The History of the Texas Rangers: Every Era, from the First Season to Today
From the expansion Washington Senators of 1961 to the 2023 World Series title, the Rangers' story runs through Arlington, three pennants and decades of near-misses. This history covers every era with the numbers.
The Texas Rangers are one of the stranger success stories in baseball. They began as the second edition of the Washington Senators in 1961, lost 100 games in their first season, left Washington after 1971, and then waited 52 seasons in Texas for a World Series title. Through the 2025 season the historical record has them at 4,899 wins and 5,383 losses, a .476 winning percentage, which makes the 2023 championship an even bigger surprise.
The title came in 2023, in the franchise's 63rd season, after two earlier trips to the World Series ended in defeat: against San Francisco in 2010 and, in seven games, against St. Louis in 2011. Between the beginning and the end sit seven division titles, two wild-card berths, several managers whose names are better known elsewhere, and a handful of players who carried the club for a decade apiece. The Rangers have never been consistent, but they have often been entertaining, and the best years have usually followed the worst.
This history walks the franchise in eras, using the historical record through 2025 for every record cited. Where a story is documented history rather than a statistic, I have told it plainly and left out the details I could not verify.
The expansion Senators, 1961 to 1971
When the original Washington Senators moved to Minnesota after the 1960 season and became the Twins, the American League added a new Washington franchise to fill the gap. That club, the ancestor of today's Rangers, lost 100 games in 1961 (61-100, ninth in the ten-team league) and played that first season at Griffith Stadium, the old ballpark the first Senators had used. It drew 597,287 fans. From 1962 the team moved into a new park that was later named R.F.K. Stadium, and the best attendance it ever recorded there was 918,106, in 1969.
The expansion Senators were bad in the way new clubs are bad. They finished no better than sixth in the American League until 1969, and they lost between 100 and 106 games in four of their first five seasons. In 1963 the team lost 106 (56-106), the worst record of the Washington years. Mickey Vernon managed the first part of that stretch, and Gil Hodges, the former Brooklyn Dodgers first baseman, took over in 1963 and stayed through 1967, going 321-444 in 765 games. Those are not the numbers of a successful manager, but Hodges made the club respectable enough that it stopped losing every night, and he would go on to manage the New York Mets.
The best slugger of the era was Frank Howard, a huge outfielder who hit 246 home runs for the franchise between 1965 and 1972, the third-highest total in club history. Howard drew 575 walks for the club too. In an age of pitchers' parks and low scoring, he was the reason people bought tickets.
Ted Williams and the last years in Washington
The most famous manager in franchise history never won much. Ted Williams, the Hall of Fame hitter, took over the Senators for 1969 and finished with a record of 273-364 in 637 games with the club (1969 to 1972). But his first season was the best of the Washington years: the team went 86-76 and finished fourth, drawing the franchise's best Washington attendance. It was the only time the expansion Senators had a winning record.
The good feeling did not last. The club slipped back to 70-92 in 1970 and 63-96 in 1971, and the owner, Bob Short, announced a move to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The last home game in Washington, at R.F.K. Stadium, ended when fans poured onto the field and the umpires awarded a forfeit to the visiting Yankees. After the 1971 season the franchise left for Arlington, Texas, where it would play as the Rangers.
Arlington Stadium and the lean early 1970s
The Rangers' first season in Texas, 1972, was a disaster: 54-100, sixth in the American League West. In 1973 the team was worse, at 57-105, the lowest win total in franchise history in a full season. Williams left after 1972 and Whitey Herzog and Billy Martin followed. The club's home was Arlington Stadium, a minor-league park that was expanded for the big leagues, and where July and August games were played in the Texas heat.
The franchise turned around quickly. In 1974 the team won 84 games and finished second. Jeff Burroughs won the American League Most Valuable Player Award, the first Ranger to do so. Mike Hargrove, a first baseman with a quirky batting stance, won the Rookie of the Year Award. Fergie Jenkins, acquired from the Chicago Cubs, won 25 games, and he pitched for the club in two stints, 1974 to 1975 and 1978 to 1981, winning 93 games in all and posting 17 shutouts, the most in Rangers history.
The next few years were competitive but never decisive. The 1977 team, with Bump Wills at second base (161 stolen bases for the club between 1977 and 1981, third in club history) and a rotation that included Gaylord Perry and Bert Blyleven, won 94 games, the club's best record to that point, and finished second. It was the pattern of the era: good teams, no playoffs.
The knuckleball, the strike and the 1980s
Charlie Hough, the franchise's winningest pitcher, spent 1980 to 1990 throwing a knuckleball for the Rangers and finished with 139 wins and 1,452 strikeouts for the club, both franchise records. Hough was the thread through a decade when the club was mostly mediocre. The team lost 98 games in 1982 and 99 in 1985, and then won 87 in 1986, finishing second.
