1988 Texas Rangers season

HSE (Bob Carpenter, Norm Hitzges, Merle Harmon)
Radio	WBAP (Eric Nadel, Mark Holtz )
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The Texas Rangers 1988 season involved the Rangers finishing sixth in the American League West with a record of 70 wins and 91 losses.

Offseason

• December 13, 1987: Bárbaro Garbey was signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers.^[1]
• December 21, 1987: Greg A. Harris was released by the Texas Rangers.^[2]
• March 25, 1988: Mike Loynd was traded by the Rangers to the Houston Astros for Robbie Wine.^[3]

Regular season

Opening Day starters

• Jerry Browne
• Steve Buechele
• Scott Fletcher
• Charlie Hough
• Pete Incaviglia
• Oddibe McDowell
• Pete O'Brien
• Larry Parrish
• Geno Petralli
• Rubén Sierra^[4]

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	104	58	0.642	—	54–27	50–31
Minnesota Twins	91	71	0.562	13	47–34	44–37
Kansas City Royals	84	77	0.522	19½	44–36	40–41
California Angels	75	87	0.463	29	35–46	40–41
Chicago White Sox	71	90	0.441	32½	40–41	31–49
Texas Rangers	70	91	0.435	33½	38–43	32–48
Seattle Mariners	68	93	0.422	35½	37–44	31–49

Record vs. opponents

1988 American League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	4–9	5–7	4–7	4–9	5–8	0–12	4–9	3–9	3–10	4–8	7–5	6–6	5–8
Boston	9–4	—	8–4	7–5	8–5	6–7	6–6	10–3	7–5	9–4	3–9	6–6	8–4	2–11
California	7–5	4–8	—	9–4	8–4	5–7	5–8	3–9	4–9	6–6	4–9	6–7	8–5	6–6
Chicago	7–4	5–7	4–9	—	3–9	3–9	7–6	6–6	4–9	3–9	5–8	9–4	8–5	7–5
Cleveland	9–4	5–8	4–8	9–3	—	4–9	6–6	9–4	5–7	6–7	4–8	5–7	6–6	6–7
Detroit	8–5	7–6	7–5	9–3	9–4	—	8–4	5–8	1–11	8–5	4–8	9–3	8–4	5–8
Kansas City	12–0	6–6	8–5	6–7	6–6	4–8	—	3–9	7–6	6–6	8–5	7–5	7–6	4–8
Milwaukee	9–4	3–10	9–3	6–6	4–9	8–5	9–3	—	7–5	6–7	3–9	8–4	8–4	7–6
Minnesota	9–3	5–7	9–4	9–4	7–5	11–1	6–7	5–7	—	3–9	5–8	8–5	7–6	7–5
New York	10–3	4–9	6–6	9–3	7–6	5–8	6–6	7–6	9–3	—	6–6	5–7	5–6	6–7
Oakland	8–4	9–3	9–4	8–5	8–4	8–4	5–8	9–3	8–5	6–6	—	9–4	8–5	9–3
Seattle	5–7	6–6	7–6	4–9	7–5	3–9	5–7	4–8	5–8	7–5	4–9	—	6–7	5–7
Texas	6–6	4–8	5–8	5–8	6–6	4–8	6–7	4–8	6–7	6–5	5–8	7–6	—	6–6
Toronto	8–5	11–2	6–6	5–7	7–6	8–5	8–4	6–7	5–7	7–6	3–9	7–5	6–6	—

