# 1985 Texas Rangers season

The Texas Rangers 1985 season was the 14th for the franchise in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, and the 25th overall. The Rangers finished seventh in the American League West with a record of 62 wins and 99 losses, 28½ games behind the eventual AL and World Series Champion Kansas City Royals.

## Offseason

* November 7, 1984: Dave Hostetler was traded by the Rangers to the Montreal Expos for Chris Welsh.
* November 26, 1984: Marv Foley was released by the Rangers.
* January 3, 1985: Rafael Bournigal was drafted by the Rangers in the 11th round of the 1985 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.
* January 18, 1985: Danny Darwin and a player to be named later were traded by the Rangers to the Milwaukee Brewers as part of a 4-team trade. The Kansas City Royals sent Don Slaught to the Rangers. The Brewers sent Jim Sundberg to the Royals. The New York Mets sent Tim Leary to the Brewers. The Royals sent Frank Wills to the Mets. The Rangers completed the deal by sending Bill Nance (minors) to the Brewers on January 30.
* February 13, 1985: Greg A. Harris was purchased by the Texas Rangers from the San Diego Padres.
* February 27, 1985: Billy Sample and a player to be named later were traded by the Rangers to the New York Yankees for Toby Harrah. The Rangers completed the deal by sending Eric Dersin (minors) to the Yankees on July 14.

## Regular season

* April 29, 1985 – Larry Parrish hit three home runs in a game against the New York Yankees.
* Charlie Hough finished second in the American League with 14 complete games.

### Notable transactions

* April 6, 1985: Randy Asadoor was traded by the Rangers to the San Diego Padres for Mitch Williams.
* April 6, 1985: Daryl Smith was released by the Rangers.
* May 17, 1985: Geno Petralli was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.
* July 10, 1985: Ellis Valentine was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.
* July 30, 1985: Sammy Sosa was signed by the Rangers as an amateur free agent.
* August 28, 1985: The Rangers traded Cliff Johnson to the Toronto Blue Jays for players to be named later. The Blue Jays completed the deal by sending Matt Williams and Jeff Mays (minors) to the Rangers on August 29, and Greg Ferlenda (minors) to the Rangers on November 14.
* September 13, 1985: Dave Stewart was traded by the Rangers to the Philadelphia Phillies for Rick Surhoff.

### Opening Day starters

* Buddy Bell
* Toby Harrah
* Cliff Johnson
* Pete O'Brien
* Larry Parrish
* Don Slaught
* Frank Tanana
* Gary Ward
* Curtis Wilkerson
* George Wright

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Kansas City Royals | 91 | 71 | .562 | — | 50‍–‍32 | 41‍–‍39 |
| California Angels | 90 | 72 | .556 | 1 | 49‍–‍30 | 41‍–‍42 |
| Chicago White Sox | 85 | 77 | .525 | 6 | 45‍–‍36 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Minnesota Twins | 77 | 85 | .475 | 14 | 49‍–‍35 | 28‍–‍50 |
| Oakland Athletics | 77 | 85 | .475 | 14 | 43‍–‍36 | 34‍–‍49 |
| Seattle Mariners | 74 | 88 | .457 | 17 | 42‍–‍41 | 32‍–‍47 |
| Texas Rangers | 62 | 99 | .385 | 28½ | 37‍–‍43 | 25‍–‍56 |

### Record vs. opponents

1985 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 5–8 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 1–12 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 4–8 |
| Boston | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 4–8–1 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 |
| California | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 9–4 | 9–4 | 5–7 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | 8–4–1 | 5–8 | — | 10–2 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 9–4 | 10–3 | 3–9 |
| Cleveland | 5–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 2–10 | — | 5–8 | 2–10 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–9 |
| Detroit | 7–6 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 6–7 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 10–2 | 7–5 | — | 8–4 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 3–10 | 6–7 | 7–5 |
| Milwaukee | 4–9 | 8–5 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 4–9 | 4–8 | — | 9–3 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 8–3 | 4–9 |
| Minnesota | 6–6 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 6–7 | 3–9 | — | 3–9 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 4–8 |
| New York | 12–1 | 8–5 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 9–3 | — | 7–5 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 5–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–5 | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Seattle | 6–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 5–8 | — | 6–7 | 2–10 |
| Texas | 2–10 | 7–5 | 4–9 | 3–10 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–6 | — | 3–9 |
| Toronto | 8–4 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 10–2 | 9–3 | — |

