The 1979 Texas Rangers season was the 19th of the Texas Rangers franchise overall, their 8th in Arlington as the Rangers, and the 8th season at Arlington Stadium. The Rangers finished third in the American League West with a record of 83 wins and 79 losses.

Offseason October 3, 1978: Len Barker and Bobby Bonds were traded by the Rangers to the Cleveland Indians for Larvell Blanks and Jim Kern.Larvell Blanks page at Baseball-Reference Bobby Cuellar and Dave Rivera were sent to Cleveland to complete the August 31, 1978 trade for Johnny Grubb.Johnny Grubb page at Baseball Reference October 24, 1978: Sandy Alomar Sr. was released by the Rangers.Sandy Alomar page at Baseball Reference October 25, 1978: Mike Hargrove, Kurt Bevacqua, and Bill Fahey were traded by the Rangers to the San Diego Padres for Oscar Gamble, Dave Roberts and $300,000.Oscar Gamble page at Baseball Reference November 10, 1978: Dave Righetti, Juan Beníquez, Mike Griffin, Paul Mirabella, and Greg Jemison (minors) were traded by the Rangers to the New York Yankees for Domingo Ramos, Mike Heath, Sparky Lyle, Larry McCall, Dave Rajsich, and cash.Dave Righetti page at Baseball Reference December 8, 1978: Jim Mason was traded by the Rangers to the Montreal Expos for Mike Hart.Jim Mason page at Baseball Reference

Regular season June 24, 1979: Rickey Henderson made his major league debut for the Oakland Athletics in a game against the Rangers. Henderson had 4 at bats with 2 hits, and 1 stolen base.

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions May 4, 1979: Bert Campaneris was traded by the Rangers to the California Angels for Dave Chalk.Bert Campaneris page at Baseball Reference June 15, 1979: Dock Ellis was traded by the Rangers to the New York Mets for Bob Myrick and Mike Bruhert.Dock Ellis page at Baseball Reference June 15, 1979: Eric Soderholm was traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Texas Rangers for Ed Farmer and Gary Holle. August 1, 1979: Oscar Gamble, Amos Lewis (minors) and players to be named later were traded by the Rangers to the New York Yankees for Mickey Rivers and players to be named later. The Rangers completed the deal by sending Ray Fontenot and Gene Nelson to the Yankees on October 8. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Bob Polinsky (minors), Neal Mersch (minors), and Mark Softy (minors) to the Rangers on October 8.

Roster 1979 Texas Rangers Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other batters Manager

Coaches

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 150 495 136 .275 5 64 1B Pat Putnam 139 426 118 .277 18 64 2B Bump Wills 146 543 148 .273 5 46 SS 147 343 76 .222 0 21 3B Buddy Bell 162 670 200 .299 18 101 LF 128 325 95 .292 5 35 CF Al Oliver 136 492 159 .323 12 76 RF Richie Zisk 144 503 132 .262 18 64 DH John Ellis 111 316 90 .285 12 61

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 Johnny Grubb 102 289 79 .273 10 37 Mickey Rivers 58 247 74 .300 6 25 64 161 54 .335 8 32 Mike Jorgensen 90 157 35 .223 6 16 Eric Soderholm 63 147 40 .272 4 19 Willie Montañez 38 144 46 .319 8 24 68 120 24 .200 1 15 44 84 22 .262 3 14 16 42 10 .238 0 1 LaRue Washington 25 18 5 .278 0 2 Greg Mahlberg 7 17 2 .118 1 1 Bert Campaneris 8 9 1 .111 0 0 Dave Chalk 9 8 2 .250 0 0 Gary Holle 5 6 1 .167 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 Ferguson Jenkins 37 259.0 16 14 4.07 164 36 242.1 17 12 3.68 86 Doc Medich 29 149.0 10 7 4.17 58 23 113.1 5 7 4.45 50 Jon Matlack 13 85.0 5 4 4.13 35 John Henry Johnson 17 82.1 2 6 4.92 46 Dock Ellis 10 46.2 1 5 5.98 10

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 Danny Darwin 20 78.0 4 4 4.04 58 7 33.1 1 3 4.32 14 Ed Farmer 11 33.0 2 0 4.36 25 Jerry Don Gleaton 5 9.2 0 1 6.52 2 Larry McCall 2 8.1 1 0 2.16 3

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 71 13 5 29 1.57 136 Sparky Lyle 67 5 8 13 3.13 48 Dave Rajsich 27 1 3 0 3.52 32 4 0 0 0 10.12 6

Awards and honors Jim Kern, Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award Buddy Bell, 3B, Gold Glove Jim Sundberg, C, Gold Glove

All-Stars All-Star Game

Farm system

Notes

References 1979 Texas Rangers team page at Baseball Reference 1979 Texas Rangers team page at www.baseball-almanac.com