# 1991 Texas Rangers season

The 1991 Texas Rangers season was the 31st of the Texas Rangers franchise overall, their 20th in Arlington as the Rangers, and the 20th season at Arlington Stadium. The Rangers finished third in the American League West with a record of 85 wins and 77 losses.

## Offseason

* December 12, 1990: Scott Coolbaugh was traded by the Rangers to the San Diego Padres for Mark Parent.
* December 14, 1990: Mario Díaz was signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers.
* January 25, 1991: Rich Gossage was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.

## Regular season

* September 30, 1991: Nolan Ryan struck out Tino Martinez for the 5500th strikeout in his career.
* Juan González became the 18th player in Major League history to have a 100 RBI season before his 22nd birthday.

### Nolan Ryan's 7th No-Hitter

* May 1, 1991 – Nolan Ryan threw the seventh no-hitter of his career against the Toronto Blue Jays. Of the 122 pitches that Ryan threw, 83 were strikes.

#### Scorecard

May 1, Arlington Stadium, Arlington, Texas
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Toronto | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Texas | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| W: Nolan Ryan L: Jimmy Key |||||||||||||
| HRs: Rubén Sierra, Attendance: 33,439. Length of game: 2:25. Umpires: HP: Tschida, 1B: Coble, 2B: Shulock, 3B: Johnson |||||||||||||

##### Batting

| Toronto Blue Jays | AB | R | H | RBI | Texas Rangers | AB | R | H | RBI |
| Devon White, cf | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Gary Pettis, cf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Roberto Alomar, 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jack Daugherty, lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Kelly Gruber, 3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rafael Palmeiro, 1b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Joe Carter, lf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rubén Sierra, rf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| John Olerud, 1b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Julio Franco, 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Whiten, rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Juan Gonzalez, dh | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Glenallen Hill, dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mike Stanley, c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Greg Myers, c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Steve Buechele, 3b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Manuel Lee, ss | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jeff Huson, ss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Totals | 32 | 3 | 8 | 2 |

##### Pitching

| Texas Rangers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Nolan Ryan, W | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Jimmy Key, L | 6.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| Bob MacDonald | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Willie Fraser | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 8.0 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 7 |

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Minnesota Twins | 95 | 67 | .586 | — | 51‍–‍30 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Chicago White Sox | 87 | 75 | .537 | 8 | 46‍–‍35 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Texas Rangers | 85 | 77 | .525 | 10 | 46‍–‍35 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Oakland Athletics | 84 | 78 | .519 | 11 | 47‍–‍34 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Seattle Mariners | 83 | 79 | .512 | 12 | 45‍–‍36 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Kansas City Royals | 82 | 80 | .506 | 13 | 40‍–‍41 | 42‍–‍39 |
| California Angels | 81 | 81 | .500 | 14 | 40‍–‍41 | 41‍–‍40 |

### Record vs. opponents

1991 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 8–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 3–10 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 9–3 | 5–8 |
| Boston | 5–8 | — | 4–8 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 9–4 |
| California | 6–6 | 8–4 | — | 8–5 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 1–12 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 8–4 | 5–7 | 5–8 | — | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 6–7 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 7–6 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 2–10 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 4–8 | 1–12 |
| Detroit | 8–5 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 6–7 | — | 8–4 | 4–9 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| Kansas City | 8–4 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | — | 9–3 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 7–6 | 5–7 |
| Milwaukee | 10–3 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 9–4 | 3–9 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–7 |
| Minnesota | 8–4 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 10–2 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 6–6 | — | 10–2 | 8–5 | 9–4 | 6–7 | 4–8 |
| New York | 8–5 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 2–10 | — | 6–6 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 9–3 | 4–8 | 12–1 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 6–6 | — | 6–7 | 4–9 | 6–6 |
| Seattle | 8–4 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 10–2 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 9–3 | 4–9 | 9–3 | 7–6 | — | 5–8 | 5–7 |
| Texas | 3–9 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 8–5 | — | 6–6 |
| Toronto | 8–5 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 12–1 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — |

### Notable transactions

* April 7, 1991: Denny Walling was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.
* June 2, 1991: Steve Balboni was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.
* June 22, 1991: Denny Walling was released by the Rangers.
* July 21, 1991: Jonathan Hurst, Joey Eischen and a player to be named later were traded by the Rangers to the Montreal Expos for Oil Can Boyd. The Texas Rangers completed their trade by sending Travis Buckley (minors) to the Expos on September 1.

