# 2003 Texas Rangers season

The 2003 Texas Rangers season was the 43rd of the Texas Rangers franchise overall, their 32nd in Arlington as the Rangers, and their 10th season at The Ballpark in Arlington. The Rangers finished fourth in the American League West with a record of 71 wins and 91 losses.

## Preseason

* October 3, 2002: John Rocker was released by the Rangers.
* December 6, 2002: Travis Hafner and Aaron Myette were traded by the Rangers to the Cleveland Indians for Einar Díaz and Ryan Drese.
* December 23, 2002: Ugueth Urbina was signed as a free agent with the Rangers.

## Regular season
### Opening Day starters

* Einar Díaz, C
* Rafael Palmeiro, 1B
* Michael Young, 2B
* Hank Blalock, 3B
* Alex Rodriguez, SS
* Carl Everett, LF
* Doug Glanville, CF
* Juan González, RF
* Rubén Sierra, DH
* Ismael Valdez, RHP

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Oakland Athletics | 96 | 66 | .593 | — | 57‍–‍24 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Seattle Mariners | 93 | 69 | .574 | 3 | 50‍–‍31 | 43‍–‍38 |
| Anaheim Angels | 77 | 85 | .475 | 19 | 45‍–‍37 | 32‍–‍48 |
| Texas Rangers | 71 | 91 | .438 | 25 | 43‍–‍38 | 28‍–‍53 |

### Record vs. opponents

2003 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ANA | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TB | TEX | TOR | NL |
| Anaheim | — | 1–8 | 3–6 | 3–4 | 6–3 | 6–1 | 6–3 | 5–4 | 3–6 | 8–12 | 8–11 | 6–3 | 9–10 | 2–7 | 11–7 |
| Baltimore | 8–1 | — | 9–10 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 3–4 | 3–4 | 6–13–1 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 8–11 | 7–2 | 8–11 | 5–13 |
| Boston | 6–3 | 10–9 | — | 5–4 | 4–2 | 8–1 | 5–1 | 2–4 | 9–10 | 3–4 | 5–2 | 12–7 | 5–4 | 10–9 | 11–7 |
| Chicago | 4–3 | 4–2 | 4–5 | — | 11–8 | 11–8 | 11–8 | 9–10 | 4–2 | 4–5 | 2–7 | 3–3 | 3–4 | 6–3 | 10–8 |
| Cleveland | 3–6 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 8–11 | — | 12–7 | 6–13 | 9–10 | 2–5 | 3–6 | 3–6 | 5–2 | 4–5 | 2–4 | 6–12 |
| Detroit | 1–6 | 3–3 | 1–8 | 8–11 | 7–12 | — | 5–14 | 4–15 | 1–5 | 3–6 | 1–8 | 2–4 | 1–6 | 2–7 | 4–14 |
| Kansas City | 3–6 | 4–3 | 1–5 | 8–11 | 13–6 | 14–5 | — | 11–8 | 2–4 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 4–3 | 7–2 | 1–5 | 9–9 |
| Minnesota | 4–5 | 4–3 | 4–2 | 10–9 | 10–9 | 15–4 | 8–11 | — | 0–7 | 8–1 | 3–6 | 6–0 | 5–4 | 3–3 | 10–8 |
| New York | 6–3 | 13–6–1 | 10–9 | 2–4 | 5–2 | 5–1 | 4–2 | 7–0 | — | 3–6 | 5–4 | 14–5 | 4–5 | 10–9 | 13–5 |
| Oakland | 12–8 | 7–2 | 4–3 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 6–3 | 7–2 | 1–8 | 6–3 | — | 7–12 | 6–3 | 15–4 | 5–2 | 9–9 |
| Seattle | 11–8 | 5–4 | 2–5 | 7–2 | 6–3 | 8–1 | 5–4 | 6–3 | 4–5 | 12–7 | — | 4–5 | 10–10 | 3–4 | 10–8 |
| Tampa Bay | 3–6 | 11–8 | 7–12 | 3–3 | 2–5 | 4–2 | 3–4 | 0–6 | 5–14 | 3–6 | 5–4 | — | 3–6 | 11–8 | 3–15 |
| Texas | 10–9 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 4–3 | 5–4 | 6–1 | 2–7 | 4–5 | 5–4 | 4–15 | 10–10 | 6–3 | — | 5–4 | 4–14 |
| Toronto | 7–2 | 11–8 | 9–10 | 3–6 | 4–2 | 7–2 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 9–10 | 2–5 | 4–3 | 8–11 | 4–5 | — | 10–8 |

### Transactions

* May 9, 2003: Alan Benes was sent to the Texas Rangers by the Chicago Cubs as part of a conditional deal.
* June 3, 2003: Ian Kinsler was drafted by the Rangers in the 17th round of the 2003 amateur draft. Player signed June 24, 2003.
* July 11, 2003: Ugueth Urbina was traded by the Rangers to the Florida Marlins for Adrián González, Ryan Snare, and Will Smith (minors).

