# 1988 Texas Rangers season

The 1988 Texas Rangers season was the 28th of the Texas Rangers franchise overall, their 17th in Arlington as the Rangers, and the 17th season at Arlington Stadium. The Rangers finished sixth in the American League West with a record of 70 wins and 91 losses.

## Offseason

* December 13, 1987: Bárbaro Garbey was signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers.
* December 21, 1987: Greg A. Harris was released by the Texas Rangers.
* March 25, 1988: Mike Loynd was traded by the Rangers to the Houston Astros for Robbie Wine.

## Regular season
### Opening Day starters

* Jerry Browne
* Steve Buechele
* Scott Fletcher
* Charlie Hough
* Pete Incaviglia
* Oddibe McDowell
* Pete O'Brien
* Larry Parrish
* Geno Petralli
* Rubén Sierra

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Oakland Athletics | 104 | 58 | .642 | — | 54‍–‍27 | 50‍–‍31 |
| Minnesota Twins | 91 | 71 | .562 | 13 | 47‍–‍34 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Kansas City Royals | 84 | 77 | .522 | 19½ | 44‍–‍36 | 40‍–‍41 |
| California Angels | 75 | 87 | .463 | 29 | 35‍–‍46 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Chicago White Sox | 71 | 90 | .441 | 32½ | 40‍–‍41 | 31‍–‍49 |
| Texas Rangers | 70 | 91 | .435 | 33½ | 38‍–‍43 | 32‍–‍48 |
| Seattle Mariners | 68 | 93 | .422 | 35½ | 37‍–‍44 | 31‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

1988 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 4–9 | 5–7 | 4–7 | 4–9 | 5–8 | 0–12 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 3–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| Boston | 9–4 | — | 8–4 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 10–3 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 2–11 |
| California | 7–5 | 4–8 | — | 9–4 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 3–9 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 6–7 | 8–5 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 7–4 | 5–7 | 4–9 | — | 3–9 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 3–9 | 5–8 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 9–4 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 9–3 | — | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–4 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 6–7 |
| Detroit | 8–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 9–4 | — | 8–4 | 5–8 | 1–11 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 9–3 | 8–4 | 5–8 |
| Kansas City | 12–0 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 4–8 |
| Milwaukee | 9–4 | 3–10 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 4–9 | 8–5 | 9–3 | — | 7–5 | 6–7 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–6 |
| Minnesota | 9–3 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 6–7 | 5–7 | — | 3–9 | 5–8 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 |
| New York | 10–3 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 9–3 | — | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–6 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 9–3 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 9–3 | 8–5 | 6–6 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 9–3 |
| Seattle | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–5 | 5–8 | 7–6 | — | 6–6 |
| Toronto | 8–5 | 11–2 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — |

### Detailed records

American League :
| Opponent | Total | Home | Away | RS | RA |
| American League West |||||||
| California Angels | 5–8 | 3–4 | 2–4 | 45 | 50 |
| Chicago White Sox | 5–8 | 2–4 | 3–4 | 63 | 62 |
| Kansas City Royals | 6–7 | 4–3 | 2–4 | 65 | 83 |
| Minnesota Twins | 6–7 | 2–4 | 4–3 | 48 | 70 |
| Oakland Athletics | 5–8 | 3–4 | 2–4 | 52 | 64 |
| Seattle Mariners | 7–6 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 52 | 42 |
| Texas Rangers | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 34–44 | 17–22 | 17–22 | 325 | 371 |
| American League East |||||||
| Baltimore Orioles | 6–6 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 59 | 49 |
| Boston Red Sox | 4–8 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 37 | 60 |
| Cleveland Indians | 6–6 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 43 | 39 |
| Detroit Tigers | 4–8 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 30 | 38 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 4–8 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 37 | 50 |
| New York Yankees | 6–5 | 4–2 | 2–3 | 47 | 63 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | 6–6 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 59 | 65 |
| Total | 36–47 | 21–21 | 15–26 | 312 | 364 |

### Notable transactions

* April 4, 1988: Guy Hoffman was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.
* July 21, 1988: Jim Sundberg was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.
* July 27, 1988: Iván Rodríguez was signed by the Rangers as an amateur free agent.
* August 30, 1988: Dale Mohorcic was traded by the Rangers to the New York Yankees for Cecilio Guante.
* September 1, 1988: Tom O'Malley was traded by the Rangers to the Montreal Expos for a player to be named later. The Expos completed the deal by sending Jack Daugherty to the Rangers on September 13.