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Don Slaught | 102 | 343 | 96 | .280 | 8 | 35 |
| 1B | Pete O'Brien | 159 | 573 | 153 | .267 | 22 | 92 |
| 2B | Toby Harrah | 126 | 396 | 107 | .270 | 9 | 44 |
| SS | Curt Wilkerson | 129 | 360 | 88 | .244 | 0 | 22 |
| 3B | Buddy Bell | 84 | 313 | 74 | .236 | 4 | 32 |
| LF | Gary Ward | 154 | 593 | 170 | .287 | 15 | 70 |
| CF | Oddibe McDowell | 111 | 406 | 97 | .239 | 18 | 42 |
| RF | Larry Parrish | 94 | 346 | 86 | .249 | 17 | 51 |
| DH | Cliff Johnson | 82 | 296 | 76 | .257 | 12 | 56 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| George Wright | 109 | 363 | 69 | .190 | 2 | 18 |
| Wayne Tolleson | 123 | 323 | 101 | .313 | 1 | 18 |
| Steve Buechele | 69 | 219 | 48 | .219 | 6 | 21 |
| Bob Jones | 83 | 134 | 30 | .224 | 5 | 23 |
| Duane Walker | 53 | 132 | 23 | .174 | 5 | 11 |
| Alan Bannister | 57 | 122 | 32 | .262 | 1 | 6 |
| Glenn Brummer | 49 | 108 | 30 | .278 | 0 | 5 |
| Tom Dunbar | 45 | 104 | 21 | .202 | 1 | 5 |
| Geno Petralli | 42 | 100 | 27 | .270 | 0 | 11 |
| Bill Stein | 44 | 79 | 20 | .253 | 1 | 12 |
| Ellis Valentine | 11 | 38 | 8 | .211 | 2 | 4 |
| Nick Capra | 8 | 8 | 1 | .125 | 0 | 0 |
| Jeff Kunkel | 2 | 4 | 1 | .250 | 0 | 0 |
| Luis Pujols | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.000 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Charlie Hough | 34 | 250.1 | 14 | 16 | 3.31 | 141 |
| Mike Mason | 38 | 179.0 | 8 | 15 | 4.83 | 92 |
| Frank Tanana | 13 | 77.2 | 2 | 7 | 5.91 | 52 |
| Jeff Russell | 13 | 62.0 | 3 | 6 | 7.55 | 44 |
| José Guzmán | 5 | 33.0 | 3 | 2 | 2.76 | 24 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Burt Hooton | 29 | 124.0 | 5 | 8 | 5.23 | 62 |
| Dickie Noles | 28 | 110.1 | 4 | 8 | 5.06 | 59 |
| Chris Welsh | 25 | 76.1 | 2 | 5 | 4.13 | 31 |
| Glen Cook | 9 | 40.0 | 2 | 3 | 9.45 | 19 |
| Matt Williams | 6 | 26.0 | 2 | 1 | 2.42 | 22 |
| Bob Sebra | 7 | 20.1 | 0 | 2 | 7.52 | 13 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Greg A. Harris | 58 | 113.0 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 2.47 | 111 |
| Dave Schmidt | 51 | 85.2 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 3.15 | 46 |
| Dave Stewart | 42 | 81.1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 5.42 | 64 |
| Dave Rozema | 34 | 88.0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 4.19 | 42 |
| Dwayne Henry | 16 | 21.0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2.57 | 20 |
| Rich Surhoff | 7 | 7.1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 7.56 | 8 |
| Tommy Boggs | 4 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.57 | 6 |
| Ricky Wright | 5 | 7.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.70 | 7 |
| Dale Murray | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

All-Star Game
* Gary Ward, outfield, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Oklahoma City 89ers | American Association | Dave Oliver |
| AA | Tulsa Drillers | Texas League | Orlando Gómez |
| A | Salem Redbirds | Carolina League | Bill Stearns |
| A | Daytona Beach Islanders | Florida State League | Jim Hutto |
| A | Burlington Rangers | Midwest League | Mike Bucci |
| Rookie | GCL Rangers | Gulf Coast League | Rudy Jaramillo |
Daytona Beach affiliation shared with Baltimore Orioles