Rangers Fun Facts

Random Fun Facts

Nicknames are a colorful part of baseball lore. The current crop of Rangers have some unusual nicknames including “Lettuce” for second baseman Ian Kinsler and “The Great Hambino” for Josh Hamilton
What could prompt Mets fans at Shea Stadium in New York to chant “Let’s Go Rangers”? During an inter-league game between the Rangers and Mets on June 14th, a rainstorm forced a 90-minute rain delay before the game was eventually postponed. During the rain delay, six Rangers players turned the tarp covering the playing field into an impromptu “slip-n-slide”, diving head-first and sliding across the rain-soaked tarp to the delight of Mets fans in attendance. Because no Mets player participated in the fun, the Rangers were the only guys entertaining the fans to elicit the chant. The six Rangers having fun slip-sliding away included Ian Kinsler (who instigated the session), Milton Bradley, Josh Hamilton, Michael Young, Josh Rupe and Gerald Laird.

Meal money for minor league ballplayers is $20 a day.

The champion of the Rangers club house when it comes to playing the video game “Guitar Hero” is pitcher C.J. Wilson (he’s atop the player rankings for Guitar Hero I, II and III). In fact, Wilson hosted a Guitar Hero III tournament in February at the penthouse of the Southwest Airlines headquarters to raise money and build a video game and rec room for recovering kids and families at Cook’s Children’s Hospital in Ft Worth.
The Legends of the Game Museum inside Rangers Ballpark in Arlington features the largest collection of baseball-related artifacts outside of Cooperstown. Over 100 items from the National Baseball Hall of Fame are on display.
New team president Nolan Ryan missed the first day of spring training workouts because he was invited to lunch with President George W. Bush at the White House in Washington, D.C.

Player Fun Facts

“At Home on the Road”: Even though Rangers Ballpark has the reputation as hitter-friendly, second baseman Ian Kinsler has better power numbers on-the-road. Fourteen of his seventeen home runs (through August 15th) were hit away from home. That’s tied with the White Sox’s Jermaine Dye for most road-homers in 2008.
Through the first 100 games of this season, Josh Hamilton totaled 98 RBIs. He is only the fifth player in major league baseball since 2000 to record at least 98 RBI’s through the first 100 games (Alex Rodriguez w/100 in ‘07, Luis Gonzalez w/99 in ‘01, Carlos Delgado w/98 in ’03, and Sammy Sosa w/98 in ’01). (info from Elias Sports Bureau).
Josh Hamilton’s 28 home runs in the first round of MLB’s Home Run Derby set a new record for most homers in one round. The previous record of 24 was set by Bobby Abreu in 2004. During his record-smashing round, Hamilton hit 13 consecutive home runs. Three of his 28 home runs traveled more than 500 feet. All 28 traveled a combined distance of 12,458 feet.

Taylor Teagarden first week in the major leagues concluded with the game-winning home run in the Rangers’ 1-0 win at Minnesota. It came on a 2-out, full count pitch and broke up a perfect game. Earlier in the week, Teagarden competed in the All-Star Futures Game at Yankee Stadium which features some of the top talent in the minor leagues. In the same week, he was named to the U.S Olympic baseball team.

Ian Kinsler’s 25-game hit streak which lasted through July 18th was the longest in the majors this season and tied Michael Young for the second longest streak in Rangers history. Gabe Kapler holds the team record with a hit in 28 consecutive games during the 2000 season.
Shortstop Michael Young’s 23-game hitting streak which ended June 11th was the longest in the major league’s this season and 4th longest in Rangers’ history. Former Rangers outfielder Gabe Kapler holds the team record for longest hit streak at 28 games.

Second baseman Ian Kinsler reached base safely in 28 consecutive games, a streak that ran through June 16th.
The Rangers selected catcher Ben Petralli, son of former Rangers catcher Geno Petralli, in the 33rd round of this year’s MLB amateur draft.
Rookie outfielder David Murphy is on-pace to hit 55 doubles this season which would be a new team record. Shortstop Michael Young is the current record holder with 52 doubles in the 2006 season. The Rangers overall hit 133 doubles in the first 57 games of this season which puts them on pace for a MLB record 378.
Ranger pitcher Vicente Padilla was the pitcher on the mound when the 2002 All-Star game was ruled a tie in the 11th inning. Due to the fact that Padilla (a member of the Phillies in 2002) was the only remaining pitcher on the NL team and he could not pitch any more innings, the game was called and ended officially as a "tie".
The oldest player in Rangers history was pitcher Nolan Ryan who played his last game as a Ranger on September 22, 1993 at age 46 years, 7 months and 22 days.
The youngest player in Rangers history was pitcher David Clyde who made his debut in Arlington on June 27, 1973 at age 18 years, 2 months and five days.
The first player in Rangers history to hit for the cycle (at least one single, double, triple and homerun in one game) was Oddibe McDowell on July 23, 1985 in a game versus the Indians at Arlington Stadium. McDowell doubled in the first inning, singled in the third inning, tripled in the fourth inning, and hit a home run in the eighth inning with two outs. He also had an additional single in the sixth inning for a total of 5 hits in the game.
The first Rangers pitcher to throw a no-hitter was Jim Bibby. He accomplished the historic feat in July, 1973 by putting up goose eggs against the Oakland A’s, winning the game 6-0.

