List of Texas Rangers managers

The Texas Rangers are an American baseball franchise based in Arlington, Texas. They are members of the American League West division. The Rangers franchise was formed in 1961, then called the Washington Senators, as a member of the American League.[1] In its 62-year history, the Texas Rangers baseball franchise of Major League Baseball's American League has employed 28 managers.[2] The duties of the team manager include team strategy and leadership on and off the field.[3]

A man wearing a blue baseball jersey and cap
Ron Washington managed the Rangers from 2007 to 2014.

Mickey Vernon became the first manager of the then Washington Senators in 1961, serving for just over two seasons. Ron Washington has managed more games and seasons than any other manager in Rangers history. Before 2010, the only Rangers manager to have led the team to the playoffs was Johnny Oates, who also won the 1996 Manager of the Year Award with the Rangers.[4] Ted Williams is the only Rangers manager to have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame as a player;[5] Whitey Herzog, who was inducted in the Hall in 2010,[6] is only Rangers manager to earn induction as a manager.

In 1963, manager Mickey Vernon was fired and replaced by interim manager Eddie Yost. One game later, Yost was replaced by Gil Hodges. In 1973, Whitey Herzog was replaced by Del Wilber. One game later, Billy Martin took over the role of manager. In 1975, Frank Lucchesi took over for Martin in midseason, who in turn was replaced by Eddie Stanky. After six games, Connie Ryan could not finish the season, so Billy Hunter took over the role of manager, only to be fired[7] with one game to go in the 1978 season and replaced by Pat Corrales. In 1982, Don Zimmer was fired as Rangers manager but continued to run the team for three more games before being replaced by Darrell Johnson.[8] Rangers owner Eddie Chiles said the poor play of the Rangers had nothing to do with Zimmer's firing but was instead 'something personal'.[9] In 1985, after Doug Rader led the Rangers to two losing seasons, he was replaced by Bobby Valentine, who in turn was replaced by Toby Harrah during midseason. In 2001, Johnny Oates' poor health forced the Rangers to hire Jerry Narron as his midseason replacement. Buck Showalter was hired as manager of the Texas Rangers following a last-place 2002 season under Narron. Showalter managed the Rangers through the 2006 season. Ron Washington next managed the team from 2007 to 2014,[10] longer than any other person in the franchise's history, when he announced his resignation on September 5, 2014.[11] Tim Bogar managed the rest of the season on an interim basis. Jeff Banister was hired to lead the team from 2015 to September 21, 2018, when he was fired.[12] Don Wakamatsu replaced him as interim manager. Chris Woodward was later hired as the new manager for 2019.[13] He was dismissed on August 15, 2022, and third base coach Tony Beasley finished the season as interim manager.[14] The Rangers then hired Bruce Bochy, who had won three championships with the San Francisco Giants and had initially retired in 2019, to manage the team starting in 2023,[15] leading to the franchise's first title in the 2023 World Series.[16]

Key

No.A running total of the number of Senators/Rangers managers
Season(s)The first and last seasons the manager led the team. Each year is linked to an article about that particular team season.
GRegular season games managed
WRegular season wins
LRegular season losses
Win %Winning percentage
PAPlayoff appearances: number of years the manager has led the franchise to the playoffs
PWPlayoff wins
PLPlayoff losses
LCLeague championships: number of league championships, or pennants, achieved by the manager
WSWorld Series championships: number of World Series victories achieved by the manager
*Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame

Managers

Mickey Vernon, the Senators' first manager, led the team from 1961 into the 1963 season.
Frank Lucchesi, managed the Rangers from 1975 into the 1977 season.
Jeff Banister (2015–2018) was selected as the 2015 AL Manager of the Year.
No.ManagerSeason(s)GWLWin %PAPWPLLCWSNotesRef(s).
1Mickey Vernon19611963362135227.373[17]
2Eddie Yost1963101.000[18]
3Gil Hodges19631967765321444.420[19]
4Jim Lemon19681616596.404[20]
5Ted Williams*19691972637273364.429[21]
6Whitey Herzog*19731384791.341[22]
7Del Wilber19731101.000[23]
8Billy Martin19731975278137141.493[24]
9Frank Lucchesi19751977291142149.488[25]
10Eddie Stanky19771101.000[26]
11Connie Ryan1977624.333[27]
12Billy Hunter19771978254146108.575[28]
13Pat Corrales19781980324160164.494[29]
14Don Zimmer1981198220195106.473[30]
15Darrell Johnson1982662640.394[31]
16Doug Rader19831985355155200.437[32]
17Bobby Valentine198519921,186581605.490[33]
18Toby Harrah1992763244.421[34]
19Kevin Kennedy19931994276138138.500[35]
20Johnny Oates19952001982506476.5153191996 AL Manager of the Year[4][36]
21Jerry Narron20012002296134162.453[37]
22Buck Showalter20032006648319329.4922004 AL Manager of the Year[36][38]
23Ron Washington200720141,275664611.521318162[39]
24Tim Bogar201422148.636[40]
25Jeff Banister20152018638325313.5092262015 AL Manager of the Year[36][41]
26Don Wakamatsu20181037.300[42]
27Chris Woodward20192022498211287.424[43]
28Tony Beasley2022481731.354[44]
29Bruce Bochy2023–present1629072.556113411[45]
Totals29 managers62 seasons9,9584,7405,218.4769343531

Statistics current through the end of the 2023 season

References

In-text citations
General references
  1. "Texas Rangers Managers". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  2. "All-Time Managers". Texas Rangers. Major League Baseball. Retrieved May 21, 2020.