### Roster
## Game log

1988 Game Log 70–91 (Home: 38–43; Away: 32–48) :
April: 8–13 (Home: 4–7; Away: 4–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecordStreak
1April 4Indians4–31–0W1
2April 6Indians1–51–1L1
3April 7Indians1–41–2L2
4April 8Red Sox0–41–3L3
5April 9Red Sox1–21–4L4
6April 10Red Sox4–12–4W1
7April 12@ Tigers1–42–5L1
8April 14@ Tigers2–13–5W1
9April 15@ Red Sox3–2 (10)4–5W2
10April 16@ Red Sox2–05–5W3
11April 17@ Red Sox2–155–6L1
12April 18@ Red Sox3–45–7L2
13April 19@ Indians3–06–7W1
14April 20@ Indians1–26–8L1
15April 22Tigers3–56–9L2
16April 23Tigers6–76–10L3
17April 24Tigers4–27–10W1
18April 26Brewers3–18–10W2
19April 27Brewers3–48–11L1
20April 29@ Yankees1–28–12L2
21April 30@ Yankees3–158–13L3 :
May: 17–11 (Home: 11–5; Away: 6–6)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecordStreak
22May 1@ Yankees5–19–13W1
23May 2@ Orioles4–99–14L1
24May 3@ Orioles4–210–14W1
25May 4@ Brewers5–610–15L1
26May 5@ Brewers1–910–16L2
27May 6Yankees7–611–16W1
28May 7Yankees3–212–16W2
29May 8Yankees10–813–16W3
30May 10Orioles13–514–16W4
31May 11Orioles8–015–16W5
32May 12Orioles2–116–16W6
33May 13Royals2–117–16W7
34May 14Royals6–318–16W8
35May 15Royals4–518–17L1
36May 16Royals6–718–18L2
37May 17@ Blue Jays7–6 (14)19–18W1
38May 18@ Blue Jays4–020–18W2
-May 20TwinsPostponed (rain); Makeup: May 22
39May 21Twins3–021–18W3
40May 22Twins5–1521–19L1
41May 22Twins2–421–20L2
42May 24Blue Jays2–1321–21L3
43May 25Blue Jays5–122–21W1
44May 26Blue Jays8–723–21W2
45May 27@ Royals3–224–21W3
46May 28@ Royals6–824–22L1
47May 29@ Royals1–1224–23L2
48May 30@ Twins6–125–23W1
49May 31@ Twins6–825–24L1 :
June: 12–15 (Home: 4–7; Away: 6–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecordStreak
50June 1@ Twins1–725–25L2
51June 2@ White Sox10–226–25W1
52June 3@ White Sox9–327–25W2
53June 4@ White Sox8–1027–26L1
54June 5@ White Sox4–527–27L2
55June 6Angels6–428–27W1
56June 7Angels0–128–28L1
57June 8Angels2–528–29L2
58June 9Athletics5–229–29W1
59June 10Athletics6–729–30L1
60June 11Athletics4–1329–31L2
61June 12Athletics3–230–31W1
62June 14@ Angels0–330–32L1
63June 15@ Angels6–3 (10)31–32W1
64June 16@ Angels0–331–33L1
65June 17@ Athletics6–7 (14)31–34L2
66June 18@ Athletics1–2 (13)31–35L3
67June 19@ Athletics5–4 (11)32–35W1
68June 20Mariners4–333–35W2
69June 21Mariners6–034–35W3
70June 22Mariners2–3 (10)34–36L1
71June 24White Sox5–235–36W1
72June 25White Sox5–1035–37L1
73June 26White Sox5–735–38L2
74June 27@ Mariners3–635–39L3
75June 28@ Mariners6–036–39W1
76June 29@ Mariners1–0 (12)37–39W2 :
July: 9–18 (Home: 4–9; Away: 5–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecordStreak
77July 1Orioles1–737–40L1
78July 2Orioles4–737–41L2
79July 3Orioles13–138–41W1
80July 4Yankees2–1338–42L1
81July 5Yankees3–538–43L2
82July 6Yankees4–239–43W1
83July 7@ Orioles0–639–44L1
84July 8@ Orioles8–540–44W1