### 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 | Iván Rodríguez | 88 | 280 | 74 | .264 | 3 | 27 |
| 1B | Rafael Palmeiro | 159 | 631 | 203 | .322 | 26 | 88 |
| 2B | Julio Franco | 146 | 589 | 201 | .341 | 15 | 78 |
| 3B | Steve Buechele | 121 | 416 | 111 | .267 | 18 | 66 |
| SS | Jeff Huson | 119 | 268 | 57 | .213 | 2 | 26 |
| LF | Juan González | 142 | 545 | 144 | .264 | 27 | 102 |
| CF | Gary Pettis | 137 | 282 | 61 | .216 | 0 | 19 |
| RF | Rubén Sierra | 161 | 661 | 203 | .307 | 25 | 116 |
| DH | Brian Downing | 123 | 407 | 113 | .278 | 17 | 49 |

#### 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 |
| Kevin Reimer | 136 | 394 | 106 | .269 | 20 | 69 |
| Dean Palmer | 81 | 268 | 50 | .187 | 15 | 37 |
| Geno Petralli | 87 | 199 | 54 | .271 | 2 | 20 |
| Mario Díaz | 96 | 182 | 48 | .264 | 1 | 22 |
| Mike Stanley | 95 | 181 | 45 | .249 | 3 | 25 |
| Jack Daugherty | 58 | 144 | 28 | .194 | 1 | 11 |
| José Hernández | 45 | 98 | 18 | .184 | 0 | 4 |
| Denny Walling | 24 | 44 | 4 | .091 | 0 | 2 |
| Monty Fariss | 19 | 31 | 8 | .258 | 1 | 6 |
| John Russell | 22 | 27 | 3 | .111 | 0 | 1 |
| Gary Green | 8 | 20 | 3 | .150 | 0 | 1 |
| Rob Maurer | 13 | 16 | 1 | .063 | 0 | 2 |
| Donald Harris | 18 | 8 | 3 | .375 | 1 | 2 |
| Tony Scruggs | 5 | 6 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Chad Kreuter | 3 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Parent | 3 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Capra | 2 | 0 | 0 | ---- | 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 |
| Kevin Brown | 33 | 210.0 | 9 | 12 | 4.40 | 96 |
| Nolan Ryan | 27 | 173.0 | 12 | 6 | 2.91 | 203 |
| José Guzmán | 25 | 169.2 | 13 | 7 | 3.08 | 125 |
| Bobby Witt | 17 | 88.2 | 3 | 7 | 6.09 | 82 |
| Oil Can Boyd | 12 | 62.0 | 2 | 7 | 6.68 | 33 |
| Brian Bohanon | 11 | 61.1 | 4 | 3 | 4.84 | 34 |
| Scott Chiamparino | 5 | 22.1 | 1 | 0 | 4.03 | 8 |
| Héctor Fajardo | 4 | 19.0 | 0 | 2 | 5.68 | 15 |

#### 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 |
| Gerald Alexander | 30 | 89.1 | 5 | 3 | 5.24 | 50 |
| John Barfield | 28 | 83.1 | 4 | 4 | 4.54 | 27 |
| Mark Petkovsek | 4 | 9.1 | 0 | 1 | 14.46 | 6 |

#### 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 |
| Jeff Russell | 68 | 6 | 4 | 30 | 3.29 | 52 |
| Mike Jeffcoat | 70 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4.63 | 43 |
| Kenny Rogers | 63 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 5.42 | 73 |
| Rich Gossage | 44 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3.57 | 28 |
| Wayne Rosenthal | 36 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5.25 | 61 |
| Terry Mathews | 34 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3.61 | 51 |
| Joe Bitker | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 16 |
| Brad Arnsberg | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8.38 | 8 |
| Barry Manuel | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.13 | 5 |
| Jim Poole | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.50 | 4 |
| Calvin Schiraldi | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11.57 | 1 |
| Eric Nolte | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.38 | 1 |

## Awards and honors

* Julio Franco, A.L. Batting Title
* Julio Franco, Silver Slugger Award
* José Guzmán, Comeback Player of The Year
All-Star Game

## Farm system

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