# 1977 Texas Rangers season

The 1977 Texas Rangers season was the 17th of the Texas Rangers franchise overall, their 6th in Arlington as the Rangers, and the 6th season at Arlington Stadium. The Rangers finished second in the American League West with a record of 94 wins and 68 losses. The 1977 Rangers were notable for having an American League record four managers in the same season. Frank Lucchesi began the season as the manager but team's board of directors decide to make a change after the Rangers entered June with a .500 record. Former Major League player and manager Eddie Stanky was introduced as the new manager on June 17 but changed his mind after one game and returned to his home in Alabama. Bench coach Connie Ryan served as the interim manager for six games before Billy Hunter was hired and led the team to a 60-33 record for the rest of the year.

## Offseason

On December 10, 1976, shortstop Danny Thompson died of leukemia. Thompson had played in 64 games for the Rangers in 1976.

### Notable transactions

* November 17, 1976: Bert Campaneris was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.
* November 23, 1976: Doyle Alexander was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.
* December 9, 1976: Jeff Burroughs was traded by the Rangers to the Atlanta Braves for Carl Morton, Adrian Devine, Ken Henderson, Dave May, Roger Moret, and $250,000.
* December 15, 1976: Dave Criscione was traded by the Rangers to the Baltimore Orioles for Bob Babcock.
* January 11, 1977: Dave Righetti was drafted by the Rangers in the 1st round (10th pick) of the 1977 Major League Baseball Draft.
* February 2, 1977: Fritz Peterson was released by the Rangers.
* February 5, 1977: The Rangers traded a player to be named later and cash to the Chicago Cubs for Darold Knowles. The Rangers completed the deal by sending Gene Clines to the Cubs on February 15.
* February 17, 1977: Brian Doyle, Greg Pryor and cash were traded by the Rangers to the New York Yankees for Sandy Alomar Sr.

## Regular season

For one June day in 1977, Eddie Stanky was drawn back into the major leagues as manager of the Rangers. After that day, he abruptly quit and left for Alabama, saying only that he was homesick.

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Kansas City Royals | 102 | 60 | .630 | — | 55‍–‍26 | 47‍–‍34 |
| Texas Rangers | 94 | 68 | .580 | 8 | 44‍–‍37 | 50‍–‍31 |
| Chicago White Sox | 90 | 72 | .556 | 12 | 48‍–‍33 | 42‍–‍39 |
| Minnesota Twins | 84 | 77 | .522 | 17½ | 48‍–‍32 | 36‍–‍45 |
| California Angels | 74 | 88 | .457 | 28 | 39‍–‍42 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Seattle Mariners | 64 | 98 | .395 | 38 | 29‍–‍52 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Oakland Athletics | 63 | 98 | .391 | 38½ | 35‍–‍46 | 28‍–‍52 |

### Record vs. opponents

1977 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 6–8 | 5–6 | 5–5 | 11–4 | 12–3 | 4–7 | 11–4 | 6–4 | 8–7 | 8–2 | 7–3 | 4–6 | 10–5 |
| Boston | 8–6 | — | 7–3 | 3–7 | 8–7 | 9–6 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 4–6 | 8–7 | 8–3 | 10–1 | 6–4 | 12–3 |
| California | 6–5 | 3–7 | — | 8–7 | 6–4 | 4–6 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 7–8 | 4–7 | 5–10 | 9–6 | 5–10 | 6–4 |
| Chicago | 5–5 | 7–3 | 7–8 | — | 6–4 | 4–6 | 8–7 | 6–5 | 10–5 | 3–7 | 10–5 | 10–5 | 6–9 | 8–3 |
| Cleveland | 4–11 | 7–8 | 4–6 | 4–6 | — | 8–7 | 3–7 | 11–4 | 2–9 | 3–12 | 7–3 | 7–3 | 2–9 | 9–5 |
| Detroit | 3–12 | 6–9 | 6–4 | 6–4 | 7–8 | — | 3–8 | 10–5 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 5–6 | 2–8 | 10–5 |
| Kansas City | 7–4 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 7–8 | 7–3 | 8–3 | — | 8–2 | 10–5 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 11–4 | 8–7 | 8–2 |
| Milwaukee | 4–11 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 5–6 | 4–11 | 5–10 | 2–8 | — | 3–8 | 8–7 | 5–5 | 7–3 | 5–5 | 8–7 |
| Minnesota | 4–6 | 6–4 | 8–7 | 5–10 | 9–2 | 5–5 | 5–10 | 8–3 | — | 2–8 | 8–6 | 7–8 | 8–7 | 9–1 |
| New York | 7–8 | 7–8 | 7–4 | 7–3 | 12–3 | 9–6 | 5–5 | 7–8 | 8–2 | — | 9–2 | 6–4 | 7–3 | 9–6 |
| Oakland | 2–8 | 3–8 | 10–5 | 5–10 | 3–7 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 6–8 | 2–9 | — | 7–8 | 2–13 | 7–3 |
| Seattle | 3–7 | 1–10 | 6–9 | 5–10 | 3–7 | 6–5 | 4–11 | 3–7 | 8–7 | 4–6 | 8–7 | — | 9–6 | 4–6 |
| Texas | 6–4 | 4–6 | 10–5 | 9–6 | 9–2 | 8–2 | 7–8 | 5–5 | 7–8 | 3–7 | 13–2 | 6–9 | — | 7–4 |
| Toronto | 5–10 | 3–12 | 4–6 | 3–8 | 5–9 | 5–10 | 2–8 | 7–8 | 1–9 | 6–9 | 3–7 | 6–4 | 4–7 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Juan Beníquez
* Bert Blyleven
* Bert Campaneris
* Tom Grieve
* Mike Hargrove
* Toby Harrah
* Ken Henderson
* Jim Sundberg
* Claudell Washington
* Bump Wills