85July 9@ Orioles1–440–45L1
86July 10@ Orioles1–240–46L2
87July 14Brewers2–640–47L3
88July 15Brewers2–440–48L4
89July 16Brewers3–440–49L5
90July 17Brewers3–041–49W1
91July 18@ Yankees2–741–50L1
92July 19@ Yankees7–242–51W1
93July 21@ Brewers1–642–51L1
94July 22@ Brewers1–242–52L2
95July 23@ Brewers7–443–52W1
96July 24@ Brewers6–444–52W2
97July 25Red Sox0–244–53L1
98July 26Red Sox9–845–53W1
99July 27Red Sox7–1045–54L1
100July 29@ Tigers2–345–55L2
101July 29@ Tigers2–146–55W1
102July 30@ Tigers0–346–56L1
103July 31@ Tigers1–546–57L2 :
August: 14–14 (Home: 8–7; Away: 6–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecordStreak
104August 2@ Red Sox2–746–58L3
105August 3@ Red Sox4–547–59L4
106August 5Indians8–447–59W1
107August 6Indians3–547–60L1
108August 7Indians2–048–60W1
109August 8Tigers2–348–61L1
110August 9Tigers6–249–61W1
111August 10Tigers1–249–62L1
112August 11@ Indians5–450–62W1
113August 12@ Indians3–650–63L1
114August 13@ Indians12–351–63W1
115August 14@ Indians0–351–64L1
116August 15@ Royals3–1251–65L2
117August 16@ Royals5–452–65W1
118August 17@ Royals6–952–66L1
119August 18@ Twins4–253–66W1
120August 19@ Twins5–054–66W2
121August 20@ Twins3–255–66W3
122August 21@ Twins2–1255–67L1
123August 22Royals9–556–67W1
124August 23Royals7–1156–68L1
125August 24Royals7–457–68W1
126August 26Blue Jays5–158–68W2
127August 27Blue Jays5–359–68W3
128August 28Blue Jays5–6 (11)59–69L1
129August 29Twins2–359–70L2
130August 30Twins8–660–70W1
131August 31Twins1–1060–71L1 :
September: 9–17 (Home: 5–8; Away: 4–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecordStreak
132September 1@ Blue Jays1–560–72L2
133September 2@ Blue Jays6–760–73L3
134September 3@ Blue Jays4–760–74L4
135September 4@ Blue Jays7–960–75L5
136September 5Athletics4–1160–76L6
137September 6Athletics3–161–76W1
138September 7Athletics3–661–77L1
139September 8Angels3–461–78L2
140September 9Angels3–561–79L3
141September 10Angels3–2 (17)62–79W1
142September 11Angels8–363–79W2
143September 13@ Athletics1–263–80L1
144September 14@ Athletics9–164–80W1
145September 15@ Athletics2–664–81L1
146September 16@ Angels2–764–82L2
147September 17@ Angels7–465–82W1
148September 18@ Angels5–665–83L1
149September 19White Sox3–765–84L2
150September 20White Sox4–166–84W1
151September 21White Sox1–666–85L1
152September 23Mariners3–2 (10)67–85W1
153September 24Mariners0–367–86L1
154September 25Mariners5–867–87L2
155September 26@ White Sox5–368–87W1
156September 27@ White Sox2–368–88L1
157September 28@ White Sox2–368–89L2
158September 29@ Mariners1–568–90L3
159September 30@ Mariners11–669–90W1 :
October: 1–1 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–1)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveRecordStreak
160October 1@ Mariners3–4 (11)70–90L1
161October 2@ Mariners7–271–90W1 :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Rangers team member :

