# 1989 Texas Rangers season

The 1986 Texas Rangers season was the 29th of the Texas Rangers franchise overall, their 18th in Arlington as the Rangers, and the 18th season at Arlington Stadium. The Rangers finished fourth in the American League West with a record of 83 wins and 79 losses. Nolan Ryan would achieve his 5,000th career strikeout during the season. He would finish as the American League leader in strikeouts.
This season, the Rangers were sold to a new ownership group; the managing partner was future United States President George W. Bush.

## Offseason

* October 11, 1988: Guy Hoffman was released by the Rangers.
* December 5, 1988: Paul Kilgus, Mitch Williams, Curtis Wilkerson, Steve Wilson, Luis Benitez (minors) and Pablo Delgado (minors) were traded by the Rangers to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Rafael Palmeiro, Jamie Moyer and Drew Hall.
* December 5, 1988: Bobby Meacham was traded by the New York Yankees to the Texas Rangers for Bob Brower.
* December 6, 1988: Pete O'Brien, Oddibe McDowell, and Jerry Browne were traded by the Rangers to the Cleveland Indians for Julio Franco.
* December 7, 1988: Nolan Ryan was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.
* January 6, 1989: Cecilio Guante was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.
* January 6, 1989: Jim Sundberg was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.
* January 23, 1989: Rick Leach was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.

## Regular season

* June 16, 1989: Sammy Sosa made his major league debut in a game against the New York Yankees. In four at-bats, Sosa appeared in 4 at-bats and had 2 hits.
* August 22, 1989: Against the eventual World Champion Oakland A's, Ryan became the first pitcher ever to record 5,000 career strikeouts. He struck out Rickey Henderson in the fifth inning to break the 5,000 barrier.
* September 12, 1989: Nolan Ryan threw 164 pitches before he was replaced on the mound by Kenny Rogers in the ninth inning. The Rangers lost the game, 6–5, to the Kansas City Royals.
* Rubén Sierra had a career year as he led the AL in triples and RBI but ranked 6th in home runs (29), third in runs scored (101) and 5th in hits (194). He set the club record for most total bases in a season (344), which also led the league.

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Oakland Athletics | 99 | 63 | .611 | — | 54‍–‍27 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Kansas City Royals | 92 | 70 | .568 | 7 | 55‍–‍26 | 37‍–‍44 |
| California Angels | 91 | 71 | .562 | 8 | 52‍–‍29 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Texas Rangers | 83 | 79 | .512 | 16 | 45‍–‍36 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Minnesota Twins | 80 | 82 | .494 | 19 | 45‍–‍36 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Seattle Mariners | 73 | 89 | .451 | 26 | 40‍–‍41 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Chicago White Sox | 69 | 92 | .429 | 29½ | 35‍–‍45 | 34‍–‍47 |

### Record vs. opponents

1989 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 10–3 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–6 |
| Boston | 7–6 | — | 4–8 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 11–2 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| California | 6–6 | 8–4 | — | 8–5 | 5–7 | 11–1 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 11–2 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 7–5 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–8 | — | 7–5 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 10–2 | 5–8 | 5–6 | 5–8 | 7–6 | 3–10 | 1–11 |
| Cleveland | 6–7 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 5–7 | — | 5–8 | 8–4 | 3–10 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 2–10 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 5–8 |
| Detroit | 3–10 | 2–11 | 1–11 | 8–4 | 8–5 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 2–11 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 6–6 | — | 8–4 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Milwaukee | 6–7 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 4–8 | — | 9–3 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–7 |
| Minnesota | 8–4 | 6–6 | 2–11 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 3–9 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 9–3 |
| New York | 5–8 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–5 | 4–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | — | 3–9 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–6 |
| Oakland | 7–5 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 10–2 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 9–3 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Seattle | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 5–7 |
| Texas | 3–9 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 10–3 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 7–6 | — | 5–7 |
| Toronto | 6–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 11–1 | 8–5 | 11–2 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 7–5 | — |

### Notable transactions

* July 29, 1989: Sammy Sosa, Wilson Álvarez, and Scott Fletcher were traded by the Rangers to the Chicago White Sox for Harold Baines and Fred Manrique.