Team Fun Facts

The Rangers scored 17 runs versus the Red Sox in an August 12th game at Boston, but lost by a score of 19-17. It is the first time in major league history that a team which scored 17 runs lost the game. All other 521 times in MLB history that a team totaled 17 runs in a game, the team won the game.
The Rangers’ 1-0 shutout win at Minnesota on July 20th was an uncommon occurrence. The last time the Rangers shutout an opponent 1-0 was nearly four years ago on September 19, 2004. Before that, the previous 1-0 shutout win came in 2000.
During a home game in May at Rangers Ballpark, the national anthem was performed live via satellite by American soldiers in Iraq. The soldiers then watched the ballgame from their base in Iraq. Rangers television reporter Jim Knows interviewed several of the soldiers’ spouses and children in attendance so they could say hello to family members in Iraq.
Earlier this season during a stretch that began the final week of May and lasted thru the first week of June, the Rangers scored 8-or-more runs in 6 consecutive games for the first time in club history. They’re the first team in MLB since 2006 to accomplish the feat.
The Rangers won 19 games during the month of May which set a new team record for wins in the month. It was the first month with 19-or-more wins in 23 seasons.

Rangers hitters used pink bats during the May 11th Mother’s Day game at Rangers Ballpark as part of the team’s “Going to Bat Against Breast Cancer” initiative by MLB which raise awareness of breast cancer. The pink bats used the game were autographed by Rangers players and made available on the MLB.com auction site. Proceeds from the auction go to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation.
During the April 15th home game at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, all players from both the Rangers and visiting Angels wore uniform #42 to honor Jackie Robinson, the late Brooklyn Dodgers infielder who broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947. The tribute was part of Jackie Robinson Day. Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig retired Robinson's No. 42 in 1997. Since then, Selig has given permission for individual players to wear the #42 only on Jackie Robinson Day (April 15th). Rangers manager Ron Washington came up with the suggestion that the entire team wear No. 42 on the 61st anniversary of Robinson's first game with the Dodgers on April 15, 1947, at Ebbets Field.
Before the Washington Senators moved to Arlington, Texas for the 1972 Major League Baseball season, Arlington Stadium was named “Turnpike Stadium”. The stadium was built in 1965 for $1.5 million.
The Rangers baseball team was named in honor of “The Texas Rangers”, a law enforcement agent with origins dating to the earliest days of Anglo settlement in Texas. The Texas Rangers form the oldest law-enforcement agency in North America with statewide jurisdiction. They often have been compared to four other world-famous agencies: the FBI, Scotland Yard, Interpol and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Scores of books, from well-researched works of non-fiction to Wild West pulp novels, have been written about the Rangers. They are part of the history of the Old West, and part of its mythology. The Rangers date back to 1823 when Stephen F. Austin recognized the need for a body of men to protect his fledgling colony. On August 5 of that year, Austin wrote that he would "...employ ten men...to act as rangers for the common defense." These men "ranged" the area of Austin's colony, protecting settlers from Indians.
The Rangers won only 56 games in 1973, but made history when they drafted a high school pitcher from Houston, Texas named David Clyde with the first overall pick of the draft, and started him in the major leagues only 22 days later. In his Rangers’ major league debut, he struck out the side in the 1st inning after walking the first two batters. Clyde won the game 4-3. But his career lasted only 5 years and he won only 18 games.
There have been 19 managers in Texas Rangers history. The first manager, when the team moved from Washington to Arlington in 1972, was the legendary Hall of FamerTed Williams. Williams was such a prolific hitter for the Boston Red Sox that he earned the nickname “The Splendid Splinter”.

Ballpark Fun Facts

Banners honoring each of the four 2008 Rangers All-Star players (Michael Young, Milton Bradley, Ian Kinsler & Josh Hamilton) are hanging at main fan entrances at Rangers Ballpark for the remainder of the season. The banners were hung following a July 28th pre game ceremony which honored the four All-Stars during their first home game following the All Star break.
“Ballpark Nachos” debuted at Arlington Stadium in 1977. The tasty snack was a specialty in many restaurants in Southern Texas, but remained virtually unknown anywhere else on the planet. That is until a gentleman by the name of Frank Liberto decided to try to sell nachos as a concession stand item. He reformulated the cheese to be soft all the time and used simple tortilla chips. What really made the concept take off was a visit by "Monday Night Football" later that year at a football game. Before the game started they were offering the product in the reception area where Howard Cosell took a liking to the name. That night and for weeks after, Cossel and the rest of the "Monday Night Football" team worked the word nacho and the product itself into a broadcast.
In addition to being the birthplace of ballpark nachos, Arlington Stadium is also the originator of “The Dot Race”.
At Rangers Ballpark, fans enjoy the traditional song “Cotton Eyed Joe” during every 7th inning stretch.