# 1976 Texas Rangers season

The 1976 Texas Rangers season was the 16th of the Texas Rangers franchise overall, their 5th in Arlington as the Rangers, and the 5th season at Arlington Stadium. The Rangers finished fourth in the American League West with a record of 76 wins and 86 losses.

## Offseason

* November 12, 1975: Dave Nelson was traded by the Rangers to the Kansas City Royals for Nelson Briles.
* December 9, 1975: Stan Thomas and Ron Pruitt were traded by the Rangers to the Cleveland Indians for John Ellis.
* March 12, 1976: Mike Kekich was released by the Rangers.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Kansas City Royals | 90 | 72 | .556 | — | 49‍–‍32 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Oakland Athletics | 87 | 74 | .540 | 2½ | 51‍–‍30 | 36‍–‍44 |
| Minnesota Twins | 85 | 77 | .525 | 5 | 44‍–‍37 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Texas Rangers | 76 | 86 | .469 | 14 | 39‍–‍42 | 37‍–‍44 |
| California Angels | 76 | 86 | .469 | 14 | 38‍–‍43 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Chicago White Sox | 64 | 97 | .398 | 25½ | 35‍–‍45 | 29‍–‍52 |

### Record vs. opponents

1976 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | TEX |
| Baltimore | — | 7–11 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 13–5 | 4–8 | 8–4 |
| Boston | 11–7 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 14–4 | 3–9 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 3–9 |
| California | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 11–7 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 6–12 | 12–6 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 1–11 | 8–9 | 7–11 |
| Cleveland | 11–7 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 9–3 | — | 6–12 | 6–6 | 11–6 | 9–3 | 4–12 | 4–8 | 7–5 |
| Detroit | 6–12 | 4–14 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 12–6 | — | 4–8 | 12–6 | 4–8 | 9–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 9–3 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 6–6 | 8–4 | — | 8–4 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 7–11 |
| Milwaukee | 7–11 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 6–11 | 6–12 | 4–8 | — | 4–8 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 10–2 |
| Minnesota | 8–4 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 8–4 | — | 2–10 | 11–7 | 11–7 |
| New York | 5–13 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 12–4 | 8–9 | 5–7 | 13–5 | 10–2 | — | 6–6 | 9–3 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 9–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 6–6 | — | 7–11 |
| Texas | 4–8 | 9–3 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 2–10 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 11–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 10, 1976: Danny Darwin was signed as an amateur free agent by the Rangers.
* May 17, 1976: Bobby Jones was selected off waivers from the Rangers by the California Angels.
* May 28, 1976: Stan Perzanowski and cash were traded by the Rangers to the Cleveland Indians for Fritz Peterson.
* June 1, 1976: Bill Singer, Roy Smalley, Mike Cubbage, Jim Gideon, and $250,000 were traded by the Rangers to the Minnesota Twins for Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson.
* June 8, 1976: 1976 Major League Baseball Draft
** Billy Sample was drafted by the Rangers in the 10th round.
** Andre Robertson was drafted by the Rangers in the 12th round, but did not sign.

### 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 | Jim Sundberg | 140 | 448 | 102 | .228 | 3 | 34 |
| 1B | Mike Hargrove | 151 | 541 | 155 | .287 | 7 | 58 |
| 2B | Lenny Randle | 142 | 539 | 121 | .224 | 1 | 51 |
| 3B | Roy Howell | 140 | 491 | 124 | .253 | 8 | 53 |
| SS | Toby Harrah | 155 | 584 | 152 | .260 | 15 | 67 |
| LF | Gene Clines | 116 | 446 | 123 | .276 | 0 | 38 |
| CF | Juan Beníquez | 145 | 478 | 122 | .255 | 0 | 33 |
| RF | Jeff Burroughs | 158 | 604 | 143 | .237 | 18 | 86 |
| DH | Tom Grieve | 149 | 546 | 139 | .255 | 20 | 81 |

#### 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 |
| Danny Thompson | 64 | 196 | 42 | .214 | 1 | 13 |
| Dave Moates | 85 | 137 | 33 | .241 | 0 | 13 |
| Jim Fregosi | 58 | 133 | 31 | .233 | 2 | 12 |
| Roy Smalley | 41 | 129 | 29 | .225 | 1 | 8 |
| Joe Lahoud | 38 | 89 | 20 | .225 | 1 | 5 |
| Bill Fahey | 38 | 80 | 20 | .250 | 1 | 9 |
| Mike Cubbage | 14 | 32 | 7 | .219 | 0 | 0 |
| John Ellis | 11 | 31 | 13 | .419 | 1 | 8 |
| Ken Pape | 21 | 23 | 5 | .217 | 1 | 4 |
| Doug Ault | 9 | 20 | 6 | .300 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Pryor | 5 | 8 | 3 | .375 | 0 | 1 |

### 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 |
| Gaylord Perry | 32 | 250.1 | 15 | 14 | 3.24 | 143 |
| Nelson Briles | 32 | 210.0 | 11 | 9 | 3.26 | 98 |
| Bert Blyleven | 24 | 202.1 | 9 | 11 | 2.76 | 144 |
| Jim Umbarger | 30 | 197.1 | 10 | 12 | 3.15 | 105 |
| Tommy Boggs | 13 | 90.1 | 1 | 7 | 3.49 | 36 |
| Bill Singer | 10 | 64.2 | 4 | 1 | 3.48 | 34 |
| Len Barker | 2 | 15.0 | 1 | 0 | 2.40 | 7 |

#### 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 |
| Steve Hargan | 35 | 124.1 | 8 | 8 | 3.62 | 63 |
| Steve Barr | 20 | 67.2 | 2 | 6 | 5.59 | 27 |
| Fritz Peterson | 4 | 15.0 | 1 | 0 | 3.60 | 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 |
| Joe Hoerner | 41 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 5.14 | 15 |
| Steve Foucault | 46 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 3.33 | 41 |
| Jeff Terpko | 32 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.39 | 24 |
| Mike Bacsik | 23 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4.25 | 21 |
| Craig Skok | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12.60 | 5 |
| Stan Perzanowski | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.03 | 6 |

## Awards and honors

* Jim Sundberg, C, Gold Glove, 1976
All-Star Game

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Sacramento Solons | Pacific Coast League | Rich Donnelly |
| AA | San Antonio Brewers | Texas League | Marty Martínez |
| A | Asheville Tourists | Western Carolinas League | Wayne Terwilliger |
| Rookie | GCL Rangers | Gulf Coast League | Joe Klein |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: GCL Rangers