1980 Texas Rangers season

1980 Texas Rangers
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1961)
Western Division (since 1972)
Location
Arlington Stadium (since 1972)
Arlington, Texas (since 1972)
Other information
Owner(s)	Eddie Chiles
General manager(s)	Eddie Robinson
Manager(s)	Pat Corrales
Local television	KXAS-TV (Frank Glieber, Eric Nadel, Mel Proctor)
Local radio	WBAP (Eric Nadel, Bill Merrill, Mel Proctor)
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The Texas Rangers 1980 season involved the Rangers finishing 4th in the American League west with a record of 76 wins and 85 losses.

Offseason

• November 14, 1979: Eric Soderholm was traded by the Texas Rangers to the New York Yankees for players to be named later and cash. The New York Yankees sent Amos Lewis (minors) (December 13, 1979) and Ricky Burdette (minors) (December 13, 1979) to the Texas Rangers to complete the trade.
• December 6, 1979: Doyle Alexander, Larvell Blanks and $50,000 were traded by the Rangers to the Atlanta Braves for Adrian Devine and Pepe Frías.
• January 4, 1980: Larry McCall, Gary Gray, and Mike Bucci (minors) were traded by the Rangers to the Cleveland Indians for David Clyde and Jim Norris.
• January 11, 1980: 1980 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Billy Taylor was drafted by the Rangers in the 2nd round. Player signed March 24, 1980.
  • Al Newman was drafted by the Rangers in the 3rd round, but did not sign.
  • Daryl Smith was drafted by the Rangers in the 6th round.
• February 15, 1980: Willie Montañez was traded by the Rangers to the San Diego Padres for Gaylord Perry, Tucker Ashford and Joe Carroll (minors).
• March 31, 1980: La Rue Washington and Chris Smith were traded by the Rangers to the Montreal Expos for Rusty Staub.
• March 31, 1980: David Clyde was released by the Rangers.

Regular season

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	97	65	0.599	—	49–32	48–33
Oakland Athletics	83	79	0.512	14	46–35	37–44
Minnesota Twins	77	84	0.478	19½	44–36	33–48
Texas Rangers	76	85	0.472	20½	39–41	37–44
Chicago White Sox	70	90	0.438	26	37–42	33–48
California Angels	65	95	0.406	31	30–51	35–44
Seattle Mariners	59	103	0.364	38	36–45	23–58

Record vs. opponents

1980 American League Records Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	8–5	10–2	6–6	6–7	10–3	6–6	7–6	10–2	7–6	7–5	6–6	6–6	11–2
Boston	5–8	—	9–3	6–4	7–6	8–5	5–7	6–7	6–6	3–10	9–3	7–5	5–7	7–6
California	2–10	3–9	—	3–10	4–6	5–7	5–8	6–6	7–6	2–10	3–10	11–2	11–2	3–9
Chicago	6–6	4–6	10–3	—	5–7	2–10	5–8	5–7	5–8	5–7	6–7	6–7	6–7–2	5–7
Cleveland	7–6	6–7	6–4	7–5	—	3–10	5–7	3–10	9–3	5–8	6–6	8–4	6–6	8–5
Detroit	3–10	5–8	7–5	10–2	10–3	—	2–10	7–6	6–6	5–8	6–6	10–2–1	4–8	9–4
Kansas City	6–6	7–5	8–5	8–5	7–5	10–2	—	6–6	5–8	8–4	6–7	7–6	10–3	9–3
Milwaukee	6–7	7–6	6–6	7–5	10–3	6–7	6–6	—	7–5	5–8	7–5	9–3	5–7	5–8
Minnesota	2–10	6–6	6–7	8–5	3–9	6–6	8–5	5–7	—	4–8	6–7	7–6	9–3	7–5
New York	6–7	10–3	10–2	7–5	8–5	8–5	4–8	8–5	8–4	—	8–4	9–3	7–5	10–3
Oakland	5–7	3–9	10–3	7–6	6–6	6–6	7–6	5–7	7–6	4–8	—	8–5	7–6	8–4
Seattle	6–6	5–7	2–11	7–6	4–8	2–10–1	6–7	3–9	6–7	3–9	5–8	—	4–9	6–6
Texas	6–6	7–5	2–11	7–6–2	6–6	8–4	3–10	7–5	3–9	5–7	6–7	9–4	—	7–5
Toronto	2–11	6–7	9–3	7–5	5–8	4–9	3–9	8–5	5–7	3–10	4–8	6–6	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• June 3, 1980: Tom Henke was drafted by the Rangers in the 4th round of the 1980 Major League Baseball Draft (Secondary Phase).
• July 11, 1980: Charlie Hough was purchased by the Rangers from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• August 14, 1980: Gaylord Perry was traded by the Rangers to the New York Yankees for Ken Clay and a player to be named later. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Marvin Thompson (minors) to the Rangers on October 1.
• September 13, 1980: Sparky Lyle was traded by the Rangers to the Philadelphia Phillies for a player to be named later. The Phillies completed the deal by sending Kevin Saucier to the Rangers on November 19.

