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.Bert Campaneris page at Baseball Reference November 23, 1976: Doyle Alexander was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.Doyle Alexander page at Baseball Reference 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.Carl Morton page at Baseball Reference December 15, 1976: Dave Criscione was traded by the Rangers to the Baltimore Orioles for Bob Babcock.Dave Criscione page at Baseball Reference January 11, 1977: Dave Righetti was drafted by the Rangers in the 1st round (10th pick) of the 1977 Major League Baseball draft.Dave Righetti page at Baseball Reference February 2, 1977: Fritz Peterson was released by the Rangers.Fritz Peterson page at Baseball Reference 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.Darold Knowles page at Baseball Reference February 17, 1977: Brian Doyle, Greg Pryor and cash were traded by the Rangers to the New York Yankees for Sandy Alomar Sr.Alomar traded to Rangers

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

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

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.Willie Horton page at Baseball Reference April 30, 1977: Mike Marshall was purchased by the Rangers from the Atlanta Braves.Mike Marshall page at Baseball Reference May 9, 1977: Roy Howell was traded by the Rangers to the Toronto Blue Jays for Jim Mason, Steve Hargan and $200,000.Jim Mason page at Baseball Reference May 23, 1977: Dave Moates was purchased from the Rangers by the New York Yankees.Dave Moates page at Baseball Reference 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.John Butcher page at Baseball Reference June 15, 1977: Dock Ellis was purchased by the Rangers from the Oakland Athletics.Dock Ellis page at Baseball Reference June 15, 1977: Jim Fregosi was traded by the Rangers to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Ed Kirkpatrick.Jim Fregosi page at Baseball Reference

Roster 1977 Texas Rangers Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders 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 149 453 132 .291 6 65 1B 153 525 160 .305 18 69 2B 152 541 155 .287 9 62 3B 159 539 142 .263 27 87 SS 150 552 140 .254 5 46 LF 129 521 148 .284 12 68 CF 123 424 114 .269 10 50 RF 120 340 82 .241 7 42 DH 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 75 244 63 .258 5 23 79 236 53 .225 7 30 49 119 28 .235 4 15 39 96 32 .333 5 28 69 83 22 .265 1 11 37 68 15 .221 0 5 23 67 16 .239 2 6 36 55 12 .218 1 7 20 48 9 .188 0 3 25 32 7 .219 0 3 13 28 7 .250 1 5 11 26 8 .308 0 3 7 17 0 .000 0 0 17 6 2 .333 0 1 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 34 238.0 15 12 3.37 177 34 237.0 17 11 3.65 82 30 234.2 14 12 2.72 182 23 167.1 10 6 2.90 90 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 28 108.1 6 4 4.24 57 18 72.1 3 3 3.73 39 15 47.1 4 1 2.66 51 12 35.2 2 2 4.04 18 3 13.0 1 1 5.54 5 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 56 11 6 15 3.58 67 42 4 5 4 4.20 46 42 5 2 4 3.22 14 6 1 0 0 8.76 10 5 0 0 0 7.56 2 4 0 0 0 1.35 3 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

Notes

References

External links 1977 Texas Rangers team page at Baseball Reference 1977 Texas Rangers team page at www.baseball-almanac.com