Bobby Valentine took over in 1985 and managed the team for the rest of the decade and into 1992, going 581-605 in 1,186 games, the second-most games of any Rangers manager. His teams were energetic and talented, but they could not break through in the strong American League West of that period. Ruben Sierra, a switch-hitting outfielder, drove in 742 runs for the club, and Buddy Bell, a .293 career hitter for the club, gave the lineup a steady third baseman in the early part of the decade. Attendance was growing through the late 1980s, and the team crossed two million fans in 1989 for the first time.
Nolan Ryan comes home, and a new ballpark
The Rangers signed Nolan Ryan for 1989, and over five seasons with the club, from 1989 to 1993, he struck out 939 batters. He recorded his 5,000th career strikeout as a Ranger, in 1989, and threw his seventh no-hitter as a Ranger in 1991. Ryan was a local hero, a Texan returning to throw for a Texas team in his forties, and he helped fill Arlington Stadium. The club drew 2,297,720 fans in 1991, the best season attendance the old park ever recorded.
The team also acquired a pair of power hitters. Juan Gonzalez and Rafael Palmeiro both began their Rangers careers in 1989, and by the time they left the club they stood first and second in the franchise's home-run list: Gonzalez with 372, Palmeiro with 321. Ivan Rodriguez, a catcher who debuted in 1991, would spend 13 seasons with the club and go to the Hall of Fame.
In 1994 the club moved into The Ballpark at Arlington, a new park designed around a retro look with brick and arched windows. Kenny Rogers pitched a perfect game there that July against the Angels. When the players' strike ended the season in August, the Rangers were in first place in the American League West with a 52-62 record, a division that was weak enough that a losing team led it. The strike cost them the chance to find out whether it would have lasted.
First division titles: 1996, 1998 and 1999
In 1996 Johnny Oates, who managed the club from 1995 to 2001 with a 506-476 record, led the Rangers to their first division title and first playoff appearance, a 90-72 season. Juan Gonzalez was the American League Most Valuable Player; he won it again in 1998. The Rangers won the series opener against the Yankees but lost the series, one game to three. The same thing happened in 1998 (88-74, swept 0-3) and 1999 (95-67, swept 0-3), each time against the New York Yankees on the way to a championship.
Ivan Rodriguez won the Most Valuable Player Award in 1999, the franchise's third Most Valuable Player Award in four seasons. The 1999 team had the best record the franchise had yet produced, with 95 wins. It had three playoff trips in four seasons and no postseason series wins. John Wetteland, the closer in the late 1990s, saved 150 games for the club between 1997 and 2000, the most in franchise history.
Attendance reflected the success: the club drew 2,889,020 fans in 1996 and 2,945,228 in 1997, the best figure the new park ever recorded. The Ballpark at Arlington remained a hitter's park throughout.
The Alex Rodriguez years and the lost decade, 2000 to 2009
After the 2000 season the Rangers signed Alex Rodriguez, the most prominent free agent of the era, to a ten-year contract that set a record for baseball salaries. The deal did not work out in the standings. The club finished fourth in the American League West in each of the three seasons Rodriguez played there, going 71-91 in 2000 before his arrival and 73-89, 72-90 and 71-91 afterward. Rodriguez was the American League Most Valuable Player in 2003, hitting among the league leaders in home runs, on a last-place team, and the Rangers then traded him to the Yankees.
Buck Showalter managed the club from 2003 to 2006, going 316-326, and the franchise slowly rebuilt. It won 89 games in 2004, its best record in the lost decade, and finished third. The park was renamed Ameriquest Field in Arlington in 2004 (the historical data lists the name for 2005 and 2006) and Rangers Ballpark in Arlington from 2007 on. The farm system produced Michael Young, who led the franchise in hits (2,230) and runs (1,085); Ian Kinsler; Elvis Andrus; and Neftali Feliz, who would become the 2010 Rookie of the Year. Behind them, Ron Washington was hired as manager for the 2007 season.
Two pennants, one strike short: 2010 to 2013
Washington managed the Rangers from 2007 to 2014 and went 664-611 in 1,275 games, the most wins and games in franchise history. The team won the American League West in 2010 with a 90-72 record. Josh Hamilton won the Most Valuable Player Award, and Feliz won Rookie of the Year. The Rangers beat Tampa Bay in five games in the Division Series, then beat the Yankees four games to two in the Championship Series, the first postseason series victories in franchise history. They lost the World Series to the Giants in five games.
In 2011 the club improved to 96-66, the best record in franchise history, and won the division again. They beat Tampa Bay three games to one and Detroit four games to two to win a second pennant. The World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals went seven games. In Game 6, the Rangers were twice one strike from a championship, and the Cardinals tied the game both times and won it in extra innings, then took Game 7. It remains among the hardest losses in franchise history.
