Who Is The All Time Greatest Texas Ranger?

[MichaelWinicki]

What's the follow up? Greatest Clipper?

:laugh2:

 

[TheCowboy]

Nolan Ryan for sure.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

The trouble with the Rangers and picking an "All-time" greatest player is that while the Rangers have had a number of great players, they don't keep them for very long.

Nolan Ryan only had 51 wins as a Ranger– does that merit the "All-time" greatest title?

I would have to say Pudge. He was at least there for a decade.

Toby Harrah, Jeff Burroughs, Mike Hargrove, Ferguson Jenkins, A-Rod... All those guys were very good players but only played a few years for the Rangers.

Kinda sad actually that they don't have a deeper list of better players who've played for the team longer.

The Astros have done a better job in that regard.

 

[Hostile]

Toss up between Augustus McCray and Woodrow Call.

 

[MC KAos]

rusty greer !!!

he was my favorite as a kid, but in all seriousness, its pudge, and its not even close. Nolan was the greater player, but he didnt spend most of his career here.

 

[WPBCowboysFan]

My thought would probably be Pudge. Was curious to hear it from Rangers fans. While I like the Rangers and root for them I grew up an Orioles fan.

As an Orioles fan, this question would be easy to answer. Brooks Robinson or Cal Ripken Jr. Next in the discussion would be Jim Palmer. All 3 were great Orioles and played their entire careers in Baltimore.

Brooks Robinson was always viewed as Mr Oriole. Cal had the streak and was all we had for years. Hometown boy and his dad had been with the O's for years. Probably Brooks gets the nod, with Cal almost tied, and Palmer 3rd.

 

[jterrell]

It's apparent many of the Rangers "fans" on this thread started watching them about 5 years ago, lol.

My first words' "literally" were "Bibby, pitch".
--listened to ranger games as a baby.

Best Ranger was Pudge. One of the 3 best catchers of all-time.
Also on the short list for consideration.
Juan Gonzales--.293 BA, 372 HR, 1180RBI, Michael Young --bazillion key hits and many being clutch, Kenny Rogers--3 all-star game appearances as a ranger pitcher, Fergie Jenkins--tons of innings eaten up and wins delivered in short span.

Nolan made 1 All-Star game as a Ranger. He may well be our most valuable Ranger ever but only if you are talking about his front office contribution.
It was nice that he set records here but he was never really dominant over a season and wasn't here during an era of winning baseball --as a player. His career overall was truly remarkable but he spent only a small portion of it near the end here.

Fergie pitched here six season, Ryan five. Yet Fergie had over 1400 innings pitched to Nolan's ~800.

 

[Biggems]

I am surprised Ruben Sierra was not mentioned.....btw, all those picking Nolan are speaking from their hearts instead of their minds.

The answer is as obvious as the sky is blue..........Pudge

I hate the Rangers and all of the American League for that matter, which makes me so much more upset that the Astros will be moving there next year instead of the Brewers (who should go back where they came from).

Still, with that being said, when I think of the Rangers, I think of a few things......Odibe McDowell and Pete Incaviglia (cause their names were fun to say).....Jose Canseco giving up a HR off his head.....Nolan giving Batman's sidekick a Texas-sized donkey whoopin....George Bush being the owner......and of course Pudge, the best all-around catcher of the last 20-25 years for sure

 

[DFWJC]

.....btw, all those picking Nolan are speaking from their hearts instead of their minds.

The answer is as obvious as the sky is blue..........Pudge

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I think the difficulty in finding quality candidates for "greastest ever" after say Pudge, is indicative why this franchise hasn't had a lot of success.

Good players would be jettisoned upon a bad season. Jeff Burroughs was putting up some some power numbers and he slumped in 1976... Gone.

Toby Harrah and Mike Hargrove were both good players. Harrah was decent third baseman and had some power. Hargrove was a decent first baseman but didn't have much power, however he would have a .290 BA over his career and both he and Harrah would get loads of walks. Both players did very well in 1977, and then slumped in '78 (offensive numbers around the league dropped a lot in '78) and both were jettisoned while in their 20's.

 

[cowboy_ron]

Toss up between Augustus McCray and Woodrow Call.

Greatest western of all time...IMO

 

[joseephuss]

That is pretty sad that a pitcher who was only there for 5 seasons and isn't even in the top 10 in career wins for that team is considered that best player in that franchises history. I don't consider Ryan to be the best Texas Ranger player of all time. One of my favorite players, but not the best as a Ranger. Ryans time with Texas were not even his best years. And although he spent his most time as an Astro, his best years were with the Angels. I do think Ryan did enough with the Rangers to be considered a top 10 player and maybe even a top 5 player for that organization, but not the number one guy. Ivan Rodriguez seems to fit that bill pretty well.

 

[DFWJC]

That is pretty sad that a pitcher who was only there for 5 seasons and isn't even in the top 10 in career wins for that team is considered that best player in that franchises history. I don't consider Ryan to be the best Texas Ranger player of all time. One of my favorite players, but not the best as a Ranger. Ryans time with Texas were not even his best years. And although he spent his most time as an Astro, his best years were with the Angels. I do think Ryan did enough with the Rangers to be considered a top 10 player and maybe even a top 5 player for that organization, but not the number one guy. Ivan Rodriguez seems to fit that bill pretty well.

Of course.

The answer is clearly Pudge. 10 straight all-star games totally dominant at his position for a decade....and as a Ranger.

 

[RastaRocket]

There really isn't even an argument against Pudge unless you factor in Ryan's brief ownership into the equation. That doesn't count though if we are talking about playing career. It's Pudge and only Pudge.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

That is pretty sad that a pitcher who was only there for 5 seasons and isn't even in the top 10 in career wins for that team is considered that best player in that franchises history. I don't consider Ryan to be the best Texas Ranger player of all time. One of my favorite players, but not the best as a Ranger. Ryans time with Texas were not even his best years. And although he spent his most time as an Astro, his best years were with the Angels. I do think Ryan did enough with the Rangers to be considered a top 10 player and maybe even a top 5 player for that organization, but not the number one guy. Ivan Rodriguez seems to fit that bill pretty well.

I don't think Ryan is not even a top-10 Ranger unless you ignore the guys that supposedly had "roid-issues".

Since the Washington Senators' records are included as part of the Rangers' history, Frank Howard would have to be considered a top-5 guy IMO.