The 1989 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 Governor of Texas and United States President George W. Bush.
Offseason October 11, 1988: Guy Hoffman was released by the Rangers.Guy Hoffman at Baseball Reference 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.Paul Kilgus at Baseball Reference 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.Julio Franco at Baseball Reference December 7, 1988: Nolan Ryan was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.Nolan Ryan at Baseball Reference January 6, 1989: Cecilio Guante was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.Cecilio Guante at Baseball Reference January 6, 1989: Jim Sundberg was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.Jim Sundberg at Baseball Reference January 23, 1989: Rick Leach was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.Rick Leach at Baseball Reference
Regular season June 16, 1989: Sammy Sosa made his major league debut in a game against the New York Yankees.Sammy Sosa at Baseball Reference 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
Record vs. opponents
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 1989 Texas Rangers Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches
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
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Charlotte
References
1989 Texas Rangers at Baseball Reference 1989 Texas Rangers at Baseball Almanac