Detailed records

American League
Opponent	Total	Home	Away	RS	RA
American League West
California Angels	5–8	3–4	2–4	45	50
Chicago White Sox	5–8	2–4	3–4	63	62
Kansas City Royals	6–7	4–3	2–4	65	83
Minnesota Twins	6–7	2–4	4–3	48	70
Oakland Athletics	5–8	3–4	2–4	52	64
Seattle Mariners	7–6	3–3	4–2	52	42
Texas Rangers	–	–	–	–	–
Total	34–44	17–22	17–22	325	371
American League East
Baltimore Orioles	6–6	4–2	2–4	59	49
Boston Red Sox	4–8	2–4	2–4	37	60
Cleveland Indians	6–6	3–3	3–3	43	39
Detroit Tigers	4–8	2–4	2–4	30	38
Milwaukee Brewers	4–8	2–4	2–4	37	50
New York Yankees	6–5	4–2	2–3	47	63
Toronto Blue Jays	6–6	4–2	2–4	59	65
Total	36–47	21–21	15–26	312	364

Notable transactions

• April 4, 1988: Guy Hoffman was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.^[5]
• July 21, 1988: Jim Sundberg was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.^[6]
• July 27, 1988: Iván Rodríguez was signed by the Rangers as an amateur free agent.^[7]
• August 30, 1988: Dale Mohorcic was traded by the Rangers to the New York Yankees for Cecilio Guante.^[8]
• September 1, 1988: Tom O'Malley was traded by the Rangers to the Montreal Expos for a player to be named later. The Expos completed the deal by sending Jack Daugherty to the Rangers on September 13.^[9]

Roster

1988 Texas Rangers roster
Roster
Pitchers 41 Kevin Brown 37 José Cecena 46 Tony Fossas 51 Cecilio Guante 23 José Guzmán 32 Ray Hayward 45 Dwayne Henry 42 Guy Hoffman 49 Charlie Hough 30 Mike Jeffcoat 39 Paul Kilgus 48 Scott May 38 Craig McMurtry 34 Dale Mohorcic 40 Jeff Russell 43 Ed Vande Berg 54 DeWayne Vaughn 28 Mitch Williams 34 Steve Wilson 36 Bobby Witt		Catchers  7 Chad Kreuter 12 Geno Petralli 13 Larry See  5 Mike Stanley 10 Jim Sundberg Infielders  8 Jerry Browne 22 Steve Buechele  1 Scott Fletcher 20 Jeff Kunkel  9 Pete O'Brien 19 Curtis Wilkerson		Outfielders 33 Bob Brower  6 Cecil Espy 17 Bárbaro Garbey 29 Pete Incaviglia 24 Steve Kemp  0 Oddibe McDowell 47 Kevin Reimer 21 Rubén Sierra 27 Jim Steels Other batters 15 Larry Parrish		Manager  2 Bobby Valentine Coaches 52 Dick Egan 35 Tom House 10 Art Howe 14 Davey Lopes 26 Dave Oliver 31 Tom Robson

