Texas Rangers
Before the Texas Rangers obtained its present name, it was recognized as the Washington Senators. When the team transferred to Minnesota in 1960, the moniker was now Twins. At that period, the Major League Baseball (MLB) was planning to expand to stave off risks of raising its Antitrust Exemption. In the winter of that same year, MLB gave franchises to metropolises such as Washington which selected the identity as Senators. The club played in the Griffith Stadium prior to its move in Columbia Stadium located between the Anacostia River and East Capitol Street. Today, the stadium is now recognized in honor of Robert Kennedy.
In the years that followed, the Texas Rangers which was still recognized as Washington Senators, had a inferior performance. The team had a losing average of ninety games every season. However, the franchise developed a star athlete in the person of Frank Howard who was popular for his home runs. At that same period, the Rangers was managed by Elwood Richard Quesada who did not have a strong background in coaching or even in the sport as a whole. There was even an instance where he questioned why he should give salaries to players who did not take part in the major tournaments.
In 1963, Elwood Richard Quesada sold ten percent of his rights of the Texas Rangers then tendered his resignation as manager. Stockbrokers from Washington namely James Lemon and James Johnson assumed the executive positions in the team. Under their administration, the team experienced enormous pecuniary losses. When Johnson passed away in 1967, Lemon decided to sell the franchise which was purchased by a hotelier, Bob Short. He was able to outbid Bob Hope and employed the service of Ted Williams, a Hall of Famer, as the new manager of the Rangers. Their partnership had a favorable chemistry.
However, Ted Williams was not able to experience to coach all by himself but despite of, he was able to keep the Texas Rangers remain on alive on the tracks. In majority of the seasons under his direction, the team had an eighty- six to seventy- six record which was repeated in 1977, the year that the franchise turned sixth. That was also the very period where the performance of the Rangers was admirable. As a matter of fact, in one of the club’s games, about nine hundred eighteen thousand spectators flocked in the RFK Stadium. But the victory though did not stay for a long haul because internal problems started to emerge.
One of the problems included Bob Short only borrowed almost ten million dollars which he employed to purchase the team from a bid staged by James Lemon after his partner, James Johnson, passed away. Because of the desperation to solve the dilemma, he was compelled to make unreasonable trades so that money would enter the Texas Rangers. The aftermath, the team quickly fell back into the cellar of the American League (AL). In the end of 1970, Short issued a challenge wherein he said that if no individual is open to purchase the franchise for twelve million dollars, he will no longer renew his contract at RFK Stadium and transfer.
There were a lot of parties that were vocal with their interest to purchase the Texas Rangers however, Bob Short was not satisfied with the amount in exchange of. One that expressed the desire to acquire the team was Tom Vandergriff, then mayor of Arlington. He has long been finding for a franchise that would play in the Metroplex. The stadium his area owned had a sitting capacity of ten thousand which was constructed way back in 1965 to host the Dallas- Forth Worth Spurs. The size of the arena was only small to accommodate baseball games of major tournaments where expansion was also not probable.
Today, the team is still actively part of the Major League Baseball (MLB). To catch the franchise live, you can buy Texas Rangers tickets and check Texas Rangers schedule in its website.