### Notable transactions

* April 1, 1977: Carl Morton was released by the Rangers.
* April 12, 1977: Steve Foucault was traded by the Rangers to the Detroit Tigers for Willie Horton.
* April 30, 1977: Mike Marshall was purchased by the Rangers from the Atlanta Braves.
* May 9, 1977: Roy Howell was traded by the Rangers to the Toronto Blue Jays for Jim Mason, Steve Hargan and $200,000.
* May 23, 1977: Dave Moates was purchased from the Rangers by the New York Yankees.
* June 7, 1977: John Butcher was drafted by the Rangers in the 1st round (18th pick) of the secondary phase of the 1977 Major League Baseball Draft.
* June 15, 1977: Dock Ellis was purchased by the Rangers from the Oakland Athletics.
* June 15, 1977: Jim Fregosi was traded by the Rangers to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Ed Kirkpatrick.

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### 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 | 149 | 453 | 132 | .291 | 6 | 65 |
| 1B | Mike Hargrove | 153 | 525 | 160 | .305 | 18 | 69 |
| 2B | Bump Wills | 152 | 541 | 155 | .287 | 9 | 62 |
| 3B | Toby Harrah | 159 | 539 | 142 | .263 | 27 | 87 |
| SS | Bert Campaneris | 150 | 552 | 140 | .254 | 5 | 46 |
| LF | Claudell Washington | 129 | 521 | 148 | .284 | 12 | 68 |
| CF | Juan Beníquez | 123 | 424 | 114 | .269 | 10 | 50 |
| RF | Dave May | 120 | 340 | 82 | .241 | 7 | 42 |
| DH | Willie Horton | 139 | 519 | 150 | .289 | 15 | 75 |

#### 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 |
| Ken Henderson | 75 | 244 | 63 | .258 | 5 | 23 |
| Tom Grieve | 79 | 236 | 53 | .225 | 7 | 30 |
| John Ellis | 49 | 119 | 28 | .235 | 4 | 15 |
| Kurt Bevacqua | 39 | 96 | 32 | .333 | 5 | 28 |
| Sandy Alomar Sr. | 69 | 83 | 22 | .265 | 1 | 11 |
| Bill Fahey | 37 | 68 | 15 | .221 | 0 | 5 |
| Keith Smith | 23 | 67 | 16 | .239 | 2 | 6 |
| Jim Mason | 36 | 55 | 12 | .218 | 1 | 7 |
| Ed Kirkpatrick | 20 | 48 | 9 | .188 | 0 | 3 |
| Lew Beasley | 25 | 32 | 7 | .219 | 0 | 3 |
| Jim Fregosi | 13 | 28 | 7 | .250 | 1 | 5 |
| Pat Putnam | 11 | 26 | 8 | .308 | 0 | 3 |
| Roy Howell | 7 | 17 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Eddie Miller | 17 | 6 | 2 | .333 | 0 | 1 |
| Gary Gray | 1 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| Gaylord Perry | 34 | 238.0 | 15 | 12 | 3.37 | 177 |
| Doyle Alexander | 34 | 237.0 | 17 | 11 | 3.65 | 82 |
| Bert Blyleven | 30 | 234.2 | 14 | 12 | 2.72 | 182 |
| Dock Ellis | 23 | 167.1 | 10 | 6 | 2.90 | 90 |
| Tommy Boggs | 6 | 27.1 | 0 | 3 | 5.93 | 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 |
| Nelson Briles | 28 | 108.1 | 6 | 4 | 4.24 | 57 |
| Roger Moret | 18 | 72.1 | 3 | 3 | 3.73 | 39 |
| Len Barker | 15 | 47.1 | 4 | 1 | 2.66 | 51 |
| Mike Marshall | 12 | 35.2 | 2 | 2 | 4.04 | 18 |
| Jim Umbarger | 3 | 13.0 | 1 | 1 | 5.54 | 5 |
| John Poloni | 2 | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 6.43 | 5 |

#### 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 |
| Adrian Devine | 56 | 11 | 6 | 15 | 3.58 | 67 |
| Paul Lindblad | 42 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4.20 | 46 |
| Darold Knowles | 42 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3.22 | 14 |
| Steve Hargan | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8.76 | 10 |
| Mike Wallace | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.56 | 2 |
| Bobby Cuellar | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.35 | 3 |
| Mike Bacsik | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19.29 | 1 |

## Awards and honors

* Jim Sundberg, Gold Glove, catcher, 1977
* Juan Beníquez, Gold Glove, outfield, 1977

### All-Stars

All-Star Game
* Bert Campaneris, reserve

### Other team leaders

* Stolen bases – Bump Wills (28)
* Walks – Toby Harrah (109)

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Tucson Toros | Pacific Coast League | Rich Donnelly |
| AA | Tulsa Drillers | Texas League | Marty Martínez |
| A | Asheville Tourists | Western Carolinas League | Wayne Terwilliger |
| Rookie | GCL Rangers | Gulf Coast League | Joe Klein |