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

The Rangers are scoring a lot of runs so far in 2023, but where does it stack up to the most prolific offenses in club history.

ByWest Jones|
Texas Rangers v Baltimore Orioles
Texas Rangers v Baltimore Orioles | Focus On Sport/GettyImages
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#1 most runs scored by the Texas Rangers for a season - 945 runs by the 1999 team

The 1999 Rangers team was a special group that had a fantastic season. They went 95-67, which at the time was the most wins in franchise history and has only been matched once since, by the 2016 team, and surpassed once by the 2011 edition of the Rangers who won 96 games.

1999 also marked the second year in a row that a player from Texas won the AL MVP award, this time with it being catcher, Pudge Rodriguez. Pudge had a hitting line of .332/.356/.558, had 29 doubles, one triple, 35 home runs, had a team leading 116 runs scored, drove in 113, had a 125 OPS+, and did all of this while catching 144 games with many coming in the sweltering Texas heat. There is little wonder why Pudge was, and is, such a fan favorite.

Talk about bombers. The 1999 club had plenty of them, as six Rangers players had 20 or more home runs on the season. Rafael Palmeiro was the leader in home runs with 47, followed by Juan Gonzalez with 39, Pudge had 35, Lee Steven and Todd Zeile each blasted 24, and rounding out the group was Rusty Greer with 20.

Mark McLemore finished the year with 105 runs scored, to join Pudge, Greer and his 107 runs, and Gonzalez's 114 runs scored as players to top 100 for the season. A fun fact from this record setting team, is that they actually set the franchise record in runs scored in 160 games. The Rangers only scored three runs in game 161 and were shutout in game 162. Regardless of the fact they had such a great regular season, the Rangers were swept in Anaheim on the last weekend of the season.

This losing streak would only continue, as the Rangers were once again swept by the Yankees in the AL Division Series. And yet again the Rangers would be shut out in games one and three. The lone run of the playoffs for Texas came in game two when Gonzalez hit a solo shot off of Andy Pettitte.

This years Texas Rangers are on pace to finish right at the franchise record of 945 runs. While it would be awesome to set a team record in runs scored this year, there is no doubt that the Rangers and Rangers' fans alike, would much rather get to the playoffs and make a deep run. The club has taken a deep breathe and is ready to make a push over the next two and a half months. Hold on, and let's see where this 2023 team ends up in the rankings when this thing is finished.

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