Roster

1980 Texas Rangers roster
Roster
Pitchers 23 Brian Allard 46 Bob Babcock 29 John Butcher 16 Ken Clay 11 Steve Comer 44 Danny Darwin 35 Adrian Devine 24 Ed Figueroa 27 Jerry Don Gleaton 49 Charlie Hough 31 Ferguson Jenkins 38 John Henry Johnson 43 Don Kainer 34 Jim Kern 28 Dennis Lewallyn 28 Sparky Lyle 32 Jon Matlack 33 Doc Medich 36 Gaylord Perry 26 Dave Rajsich		Catchers 10 Jim Sundberg Infielders 29 Tucker Ashford 25 Buddy Bell 12 Odie Davis  9 John Ellis  3 Pepe Frías  7 Bud Harrelson  4 Nelson Norman 18 Pat Putnam  2 Mike Richardt 14 Dave Roberts 20 Rusty Staub  1 Bump Wills		Outfielders  6 Johnny Grubb 30 Mike Hart 19 Jim Norris  0 Al Oliver 17 Mickey Rivers  5 Billy Sample 22 Richie Zisk Other batters  8 Danny Walton		Manager 45 Pat Corrales Coaches 41 Jackie Brown 37 Rich Donnelly 47 Fred Koenig 48 Frank Lucchesi 43 Jackie Moore

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
SS	Pepe Frías	116	227	55	.242	0	10

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
Rusty Staub	109	340	102	.300	9	52
Jim Norris	119	174	43	.247	0	16
Mike Richardt	22	71	16	.225	0	8
Tucker Ashford	15	32	4	.125	0	3
Nelson Norman	17	32	7	.219	0	1
Mike Hart	5	4	1	.250	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Gaylord Perry	24	155	6	9	3.43	107
Steve Comer	12	41.2	2	4	7.99	9
Ken Clay	8	43	2	3	4.60	17
John Butcher	6	35.1	3	3	4.08	27

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Brian Allard	5	14.1	0	1	5.65	10

Relief pitchers

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Charlie Hough	16	2	2	0	3.96	47
Adrian Devine	13	1	1	0	4.82	8
Bob Babcock	19	1	2	0	4.63	15

Awards and honors

• Buddy Bell, 3B, Gold Glove 1980
• Al Oliver, Silver Slugger Award, 1980
• Jim Sundberg, C, Gold Glove, 1980

All-Star Game

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Charleston Charlies	International League	Tom Burgess
AA	Tulsa Drillers	Texas League	Wayne Terwilliger
A	Asheville Tourists	South Atlantic League	Tom Robson
Rookie	GCL Rangers	Gulf Coast League	Andy Hancock

References

• 1980 Texas Rangers team page at Baseball Reference
• 1980 Texas Rangers team page at www.baseball-almanac.com