Texas Rangers: Celebrating 50 years of baseball in 2022

Celebrating 50 years of Texas Rangers baseball

1980’s: Not Much Winning, but some cool stuff happened

The 1980’s Rangers, outside of 1986, were not much to write home about, but they did have some very historical things happen.

1986:

An 87 win season, which finished 2nd in the AL West, and would’ve certainly been a playoff birth in the modern postseason format, saw the likes of several stellar players grace the field in Arlington, and even had four Texas Rangers team Hall of Famers on the Roster in the likes of Jeff Russell, Toby Harrah, Charlie Hough, and Ruben Sierra.

Introduction to Nolan Ryan:

Prior to the 1989 season the Rangers signed 41 year old Nolan Ryan, and while at this point the Hall of Famer and all-time strike out leader was getting up there in age, he still put up some of the best pitching seasons in history, and what he accomplished in 1989 further cemented his legacy as one of the greatest pitchers to ever live. As on August 22, 1989 Ryan recorded his 5,000th strike out by striking out Ricky Henderson. Nolan is a forever fan favorite in the hearts of Texans everywhere.

Who Best Represents This Decade?

Buddy Bell-

While you could argue for Ruben Sierra or Charlie Hough I chose Buddy Bell here. Bell joined the Rangers in 1979, but spent the majority of his career on the Rangers in the 80’s. Bell was a 5 time All-Star, 6 time Gold Glove Winner, and a one time Silver Slugger winner, achieving all of these as a Ranger. Bell created a high standard in regards to manning the hot corner in Arlington, a standard that only Adrian Beltre could top.

Other notable players/people in the era:

Jeff Russell, Ruben Sierra, Charlie Hough, Jim Sundberg