# 1990 Texas Rangers season

The 1990 Texas Rangers season was the 30th of the Texas Rangers franchise overall, their 19th in Arlington as the Rangers, and the 19th season at Arlington Stadium. The Texas Rangers finished third in the American League West, with a record of 83 wins and 79 losses.

## Offseason

* October 2, 1989: Cecilio Guante was released by the Rangers.

## Regular season

* June 11, 1990: Nolan Ryan threw his sixth no-hitter against the Oakland Athletics.
* July 30, 1990: Nolan Ryan earned his 300th win against the Milwaukee Brewers.
* August 12, 1990: The Rangers and Chicago White Sox were involved in the longest rain delay in baseball history at 7 hours and 23 minutes at Comiskey Park. Behind the delay's length was the White Sox's insistence that the game be rescheduled at Comiskey four days later when both teams were idle and not at Arlington Stadium the subsequent weekend, which was rejected by the Rangers. The gamesmanship between the two sides resulted in the contest eventually played as part of a twi-night doubleheader at Arlington on August 17.

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Oakland Athletics | 103 | 59 | .636 | — | 51‍–‍30 | 52‍–‍29 |
| Chicago White Sox | 94 | 68 | .580 | 9 | 49‍–‍31 | 45‍–‍37 |
| Texas Rangers | 83 | 79 | .512 | 20 | 47‍–‍35 | 36‍–‍44 |
| California Angels | 80 | 82 | .494 | 23 | 42‍–‍39 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Seattle Mariners | 77 | 85 | .475 | 26 | 38‍–‍43 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Kansas City Royals | 75 | 86 | .466 | 27½ | 45‍–‍36 | 30‍–‍50 |
| Minnesota Twins | 74 | 88 | .457 | 29 | 41‍–‍40 | 33‍–‍48 |

### Record vs. opponents

1990 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 4–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 8–3 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 5–8 |
| Boston | 9–4 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–4 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 10–3 |
| California | 5–7 | 5–7 | — | 5–8 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 5–8 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 10–2 | 7–6 | 10–2 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 5–7 |
| Cleveland | 7–6 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 7–5 | — | 5–8 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 4–9 |
| Detroit | 7–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 8–5 | — | 5–7 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| Kansas City | 3–8 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 4–8 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 5–7 |
| Milwaukee | 6–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 4–9 | 10–3 | 8–4 | — | 4–8 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 7–6 |
| Minnesota | 6–6 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 8–4 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 3–9 |
| New York | 7–6 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 2–10 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 6–6 | — | 0–12 | 9–3 | 3–9 | 5–8 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 12–0 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Seattle | 9–3 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 4–9 | — | 7–6 | 6–6 |
| Texas | 4–8 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 6–7 | — | 7–5 |
| Toronto | 8–5 | 3–10 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 4, 1990: 1990 Major League Baseball draft
** Dan Smith was drafted by the Rangers in the 1st round (16th pick).
** Rusty Greer was drafted by the Rangers in the 10th round. Player signed June 5, 1990.
* June 14, 1990: Randy St. Claire was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.
* September 4, 1990: Randy St. Claire was released by the Rangers.

### Nolan Ryan's 6th No-Hitter

* June 11, 1990: At Oakland Alameda County Coliseum, Nolan Ryan, at forty-three years, four months, and twelve days, became the oldest pitcher in major league history to throw a no-hitter. He would become the only pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball to throw a no-hitter for three different teams (the Angels, the Astros, the Rangers). Ryan would also hold the distinction of holding the record for longest time between two no-hitters. Ryan who tossed his fifth no-hitter on September 26, 1981, and this one on June 11.

