The 1981 Texas Rangers season was the 21st of the Texas Rangers franchise overall, their 10th in Arlington as the Rangers, and the 10th season at Arlington Stadium. The Rangers finished second in the American League West with a record of 57 wins and 48 losses. The season was suspended for 50 days due to the infamous 1981 players strike and the league chose as its playoff teams, the division winners from the first and second halves of the season, respectively.
Offseason December 12, 1980: Richie Zisk, Rick Auerbach, Ken Clay, Jerry Don Gleaton, Brian Allard, and Steve Finch (minors) were traded by the Rangers to the Seattle Mariners for Willie Horton, Larry Cox, Rick Honeycutt, Mario Mendoza, and Leon Roberts.Willie Horton page at Baseball Reference December 18, 1980: Bob Jones was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.Bob Jones page at Baseball Reference
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions April 1, 1981: Willie Horton was released by the Rangers. June 8, 1981: Ron Darling was drafted by the Rangers in the 1st round (9th pick) of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft.Ron Darling page at Baseball Reference
Roster 1981 Texas Rangers roster Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters 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 Jim Sundberg 102 339 94 .277 3 28 1B Pat Putnam 95 297 79 .266 8 35 2B Bump Wills 102 410 103 .251 2 41 SS 88 229 53 .231 0 22 3B Buddy Bell 97 360 106 .294 10 64 LF Billy Sample 66 230 65 .283 3 25 CF Mickey Rivers 99 399 114 .286 3 26 RF Johnny Grubb 67 199 46 .231 3 26 DH Al Oliver 102 421 130 .309 4 55
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 Leon Roberts 72 233 65 .279 4 31 Bill Stein 53 115 38 .330 2 22 50 85 22 .259 1 14 Tom Poquette 30 64 10 .156 0 7 John Ellis 23 58 8 .138 1 7 10 34 9 .265 3 7 Wayne Tolleson 14 24 4 .167 0 1 Bob Johnson 6 18 5 .278 2 4 Rick Lisi 9 16 5 .313 0 1 Dan Duran 13 16 4 .250 0 0 5 13 3 .231 0 1 7 13 3 .231 0 2 Don Werner 2 8 2 .250 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 22 146.0 9 9 3.64 98 Doc Medich 20 143.1 10 6 3.08 65 20 127.2 11 6 3.31 40 Fergie Jenkins 19 106.0 5 8 4.50 63 Jon Matlack 17 104.1 4 7 4.14 43
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 Charlie Hough 21 82.0 4 1 2.96 69 5 27.2 1 2 1.63 19 Len Whitehouse 2 3.1 0 1 16.20 2
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 36 8 2 6 2.56 22 John Henry Johnson 24 3 1 2 2.66 8 Jim Kern 23 1 2 6 2.70 20 16 1 1 0 2.20 18 Dave Scmiidt 14 0 1 1 3.13 13 Mark Mercer 7 0 1 2 4.70 8 Bob Lacey 1 0 0 0 9.00 0
Awards and honors Buddy Bell, 3B, Gold Glove 1981 Al Oliver, Silver Slugger Award, 1981 Jim Sundberg, C, Gold Glove, 1981
All-Star Game
Farm system
Notes
References 1981 Texas Rangers team page at Baseball Reference 1981 Texas Rangers team page at www.baseball-almanac.com