Top 5 Hitting Seasons in Texas Rangers Franchise History

Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees is having a remarkable season, currently slashing .316/.419/.701 with a 1.120 OPS and a OPS+ of 213, which is astounding. He is also set to soon break the American League home run record of 61 home runs, which was previously set way back in 1961 by Roger Maris. There is an argument to be made that he is having the best steroid-free season in history, post-integration. As incredible as that is, us Texas Rangers fans are having to begrudgingly watch a Yankee complete this miraculous task.

However, the Rangers have also had players post some pretty incredible offensive seasons of their own. Here is the top five Texas Rangers hitting seasons of all-time.

Some ground rules first.

The player’s season would have to have been with the Texas Rangers, not the Washington Senators, and the rankings will be decided on the stat OPS+. This is because OPS+ takes players’ on-base plus slugging percentage and normalizes the number throughout the league, taking into account any external factors, like the ballpark or the league a player plays in.

By doing so, it creates a league average number of 100, meaning if that’s your OPS+ then you’re an average player, and if your OPS+ is 150 it would mean your performance is 50 percent better than the average.

This goes to show how absolutely insane of a season Judge is currently having, and will show how effective the players on this list actually were. Some of these will surprise you.

The five best hitting seasons in Texas Rangers history

5. 1999 Rafael Palmeiro: 160 OPS+

Stats: 158 Games, 183 Hits, 47 Home Runs, 148 RBIs, .324 BA, .420 OBP, .630 SLG, 1.050 OPS,  160 OPS+

One would think that a season like this would have a higher OPS+, however, the Ballpark in Arlington at the time was a massive hitters park. While the stats are phenomenal, the park factors come into play here, placing this season lower on the list than one would think. However, that still places him as the 5th best OPS+ season in Rangers history.

Palmeiro would be an All-Star and be awarded a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger award this season, while finishing 5th in MVP voting, behind his teammate who won the award that year Ivan Rodriguez. Certainly a memorable season.