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### 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 | Geno Petralli | 133 | 325 | 83 | .255 | 0 | 21 |
| 1B | Rafael Palmeiro | 154 | 598 | 191 | .319 | 14 | 89 |
| 2B | Julio Franco | 157 | 582 | 172 | .296 | 11 | 69 |
| 3B | Steve Buechele | 91 | 251 | 54 | .215 | 7 | 30 |
| SS | Jeff Huson | 145 | 396 | 95 | .240 | 0 | 28 |
| LF | Pete Incaviglia | 153 | 529 | 123 | .233 | 24 | 85 |
| CF | Gary Pettis | 136 | 423 | 101 | .239 | 3 | 31 |
| RF | Rubén Sierra | 159 | 608 | 170 | .280 | 16 | 96 |
| DH | Harold Baines | 103 | 321 | 93 | .290 | 13 | 44 |

#### 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 |
| Jack Daugherty | 125 | 310 | 93 | .300 | 6 | 47 |
| Jeff Kunkel | 99 | 200 | 34 | .170 | 3 | 17 |
| Mike Stanley | 103 | 189 | 47 | .249 | 2 | 19 |
| Scott Coolbaugh | 67 | 180 | 36 | .200 | 2 | 13 |
| John Russell | 68 | 128 | 35 | .273 | 2 | 8 |
| Kevin Reimer | 64 | 100 | 26 | .260 | 2 | 15 |
| Juan González | 25 | 90 | 26 | .289 | 4 | 12 |
| Gary Green | 62 | 88 | 19 | .216 | 0 | 8 |
| Cecil Espy | 52 | 71 | 9 | .127 | 0 | 1 |
| Thad Bosley | 30 | 29 | 4 | .138 | 1 | 3 |
| Chad Kreuter | 22 | 22 | 1 | .045 | 0 | 2 |
| Kevin Belcher | 16 | 15 | 2 | .133 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Haselman | 7 | 13 | 2 | .154 | 0 | 3 |

### Pitching

* = Indicates league leader

#### 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 |
| Bobby Witt | 33 | 222.0 | 17 | 10 | 3.36 | 221 |
| Charlie Hough | 32 | 218.2 | 12 | 12 | 4.07 | 114 |
| Nolan Ryan | 30 | 204.0 | 13 | 9 | 3.44 | 232 |
| Kevin Brown | 26 | 180.0 | 12 | 10 | 3.60 | 88 |
| Scott Chiamparino | 6 | 37.2 | 1 | 2 | 2.63 | 19 |

#### 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 |
| Mike Jeffcoat | 44 | 110.2 | 5 | 6 | 4.47 | 58 |
| Jamie Moyer | 33 | 102.1 | 2 | 6 | 4.66 | 58 |
| Brian Bohanon | 11 | 34.0 | 0 | 3 | 6.62 | 15 |
| Gerald Alexander | 3 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 7.71 | 8 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Kenny Rogers | 69 | 10 | 6 | 15 | 3.13 | 74 |
| Brad Arnsberg | 53 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 2.15 | 44 |
| John Barfield | 33 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 4.67 | 17 |
| Gary Mielke | 33 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.73 | 13 |
| Jeff Russell | 27 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 4.26 | 16 |
| Craig McMurtry | 23 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4.32 | 14 |
| Joe Bitker | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.00 | 6 |
| John Hoover | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.57 | 0 |
| Ramón Mañón | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.50 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Julio Franco, Silver Slugger Award
* Julio Franco – All-Star Game Most Valuable Player
* Rafael Palmeiro, American League Leader in Hits (191)
* Gary Pettis, OF, AL Gold Glove
* Nolan Ryan – American League Leader Strikeouts (232)
All-Star Game
* Julio Franco, second base, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Oklahoma City 89ers | American Association | Steve Smith |
| AA | Tulsa Drillers | Texas League | Tommy Thompson |
| A | Charlotte Rangers | Florida State League | Bobby Jones |
| A | Gastonia Rangers | South Atlantic League | Orlando Gómez |
| Rookie | GCL Rangers | Gulf Coast League | Chino Cadahia |
| Rookie | Butte Copper Kings | Pioneer League | Bump Wills |