The club won 93 games in 2012 and lost the one-game wild-card playoff to Baltimore, 0-1. In 2013 it won 91 games and missed the postseason. In those four years the Rangers drew more than 2.9 million fans three times, with a franchise-record 3,460,280 in 2012. Yu Darvish struck out 960 batters for the club between 2012 and 2017, fourth in club history.
Beltre, two more division titles and a bad stretch, 2014 to 2022
After a 67-95 season in 2014, Washington left, and Jeff Banister took over. The team rebounded to win the division in 2015 (88-74) and 2016 (95-67). Adrian Beltre, who played third base for the club from 2011 to 2018, hit 199 home runs and 1,277 hits and batted .304 for the franchise, and later went into the Hall of Fame. The Rangers lost to Toronto in the 2015 Division Series, two games to three, after leading two games to none, and were swept by the Blue Jays in 2016.
The club then fell off. After the 2018 season Beltre retired, the club went 67-95 that year and 78-84 in 2019, and Chris Woodward took over as manager, going 211-287 in 498 games. The 2020 season, shortened to 60 games by the pandemic, produced a 22-38 record, and the historical record shows no home attendance. That season also introduced Globe Life Field, the retractable-roof park next to the old one, which seats about 40,300 and has fences 329 feet down the left-field line and 326 feet down the right-field line, with 407 feet to center field. The club lost 102 games in 2021 (60-102) and 94 in 2022.
2023: the championship
The turnaround took two winters. After 2021 the Rangers spent heavily on free agents, including shortstop Corey Seager and second baseman Marcus Semien, and after 2022 they hired Bruce Bochy, who had won three World Series with the Giants, as manager. The team won 90 games in 2023 (90-72) and finished second in the American League West behind Houston, claiming a wild card.
The postseason was the Rangers' best. They swept Tampa Bay in the wild-card round two games to none, swept Baltimore in the Division Series three games to none, and beat the Astros in seven games in the Championship Series. In the World Series they beat Arizona four games to one. Seager was the World Series Most Valuable Player. The club was unbeaten on the road in that postseason. It was the first title in franchise history, in the franchise's 63rd season.
The follow-up was modest: 78-84 in 2024 and 81-81 in 2025. Bochy managed the club from 2023 through 2025, going 249-237. The 2023 title remains the franchise's only one through 2025.
The numbers in one place
| Category | Leader | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Home runs | Juan Gonzalez | 372 |
| Hits | Michael Young | 2,230 |
| Runs batted in | Juan Gonzalez | 1,180 |
| Stolen bases | Elvis Andrus | 305 |
| Wins | Charlie Hough | 139 |
| Strikeouts | Charlie Hough | 1,452 |
| Saves | John Wetteland | 150 |
The franchise's ballparks, as the historical data records them:
| Years | Ballpark name | Best season attendance |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Griffith Stadium II | 597,287 |
| 1962 to 1971 | R.F.K. Stadium | 918,106 |
| 1972 to 1993 | Arlington Stadium | 2,297,720 |
| 1994 to 2004 | The Ballpark at Arlington | 2,945,228 |
| 2005 to 2006 | Ameriquest Field | 2,525,221 |
| 2007 to 2013 | Rangers Ballpark in Arlington | 3,460,280 |
| 2014 to 2019 | Globe Life Park in Arlington | 2,718,733 |
| 2020 to 2025 | Globe Life Field | 2,651,553 |
The Hall of Fame players with at least four seasons for the Rangers are Ivan Rodriguez (13), Adrian Beltre (8), Fergie Jenkins (6), Nolan Ryan (5) and Gaylord Perry (4). The Most Valuable Player winners are Jeff Burroughs (1974), Juan Gonzalez (1996 and 1998), Ivan Rodriguez (1999), Alex Rodriguez (2003) and Josh Hamilton (2010). For a position-by-position ranking, see The Best Players in Texas Rangers History, Position by Position.
Common questions
How many pennants have the Rangers won? Three: 2010, 2011 and 2023. They won the World Series only in 2023.
Were the Rangers ever the Washington Senators? Yes, from 1961 to 1971. The franchise moved to Arlington for 1972. The earlier Washington Senators club became the Minnesota Twins, so the Rangers' history in the historical record starts in 1961.
Why do the Rangers' totals look so low? A franchise that has spent 65 seasons around .476 will have modest totals. The stars were real, but the supporting casts rarely matched them, and the team has often lost heavily in the years between its good ones.
How do they compare with the other clubs in their division? The Athletics, the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Angels share the American League West, and all four have had long waits between their best years.
What is the best Rangers season? By win percentage, 2011 at 96-66. By results, 2023. For the seasons in detail, read The Best Texas Rangers Seasons and Every October Run.
Where to go next
For the current club, visit the Texas Rangers team page and the Globe Life Field page, and browse the stories on the Rangers topic page. Read Globe Life Field: The History, the Dimensions and How the Park Plays for the building, and The History of the World Series: Formats, Champions and the Streaks for how the 2023 title fits into the larger story.