1979 Texas Rangers: Vanishing In Late Summer
After a breakout season in 1977, when they won 94 games, the Texas Rangers slipped a bit in ’78, contending, but settling for 87 wins. The 1979 season saw the slippage continue. After a strong first half raised hopes, the Rangers fell out of the race, and it foreshadowed more significant decline in the immediate future.
DEALS THAT MISSED THE MARK
A series of uninspired trades didn’t help. In the offseason prior to the ’79 campaign, Texas did a blockbuster 10-player deal with the New York Yankees. While they got 34-year-old reliever Sparky Lyle, just two years removed from winning the Cy Young Award, the package they gave up was highlighted by a good young lefthander in Dave Righetti. Texas dealt a versatile pitcher in Reggie Cleveland to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for a couple of players who didn’t pan out. In mid-June, they traded veteran starter Dock Ellis to the New York Mets for little in return.
Even the deals that did work out really didn’t. Buddy Bell, acquired from Cleveland to play third base, had a good year. But Texas gave up Toby Harrah, a good player at the same position, so the net impact on the field was marginal. A July deal to get speedy centerfielder Mickey Rivers from the Yankees worked out—Rivers hit .300 the rest of the way for the Rangers. But the price was Oscar Gamble, who hit .335.
A LINEUP WITHOUT A HAMMER
Bell ultimately finished with 18 homers and 101 RBIs, playing all 162 games, to lead the offense. Rookie first baseman Pat Putnam and rightfielder Richie Zisk each hit 18 home runs of their own. But no one cleared the 20-HR threshold and Texas had mediocre power numbers.
Al Oliver played centerfield and hit .323. Bump Wills was at second base, and he ignited the offense with 35 steals and a .340 on-base percentage. Jim Sundberg’s .345 OBP was respectable for anyone, and pretty good for a catcher. But a handful of decent performances weren’t going to be enough—the Rangers finished 10th in the 14-team American League for runs scored.
KERN’S HEROICS & A STEADY STAFF
What kept Texas afloat was good pitching. No one in the rotation stood out, but there was no obvious weak point. Fergie Jenkins, a future Hall of Famer was now 36-years-old, But he still made 37 starts, won 16 games and finished with a 4.07 ERA. Steve Comer started 36 games and had a rotation-best ERA of 3.68. Doc Medich and Doyle Alexander pitched respectably in limited work. Jon Matlack had a 4.13 ERA in 13 starts before elbow surgery shortened his season.
The real star of the staff in 1979 was in the bullpen. Jim Kern handled the closer’s role in an era when that entailed pitching more innings than is the case today. Kern worked 143 innings. He won saved 29 games and won 13 more, with a dazzling ERA of 1.57. Kern finished fourth in the Cy Young voting and was the best reliever in the American League.
Lyle wasn’t what he used to be, but the veteran lefty was still steady, working 95 innings and posting a 3.13 ERA. Danny Darwin, 23-years-old, did relief and spot start work and finished with a 4.04 ERA. Dave Rajsch was another steady arm in the bullpen.
All in all, with Kern dominating and everyone else at least stable, Texas finished third in the American League for composite ERA.
AN EARLY DOGFIGHT
The Rangers came firing out of the gate and won their first six games before settling into a mediocre stretch where they went 7-8. In the early part of May, Texas was five games off the pace in the AL West. Then they won six of seven, including sweeping red-hot Minnesota on the road. When the Twins made the return trip to Arlington, Texas won two of three. By Memorial Day, the Rangers were 26-19 and squarely in the midst of a red-hot division race.
With the Central Division still fifteen years from existence, the AL West had seven teams. Minnesota, Kansas City, and the Chicago White Sox were all in the West, joining Texas, the California Angels, Oakland A’s and Seattle Mariners (the Houston Astros were in the National League until 2013).
Moreover, only division winners qualified for the playoffs, going directly to the League Championship Series. Texas, Kansas City, California and Minnesota were all packed within 1 ½ games as the calendar moved into the early summer.
A SUMMER SURGE
The AL East was the superior division in the late 1970s/early 1980s, and Texas entered a difficult June stretch against the four best teams in that division. They went 8-11 against the Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Milwaukee Brewers (an AL team until 1998). But when the Rangers returned to face their AL West rivals, fortunes turned back upward. They split four with the Angels, won three of four from the A’s to wrap up a road trip, and then came home to host frontrunning California on June 26.
Matlack took the ball in Tuesday night’s opener and was in a 1-1 pitcher’s duel. Billy Sample homered in the bottom of the eighth and Texas won 2-1. On Wednesday night, Comer was brilliant, while Gamble had two hits, two walks, homered, and drove in three runs. The Rangers got a 4-2 win. On Thursday night, they made it easy on themselves—nine hits in the first inning scored eight runs. Wills led the way with a four-hit night and Texas went 9-for-20 with runners in scoring position. They coasted to a 14-4 win to complete the sweep and move into a tie for first place.
And they didn’t slow down. After taking a series from Oakland, the Rangers welcomed in the Orioles, the team who ultimately won the American League pennant. Comer dazzled again on the first Monday night of July, with a complete-game shutout and a 2-0 win. On Tuesday night, Jenkins was even better—a complete-game 1-hitter and a 4-0 win.
Having shown off their arms, the Rangers concluded this series by showcasing their bats. Facing eventual AL Cy Young Award winner Mike Flanagan, Wills had another four-hit night, Sample homered and Texas cruised to a 9-5 win.
Even though the surge slowed, as Texas split their next ten games, they still reached the All-Star break with a 52-39 record and were in second place, just two back of California. The race was on.
DOG DAYS COLLAPSE
Late summer has been cruel to more than one contender over the years, and these 1979 Texas Rangers were one of them. They lost five of six out of the break against the Royals and White Sox. Even so, the Rangers were still within 3 ½ games of first place as they entered into over a month of play against AL East teams, beginning on July 25.
By the time Texas returned to play the AL West on Labor Day, they were finished. An utterly disastrous stretch saw them lose 27 of 40 games. This once-promising season was gone in the blink of an eye as the Rangers entered September with a record of 66-71, and in an eight-game hole. If nothing else, there was no reason for the football-mad fans of Texas to take their eyes off the Cowboys in the final year for the great Roger Staubach.
A LATE FLICKER & FINAL FADE
The Rangers did show some pride in the final month. They won 11 of 16 and got to within five games of the Angels with a little over a week to go, albeit with the Royals and Twins still in between them. But Texas was going to play six of their final nine games against the Halos, so there was still a chance, however slim. But they lost two of three in Anaheim and were formally eliminated by the time the final week began.
Texas finished with a record of 83-79. It was good for third place in the AL West but was only eighth-best in the American League and 14th overall among what was then 26 teams. Even by the more generous standards of today, it wasn’t a playoff season.
In 1980, the Rangers slipped under .500. They never did win the AL West in this current form. It took until realignment and the shrinking of divisions for Texas to finally get to the postseason in 1996.