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting

* = Indicates team leader

#### 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 | Chad Kreuter | 87 | 158 | 24 | .152 | 5 | 9 |
| 1B | Rafael Palmeiro | 156 | 559 | 154 | .275 | 8 | 64 |
| 2B | Julio Franco | 150 | 548 | 173 | .316 | 13 | 92 |
| 3B | Steve Buechele | 155 | 486 | 114 | .235 | 16 | 59 |
| SS | Scott Fletcher | 83 | 314 | 75 | .239 | 0 | 22 |
| LF | Pete Incaviglia | 133 | 453 | 107 | .236 | 21 | 81 |
| CF | Cecil Espy | 142 | 275 | 122 | .257 | 3 | 31 |
| RF | Rubén Sierra | 162 | 634 | 194 | .306 | 29 | 119 |
| DH | Harold Baines | 50 | 172 | 49 | .285 | 3 | 16 |

#### 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 |
| Jeff Kunkel | 108 | 293 | 79 | .270 | 8 | 29 |
| Rick Leach | 110 | 239 | 65 | .272 | 1 | 23 |
| Fred Manrique | 54 | 191 | 55 | .288 | 2 | 22 |
| Geno Petralli | 70 | 184 | 56 | .304 | 4 | 23 |
| Jim Sundberg | 76 | 147 | 29 | .197 | 2 | 8 |
| Mike Stanley | 67 | 122 | 30 | .246 | 1 | 11 |
| Jack Daugherty | 52 | 106 | 32 | .302 | 1 | 10 |
| Sammy Sosa | 25 | 84 | 20 | .238 | 1 | 3 |
| Buddy Bell | 34 | 82 | 15 | .183 | 0 | 3 |
| Juan González | 24 | 60 | 9 | .150 | 1 | 7 |
| Scott Coolbaugh | 25 | 51 | 14 | .275 | 2 | 7 |
| Thad Bosley | 37 | 40 | 9 | .225 | 1 | 9 |
| Jeff Stone | 22 | 36 | 6 | .167 | 0 | 5 |
| Dean Palmer | 16 | 19 | 2 | .105 | 0 | 1 |
| Kevin Reimer | 3 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |

### 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 |
| Nolan Ryan | 32 | 239.1 | 16 | 10 | 3.20 | 301 |
| Bobby Witt | 31 | 194.1 | 12 | 13 | 5.14 | 166 |
| Kevin Brown | 28 | 191.0 | 12 | 9 | 3.35 | 104 |
| Charlie Hough | 30 | 182.0 | 10 | 13 | 4.35 | 94 |
| Mike Jeffcoat | 22 | 130.2 | 9 | 6 | 3.58 | 64 |
| Jamie Moyer | 15 | 76.0 | 4 | 9 | 4.86 | 44 |
| Wilson Álvarez | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | inf | 0 |

#### 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 |
| John Barfield | 4 | 11.2 | 0 | 1 | 6.17 | 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 |
| Jeff Russell | 71 | 6 | 4 | 38 | 1.98 | 77 |
| Kenny Rogers | 73 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2.93 | 63 |
| Cecilio Guante | 50 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 3.91 | 69 |
| Gary Mielke | 43 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.26 | 26 |
| Drew Hall | 38 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.70 | 45 |
| Craig McMurtry | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.43 | 14 |
| Brad Arnsberg | 16 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4.13 | 26 |
| Darrel Akerfelds | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.27 | 9 |
| Paul Wilmet | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.43 | 1 |
| Jeff Kunkel | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21.60 | 0 |

## Awards and honors

* Julio Franco, Silver Slugger Award, 1989
* Jeff Russell, Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award 1989
* Nolan Ryan, American League Leader Strikeouts (301)
* Rubén Sierra, Silver Slugger Award, 1989
* Rubén Sierra, American League Leader, Triples (14)
* Rubén Sierra, American League Leader, RBI (119)
* Rubén Sierra, American League Leader, Total Bases (344)
All-Star Game
* Julio Franco, second baseman, starter
* Rubén Sierra, outfield, starter
* Nolan Ryan, pitcher, reserve
* Jeff Russell, relief pitcher, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Oklahoma City 89ers | American Association | Jim Skaalen |
| 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 |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Charlotte