## 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 | Geno Petralli | 129 | 351 | 99 | .282 | 7 | 36 |
| 1B | Pete O'Brien | 156 | 547 | 149 | .272 | 16 | 71 |
| 2B | Curt Wilkerson | 117 | 338 | 99 | .293 | 0 | 28 |
| SS | Scott Fletcher | 140 | 515 | 142 | .276 | 0 | 47 |
| 3B | Steve Buechele | 155 | 503 | 126 | .250 | 16 | 58 |
| LF | Pete Incaviglia | 116 | 418 | 104 | .249 | 22 | 54 |
| CF | Oddibe McDowell | 120 | 437 | 108 | .247 | 6 | 37 |
| RF | Rubén Sierra | 156 | 615 | 156 | .254 | 23 | 91 |
| DH | Larry Parrish | 68 | 248 | 47 | .190 | 7 | 26 |

#### 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 |
| Cecil Espy | 123 | 347 | 86 | .248 | 2 | 39 |
| Mike Stanley | 94 | 249 | 57 | .229 | 3 | 27 |
| Jerry Browne | 73 | 214 | 49 | .229 | 1 | 17 |
| Bob Brower | 82 | 201 | 45 | .224 | 1 | 11 |
| Jeff Kunkel | 55 | 154 | 35 | .227 | 2 | 15 |
| Jim Sundberg | 38 | 91 | 26 | .286 | 4 | 13 |
| Barbaro Garbey | 30 | 62 | 12 | .194 | 0 | 5 |
| Jim Steels | 36 | 53 | 10 | .189 | 0 | 5 |
| Chad Kreuter | 16 | 51 | 14 | .275 | 1 | 5 |
| Steve Kemp | 16 | 36 | 8 | .222 | 0 | 2 |
| Kevin Reimer | 12 | 25 | 3 | .120 | 1 | 2 |
| Larry See | 13 | 23 | 3 | .130 | 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 | 252.0 | 15 | 16 | 3.32 | 174 |
| José Guzmán | 30 | 206.2 | 11 | 13 | 3.70 | 157 |
| Paul Kilgus | 32 | 203.1 | 12 | 15 | 4.16 | 88 |
| Jeff Russell | 34 | 188.2 | 10 | 9 | 3.82 | 88 |
| Bobby Witt | 22 | 174.1 | 8 | 10 | 3.92 | 148 |
| Ray Hayward | 12 | 62.2 | 4 | 6 | 5.46 | 37 |
| Kevin Brown | 4 | 23.1 | 1 | 1 | 4.24 | 12 |

#### 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 | 5 | 10.0 | 0 | 2 | 11.70 | 5 |
| Scott May | 3 | 7.1 | 0 | 0 | 8.59 | 4 |

#### 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 |
| Mitch Williams | 67 | 2 | 7 | 18 | 4.63 | 61 |
| Dale Mohorcic | 43 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 4.85 | 25 |
| Craig McMurtry | 32 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2.25 | 35 |
| Ed Vande Berg | 26 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4.14 | 18 |
| José Cecena | 22 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8.71 | 10 |
| Guy Hoffman | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.24 | 9 |
| Dwayne Henry | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8.71 | 10 |
| DeWayne Vaughn | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.63 | 8 |
| Cecilio Guante | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.93 | 4 |
| Tony Fossas | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.76 | 0 |
| Steve Wilson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.87 | 1 |
| Jeff Kunkel | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Oklahoma City 89ers | American Association | Toby Harrah |
| AA | Tulsa Drillers | Texas League | Jim Skaalen |
| 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 |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tulsa