Texas Rangers: Top 5 seasons based on runs scored in franchise history

#2 most runs scored by the Texas Rangers for a season - 940 runs by the 1998 team

After the playoff appearance in 1996, the Rangers fell back to below .500 in 1997, finishing the year at 77-85. Not to be deterred, they stormed back the very next season to go 88-74 to win the AL West and get back to the playoffs.

That 1998 team scored 940 total runs with 110 of them coming from the AL MVP winner, Juan Gonzalez. His 1998 campaign was spectacular as he slashed .318/.366/.630, hit 50 doubles, two triples, 45 home runs, drove in 157 runs while scoring the 110 himself, and had a 149 OPS+.

Rusty Greer and Tom Goodwin both went over the century mark in runs scored with 107 and 102 respectively. Will Clark just missed the milestone as he scored 98 runs. Greer and Clark both joined Gonzalez with over 100 runs batted in in 1998. Greer ended the season with 108 and Clark had 102.

With the offense that the team produced, it allowed the pitching staff to do well without having top stuff. Rick Helling had a record of 20-7 despite having a 4.41 ERA and a 1.327 WHIP. Aaron Sele also got in on some of that action, as he went 19-11 with a 4.23 ERA and a 1.519 WHIP.

Scoring a lot of runs can cure a lot of issues with pitching and defense and this was the heyday of the Rangers trying to out slug opponents every chance they got. The Rangers blasted their way past most teams in 1998, but couldn't do it in the playoffs, as they fell to the Yankees, 0-3 in the AL Division Series. After all of the runs they scored in the regular season, the Rangers could only muster one run in the entire three-game series. They were shutout in both games one and three, and scored their lone run, in game two.

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