Game log

1988 Game Log 70–91 (Home: 38–43; Away: 32–48)
April: 8–13 (Home: 4–7; Away: 4–6) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Record Streak 1 April 4 Indians 4–3 1–0 W1 2 April 6 Indians 1–5 1–1 L1 3 April 7 Indians 1–4 1–2 L2 4 April 8 Red Sox 0–4 1–3 L3 5 April 9 Red Sox 1–2 1–4 L4 6 April 10 Red Sox 4–1 2–4 W1 7 April 12 @ Tigers 1–4 2–5 L1 8 April 14 @ Tigers 2–1 3–5 W1 9 April 15 @ Red Sox 3–2 (10) 4–5 W2 10 April 16 @ Red Sox 2–0 5–5 W3 11 April 17 @ Red Sox 2–15 5–6 L1 12 April 18 @ Red Sox 3–4 5–7 L2 13 April 19 @ Indians 3–0 6–7 W1 14 April 20 @ Indians 1–2 6–8 L1 15 April 22 Tigers 3–5 6–9 L2 16 April 23 Tigers 6–7 6–10 L3 17 April 24 Tigers 4–2 7–10 W1 18 April 26 Brewers 3–1 8–10 W2 19 April 27 Brewers 3–4 8–11 L1 20 April 29 @ Yankees 1–2 8–12 L2 21 April 30 @ Yankees 3–15 8–13 L3
May: 17–11 (Home: 11–5; Away: 6–6) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Record Streak 22 May 1 @ Yankees 5–1 9–13 W1 23 May 2 @ Orioles 4–9 9–14 L1 24 May 3 @ Orioles 4–2 10–14 W1 25 May 4 @ Brewers 5–6 10–15 L1 26 May 5 @ Brewers 1–9 10–16 L2 27 May 6 Yankees 7–6 11–16 W1 28 May 7 Yankees 3–2 12–16 W2 29 May 8 Yankees 10–8 13–16 W3 30 May 10 Orioles 13–5 14–16 W4 31 May 11 Orioles 8–0 15–16 W5 32 May 12 Orioles 2–1 16–16 W6 33 May 13 Royals 2–1 17–16 W7 34 May 14 Royals 6–3 18–16 W8 35 May 15 Royals 4–5 18–17 L1 36 May 16 Royals 6–7 18–18 L2 37 May 17 @ Blue Jays 7–6 (14) 19–18 W1 38 May 18 @ Blue Jays 4–0 20–18 W2 - May 20 Twins Postponed (rain); Makeup: May 22 39 May 21 Twins 3–0 21–18 W3 40 May 22 Twins 5–15 21–19 L1 41 May 22 Twins 2–4 21–20 L2 42 May 24 Blue Jays 2–13 21–21 L3 43 May 25 Blue Jays 5–1 22–21 W1 44 May 26 Blue Jays 8–7 23–21 W2 45 May 27 @ Royals 3–2 24–21 W3 46 May 28 @ Royals 6–8 24–22 L1 47 May 29 @ Royals 1–12 24–23 L2 48 May 30 @ Twins 6–1 25–23 W1 49 May 31 @ Twins 6–8 25–24 L1
June: 12–15 (Home: 4–7; Away: 6–8) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Record Streak 50 June 1 @ Twins 1–7 25–25 L2 51 June 2 @ White Sox 10–2 26–25 W1 52 June 3 @ White Sox 9–3 27–25 W2 53 June 4 @ White Sox 8–10 27–26 L1 54 June 5 @ White Sox 4–5 27–27 L2 55 June 6 Angels 6–4 28–27 W1 56 June 7 Angels 0–1 28–28 L1 57 June 8 Angels 2–5 28–29 L2 58 June 9 Athletics 5–2 29–29 W1 59 June 10 Athletics 6–7 29–30 L1 60 June 11 Athletics 4–13 29–31 L2 61 June 12 Athletics 3–2 30–31 W1 62 June 14 @ Angels 0–3 30–32 L1 63 June 15 @ Angels 6–3 (10) 31–32 W1 64 June 16 @ Angels 0–3 31–33 L1 65 June 17 @ Athletics 6–7 (14) 31–34 L2 66 June 18 @ Athletics 1–2 (13) 31–35 L3 67 June 19 @ Athletics 5–4 (11) 32–35 W1 68 June 20 Mariners 4–3 33–35 W2 69 June 21 Mariners 6–0 34–35 W3 70 June 22 Mariners 2–3 (10) 34–36 L1 71 June 24 White Sox 5–2 35–36 W1 72 June 25 White Sox 5–10 35–37 L1 73 June 26 White Sox 5–7 35–38 L2 74 June 27 @ Mariners 3–6 35–39 L3 75 June 28 @ Mariners 6–0 36–39 W1 76 June 29 @ Mariners 1–0 (12) 37–39 W2
