Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers are an American professional baseball team based in Arlington, Texas. Currently, at the Globe Life Field in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, the Rangers play in Major League Baseball as part of the American League West Division.

Origins

The franchise was established in 1961 as part of the MLB’s expansion awarded to Washington, DC and originally, were known as the Washington Senators. 10 years later, in 1971, the then Senators moved to Arlington and in the following spring, debuted their new nickname: the Texas Rangers.

In Arlington, the Rangers first played in the Arlington Stadium from 1972-1993. This was followed by a move to the Globe Life Park where they played from 1994-2019. Finally, the team relocated to the Globe Life Field in 2019 and currently calls this arena home.

Team Front Office & Management

The Rangers have something of a corporate ownership structure, with the franchise’s official owners being the Rangers Baseball Express, LLC. Bob Simpson and Ray Davis serve as co-chairmen of the company. Chris Woodward serves as Manager and Jon Daniels as General Manager and President of Baseball Operations.

Franchise Record

The Rangers, throughout their League history, have never won the World Series. They, however, have some other championship titles to their name. The franchise won the AL Pennants on two occasions ( in 2010 and 2011), West Division on seven occasions ( in 1996, 1998, 1999, 2010, 2011, 2015, and 2016).

In 2010, the Rangers advanced past the division series for the first time in franchise history, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays. Advancing to the 2010 World Series, the team lost to the San Francisco Giants in five games. In 2011, the Rangers repeated the feat and proceeded to the World Series, only to lose to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. In the same year, the Rangers set MLB records for the best win-loss record for the season (at 96-66) and home attendance (with a total of 2,946,949).

To date, the Rangers’ win/loss record stands at 4,500-4912. This means that the franchise has won 47.8% of all games played since its founding in 1961.

Logo & Team Uniform

The Rangers wear team colors of blue, red, and white. This palette is seen throughout the home and away uniform as well as the three alternate uniforms. The Rangers wear either red hats with their home jersey or blue ones with the away jersey.

Since the franchise’s move to Arlington, its logo has not changed much. Sporting a “T” with an old West style font in a typical white baseball, both the letter and the ball are encapsulated in a ring whose red top half is written “Texas” and the blue bottom half is written “Rangers”. The cap insignia is a “T” with red accents in a blue background.

Team Mascot

Rangers Captain has been the team’s official mascot since 2002. He is a palomino horse that is clad in the team jersey and wears number 72 (a homage to 1972, the year that saw the Rangers move to Arlington). Occasionally, however, he dresses up to match the specific theme that the team is promoting that specific day. Rangers Captain once dressed up like Elvis Presley as part of a gameday themed in his honor.

Franchise Legends & Hall of Famers

The Rangers have had a crop of phenomenal players over the years, some of which have made it into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Players like Harold Baines, Bert Blyleven, Goose Gossage, Whitey Herzog, Ivan Rodrigues have all received the aforementioned honor. The Rangers have also retired numbers 7, 10, 26, 29, 34, and 42 in honor of legends Ivan Rodrigues, Michael Young, Johnny Cates, Adrian Beltre, Nolan Ryan, and Jackie Robinson respectively.

Current Stars

In recent history, the Rangers have fielded legends like Alex Rodrigues and Aaron Young, both of whom are retired. The franchise’s current squad, however, hold its own as a formidable group – even in comparison. Most publications rank outfielder Joey Gallo as the best player on the team currently. The outfielder managed the fourth best OPS in baseball in 2019 with 1.060 (behind only only by Christian Yelich, Cody Bellinger and Mike Trout). Alongside Gallo, you have pitcher Corey Kluber who, with his aforementioned teammate, made it into the 2019 ESPN list for Best 100 Baseball Players.