### 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 | Einar Diaz | 101 | 334 | 86 | .257 | 4 | 35 |
| 1B | Mark Teixeira | 146 | 529 | 137 | .259 | 26 | 84 |
| 2B | Michael Young | 160 | 666 | 204 | .306 | 14 | 72 |
| SS | Alex Rodriguez | 161 | 607 | 181 | .298 | 47 | 118 |
| 3B | Hank Blalock | 143 | 567 | 170 | .300 | 29 | 90 |
| LF | Shane Spencer | 55 | 185 | 42 | .227 | 4 | 23 |
| CF | Ryan Christenson | 60 | 165 | 29 | .176 | 2 | 16 |
| RF | Juan González | 82 | 327 | 96 | .294 | 24 | 70 |
| DH | Rafael Palmeiro | 154 | 561 | 146 | .260 | 38 | 112 |

#### 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 |
| Carl Everett | 74 | 270 | 74 | .274 | 18 | 51 |
| Todd Greene | 62 | 205 | 47 | .229 | 10 | 20 |
| Doug Glanville | 52 | 195 | 53 | .272 | 4 | 14 |
| Laynce Nix | 53 | 184 | 47 | .255 | 8 | 30 |
| Rubén Sierra | 43 | 133 | 35 | .263 | 3 | 12 |
| Donnie Sadler | 77 | 131 | 26 | .198 | 1 | 5 |
| Kevin Mench | 38 | 125 | 40 | .320 | 2 | 11 |
| Jason Jones | 40 | 107 | 23 | .215 | 3 | 11 |
| Ramón Nivar | 28 | 90 | 19 | .211 | 0 | 7 |
| Marcus Thames | 30 | 73 | 15 | .205 | 1 | 4 |
| Jermaine Clark | 24 | 46 | 8 | .174 | 0 | 6 |
| Gerald Laird | 19 | 44 | 12 | .273 | 1 | 4 |
| Mike Lamb | 28 | 38 | 5 | .132 | 0 | 2 |
| Ryan Ludwick | 8 | 26 | 4 | .154 | 0 | 0 |
| Herbert Perry | 11 | 24 | 4 | .167 | 0 | 2 |
| Chad Kreuter | 7 | 18 | 2 | .111 | 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 |
| John Thomson | 35 | 217.0 | 13 | 14 | 4.85 | 136 |
| Colby Lewis | 26 | 127.0 | 10 | 9 | 7.30 | 88 |
| Ismael Valdéz | 22 | 115.0 | 8 | 8 | 6.10 | 47 |
| Tony Mounce | 11 | 50.2 | 1 | 5 | 7.11 | 30 |
| Chan Ho Park | 7 | 29.2 | 1 | 3 | 7.58 | 16 |
| Robert Ellis | 4 | 18.1 | 1 | 1 | 8.35 | 8 |
| Alan Benes | 4 | 15.0 | 0 | 3 | 11.40 | 11 |
| Mario Ramos | 3 | 13.0 | 1 | 1 | 6.23 | 8 |
| Doug Davis | 1 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 12.00 | 2 |

#### 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 |
| R.A. Dickey | 38 | 116.2 | 9 | 8 | 5.09 | 94 |
| Joaquin Benoit | 25 | 105.0 | 8 | 5 | 5.49 | 87 |
| Ryan Drese | 11 | 46.0 | 2 | 4 | 6.85 | 26 |
| Víctor Santos | 8 | 25.2 | 0 | 2 | 7.01 | 15 |
| Mickey Callaway | 6 | 22.1 | 0 | 3 | 6.45 | 19 |
| Juan Domínguez | 6 | 16.1 | 0 | 2 | 7.16 | 13 |
| Todd Van Poppel | 7 | 12.2 | 1 | 0 | 8.53 | 9 |

#### 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 |
| Ugueth Urbina | 39 | 0 | 4 | 26 | 4.19 | 41 |
| Francisco Cordero | 73 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 2.94 | 90 |
| Aaron Fultz | 64 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5.21 | 53 |
| Brian Shouse | 62 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.10 | 40 |
| Jay Powell | 51 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7.82 | 40 |
| Rosman García | 46 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6.02 | 25 |
| Ron Mahay | 35 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3.18 | 38 |
| Erasmo Ramirez | 34 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3.86 | 28 |
| Reynaldo Garcia | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 15 |
| Esteban Yan | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.94 | 25 |
| C.J. Nitkowski | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.45 | 5 |

## Awards and honors

* Alex Rodriguez, American League Most Valuable Player Award
* Alex Rodriguez, Hank Aaron Award
* Alex Rodriguez, A.L. Home Run Champ
* Alex Rodriguez, SS, AL Gold Glove
* Alex Rodriguez, Silver Slugger Award
All-Star Game

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Oklahoma RedHawks | Pacific Coast League | Bobby Jones |
| AA | Frisco RoughRiders | Texas League | Tim Ireland |
| A | Stockton Ports | California League | Arnie Beyeler |
| A | Clinton LumberKings | Midwest League | Carlos Subero |
| A-Short Season | Spokane Indians | Northwest League | Darryl Kennedy |
| Rookie | AZL Rangers | Arizona League | Pedro López |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Spokane