texas	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	9	0
WP: David Weathers (1-0)   LP: Roger Pavlik (0-1)   Sv: John Wetteland (2) Home runs: NYY: Bernie Williams (2, 3) Tex: Juan González (5)

Awards and honors

• Kevin Elster, Comeback Player of The Year
• Juan González, AL MVP
• Juan González, Silver Slugger Award
• Johnny Oates, AL Managers of the Year (was co-manager with Joe Torre)
• Iván Rodríguez, C, Gold Glove
• Iván Rodríguez, Silver Slugger Award

All-Star Game

Notes

1. Scott Podsednik at Baseball Reference
2. Ken Hill at Baseball Reference
3. Mike Henneman at Baseball Reference
4. http://www.baseball-reference.com/e/elsteke01.shtml
5. Jack Voigt at Baseball Reference
6. Travis Hafner at Baseball Reference
7. Mike Stanton at Baseball Reference

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Oklahoma City 89ers	American Association	Greg Biagini
AA	Tulsa Drillers	Texas League	Bobby Jones
A	Charlotte Rangers	Florida State League	Butch Wynegar
A	Charleston RiverDogs	South Atlantic League	Gary Allenson
A-Short Season	Hudson Valley Renegades	New York–Penn League	Bump Wills
Rookie	GCL Rangers	Gulf Coast League	Jim Byrd

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Oklahoma City

Hudson Valley affiliation shared with Tampa Bay Devil Rays

References

• 1996 Texas Rangers at Baseball Reference
• 1996 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.