July: 9–18 (Home: 4–9; Away: 5–9) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Record Streak 77 July 1 Orioles 1–7 37–40 L1 78 July 2 Orioles 4–7 37–41 L2 79 July 3 Orioles 13–1 38–41 W1 80 July 4 Yankees 2–13 38–42 L1 81 July 5 Yankees 3–5 38–43 L2 82 July 6 Yankees 4–2 39–43 W1 83 July 7 @ Orioles 0–6 39–44 L1 84 July 8 @ Orioles 8–5 40–44 W1 85 July 9 @ Orioles 1–4 40–45 L1 86 July 10 @ Orioles 1–2 40–46 L2 87 July 14 Brewers 2–6 40–47 L3 88 July 15 Brewers 2–4 40–48 L4 89 July 16 Brewers 3–4 40–49 L5 90 July 17 Brewers 3–0 41–49 W1 91 July 18 @ Yankees 2–7 41–50 L1 92 July 19 @ Yankees 7–2 42–51 W1 93 July 21 @ Brewers 1–6 42–51 L1 94 July 22 @ Brewers 1–2 42–52 L2 95 July 23 @ Brewers 7–4 43–52 W1 96 July 24 @ Brewers 6–4 44–52 W2 97 July 25 Red Sox 0–2 44–53 L1 98 July 26 Red Sox 9–8 45–53 W1 99 July 27 Red Sox 7–10 45–54 L1 100 July 29 @ Tigers 2–3 45–55 L2 101 July 29 @ Tigers 2–1 46–55 W1 102 July 30 @ Tigers 0–3 46–56 L1 103 July 31 @ Tigers 1–5 46–57 L2
August: 14–14 (Home: 8–7; Away: 6–7) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Record Streak 104 August 2 @ Red Sox 2–7 46–58 L3 105 August 3 @ Red Sox 4–5 47–59 L4 106 August 5 Indians 8–4 47–59 W1 107 August 6 Indians 3–5 47–60 L1 108 August 7 Indians 2–0 48–60 W1 109 August 8 Tigers 2–3 48–61 L1 110 August 9 Tigers 6–2 49–61 W1 111 August 10 Tigers 1–2 49–62 L1 112 August 11 @ Indians 5–4 50–62 W1 113 August 12 @ Indians 3–6 50–63 L1 114 August 13 @ Indians 12–3 51–63 W1 115 August 14 @ Indians 0–3 51–64 L1 116 August 15 @ Royals 3–12 51–65 L2 117 August 16 @ Royals 5–4 52–65 W1 118 August 17 @ Royals 6–9 52–66 L1 119 August 18 @ Twins 4–2 53–66 W1 120 August 19 @ Twins 5–0 54–66 W2 121 August 20 @ Twins 3–2 55–66 W3 122 August 21 @ Twins 2–12 55–67 L1 123 August 22 Royals 9–5 56–67 W1 124 August 23 Royals 7–11 56–68 L1 125 August 24 Royals 7–4 57–68 W1 126 August 26 Blue Jays 5–1 58–68 W2 127 August 27 Blue Jays 5–3 59–68 W3 128 August 28 Blue Jays 5–6 (11) 59–69 L1 129 August 29 Twins 2–3 59–70 L2 130 August 30 Twins 8–6 60–70 W1 131 August 31 Twins 1–10 60–71 L1
September: 9–17 (Home: 5–8; Away: 4–9) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Record Streak 132 September 1 @ Blue Jays 1–5 60–72 L2 133 September 2 @ Blue Jays 6–7 60–73 L3 134 September 3 @ Blue Jays 4–7 60–74 L4 135 September 4 @ Blue Jays 7–9 60–75 L5 136 September 5 Athletics 4–11 60–76 L6 137 September 6 Athletics 3–1 61–76 W1 138 September 7 Athletics 3–6 61–77 L1 139 September 8 Angels 3–4 61–78 L2 140 September 9 Angels 3–5 61–79 L3 141 September 10 Angels 3–2 (17) 62–79 W1 142 September 11 Angels 8–3 63–79 W2 143 September 13 @ Athletics 1–2 63–80 L1 144 September 14 @ Athletics 9–1 64–80 W1 145 September 15 @ Athletics 2–6 64–81 L1 146 September 16 @ Angels 2–7 64–82 L2 147 September 17 @ Angels 7–4 65–82 W1 148 September 18 @ Angels 5–6 65–83 L1 149 September 19 White Sox 3–7 65–84 L2 150 September 20 White Sox 4–1 66–84 W1 151 September 21 White Sox 1–6 66–85 L1 152 September 23 Mariners 3–2 (10) 67–85 W1 153 September 24 Mariners 0–3 67–86 L1 154 September 25 Mariners 5–8 67–87 L2 155 September 26 @ White Sox 5–3 68–87 W1 156 September 27 @ White Sox 2–3 68–88 L1 157 September 28 @ White Sox 2–3 68–89 L2 158 September 29 @ Mariners 1–5 68–90 L3 159 September 30 @ Mariners 11–6 69–90 W1
October: 1–1 (Home: 0–0; Away: 1–1) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Record Streak 160 October 1 @ Mariners 3–4 (11) 70–90 L1 161 October 2 @ Mariners 7–2 71–90 W1
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Rangers team member

