The Texas Rangers have been playing baseball in Arlington for 44 years.
They just concluded their worst April ever.
The Rangers went 7-14 in their opening month, with a franchise record-worst winning percentage of .333. Two teams (‘73 and ’82) won fewer games (6) than this year’s outfit, but both played fewer games and, therefore, had a better winning percentage. So, if nothing else, at least we witnessed history?
“Yeah, I think we can flip the calendar now,” said already beleaguered manager Jeff Banister after Wednesday’s 5-2 loss to the Mariners.
The ugly record – the worst in the AL – is no fluke. Let’s face it, the Rangers' stench is distributed equally at the plate and in the field.
They batted .210 in April, worst in baseball this year and worst for an AL team in any month since the DH arrived in ’73. And they scored only 75 runs last month, second-fewest for a month in franchise history.
Defensively they made four errors Wednesday, raising their AL-worst total to 21.
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It’s said that in baseball you can’t win a division in April but you can certainly lose one. And, sure enough, these types of holes are almost impossible to dig out of.
The other two Rangers’ teams to start this slowly went on to lose 105 (’73) and 98 games (’82). Look at it this way, last year the Rangers lost 95 games. But on May 1 they already had 15 wins.
The worst Aprils in Rangers’ history:
Yr April Pct. Finish
2015 7-14 .333 ??-??
1982 6-11 .352 64-98
2008 10-18 .357 79-83
1984 8-14 .363 69-92
1985 7-12 .368 62-99
1973 6-10 .375 57-105
2000 9-15 .375 71-91
1988 8-13 .380 70-91
A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He currently lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