Player stats

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	Geno Petralli	129	351	99	.282	7	36
1B	Pete O'Brien	156	547	149	.272	16	71
2B	Curt Wilkerson	117	338	99	.293	0	28
SS	Scott Fletcher	140	515	142	.276	0	47
3B	Steve Buechele	155	503	126	.250	16	58
LF	Pete Incaviglia	116	418	104	.249	22	54
CF	Oddibe McDowell	120	437	108	.247	6	37
RF	Rubén Sierra	156	615	156	.254	23	91
DH	Larry Parrish	68	248	47	.190	7	26

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
Cecil Espy	123	347	86	.248	2	39
Mike Stanley	94	249	57	.229	3	27
Jerry Browne	73	214	49	.229	1	17
Bob Brower	82	201	45	.224	1	11
Jeff Kunkel	55	154	35	.227	2	15
Jim Sundberg	38	91	26	.286	4	13
Barbaro Garbey	30	62	12	.194	0	5
Jim Steels	36	53	10	.189	0	5
Chad Kreuter	16	51	14	.275	1	5
Steve Kemp	16	36	8	.222	0	2
Kevin Reimer	12	25	3	.120	1	2
Larry See	13	23	3	.130	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
Charlie Hough	34	252.0	15	16	3.32	174
José Guzmán	30	206.2	11	13	3.70	157
Paul Kilgus	32	203.1	12	15	4.16	88
Jeff Russell	34	188.2	10	9	3.82	88
Bobby Witt	22	174.1	8	10	3.92	148
Ray Hayward	12	62.2	4	6	5.46	37
Kevin Brown	4	23.1	1	1	4.24	12

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
Mike Jeffcoat	5	10.0	0	2	11.70	5
Scott May	3	7.1	0	0	8.59	4

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
Mitch Williams	67	2	7	18	4.63	61
Dale Mohorcic	43	2	6	5	4.85	25
Craig McMurtry	32	3	3	3	2.25	35
Ed Vande Berg	26	2	2	2	4.14	18
José Cecena	22	0	0	1	8.71	10
Guy Hoffman	11	0	0	0	5.24	9
Dwayne Henry	11	0	0	1	8.71	10
DeWayne Vaughn	8	0	0	0	7.63	8
Cecilio Guante	7	0	0	1	1.93	4
Tony Fossas	5	0	0	0	4.76	0
Steve Wilson	3	0	0	0	5.87	1
Jeff Kunkel	1	0	0	0	0.00	1

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Oklahoma City 89ers	American Association	Toby Harrah
AA	Tulsa Drillers	Texas League	Jim Skaalen
A	Charlotte Rangers	Florida State League	Bobby Jones
A	Gastonia Rangers	South Atlantic League	Orlando Gómez
Rookie	GCL Rangers	Gulf Coast League	Chino Cadahia
Rookie	Butte Copper Kings	Pioneer League	Bump Wills

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Tulsa

References

• 1988 Texas Rangers at Baseball Reference
• 1988 Texas Rangers at Baseball Almanac
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (2007). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America.
  ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6
  .