Not to be confused with the
Texas Rangers
of Major League Baseball.
Minor league baseball team
Dallas Rangers
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Class
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- Triple-A (1959?1964)
- Double-A (1946?1958)
- Class A1 (1936?1942)
- Class A (1921?1935)
- Class B (1911?1920)
- Class C (1907?1910)
- Class D (1902?1906)
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League
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Team
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Dixie Series titles
(3)
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League titles
(12)
| - 1903
- 1910
- 1917
- 1918
- 1926
- 1929
- 1941
- 1946
- 1952
- 1953
- 1955
- 1957
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First-half titles
(3)
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Second-half titles
(3)
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Name
|
- Dallas Rangers (1958?1959; 1964)
- Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers (1960?1963)
- Dallas Eagles (1949?1957)
- Dallas Rebels (1939?1942; 1946?1948)
- Dallas Steers (1923?1938)
- Dallas Marines (1919?1922)
- Dallas Submarines (1917?1918)
- Dallas Giants (1902?1916)
- Dallas Griffins (1902)
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Previous parks
| Burnett Field
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The
Dallas Rangers
were a high-level
minor league baseball
team located in
Dallas, Texas
from 1958 to 1964. The team was known by the Dallas Rangers name in 1958, 1959, and 1964 and as the
Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers
from 1960 to 1963. It played in the
Double-A
Texas League
in 1958, the
Triple-A
American Association
from 1959 to 1962 and the Triple-A
Pacific Coast League
in 1963 and 1964. Its home stadium was
Burnett Field
.
Storied Texas League franchises
[
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]
Both Dallas and
Fort Worth
had long and storied histories in the Texas League.
Dallas was a mainstay in the Texas League from
1902
to
1958
. Over the years, it was known by many nicknames?the
Griffins
(1902),
Giants
(1903?1916),
Submarines
(1917?1918),
Marines
(1919?1922),
Steers
(1923?1938),
Rebels
(1939?1942, 1946?1948) and
Eagles
(1949?1957), before it was dubbed the Rangers
[1]
in its final TL campaign.
The Fort Worth team was called the
Panthers
(1902?1935) and the
Cats
(1936?1942, 1946?1958, 1964).
Dallas won the
Dixie Series
, a postseason interleague championship between the champions of the Southern Association and the
Texas League
, in 1926,
[2]
1946,
[3]
and 1953.
[4]
For
Opening Day
in 1950, the Eagles opened the season with nine retired major league stars in the field:
pitcher
Dizzy Dean
,
catcher
Mickey Cochrane
,
first baseman
Charlie Grimm
,
second baseman
Charlie Gehringer
,
shortstop
Travis Jackson
,
third baseman
Home Run Baker
, and an
outfield
of
Ty Cobb
,
Duffy Lewis
, and
Tris Speaker
. Dean allowed a
walk
to the only batter he faced, and then the Eagles team replaced the retired stars on the field. The promotion drew 54,151 fans th the
Cotton Bowl
, setting a
Minor League Baseball
record.
[5]
Admission to Triple-A baseball
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]
In 1959, the American Association expanded and admitted Dallas as an unaffiliated club and Fort Worth as an affiliate of the
Chicago Cubs
. Dallas' Rangers outdrew Fort Worth's Cats, 130,000 to 97,000, and the two teams were merged in 1960 as the top
farm team
of the
Kansas City Athletics
. The
Dallas Cowboys
,
Clint Murchison's
new NFL franchise, were originally to be called the "Dallas Rangers" because the baseball team's owners had told him in 1959 that they were disbanding. When the owners reversed course the following year, Murchison volunteered to rename his new team to avoid confusion.
[6]
The Rangers struggled on the field and at the gate in 1960, finishing last and drawing only 113,000 fans. In 1961, the team was affiliated with the expansion
Los Angeles Angels
, and then in 1962 the Angels split the working agreement with the
Philadelphia Phillies
. During this two-year period, the Rangers featured future MLB stars such as the Angels'
Jim Fregosi
and
Dean Chance
. But they continued to lag behind other Association members in attendance.
When the American Association itself folded after the
1962
season, the Rangers joined the Pacific Coast League and affiliated with the
Minnesota Twins
, inheriting the players of the defunct
Vancouver Mounties
. The
1963
Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers, managed by
Jack McKeon
and led by Triple-A
rookie
Tony Oliva
, who
hit
.304 with 23
home runs
, finally reached the .500 level. But the Minnesota affiliation lasted only that one season.
Final season and relocation to Canada
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]
The lowly Kansas City A's returned as the team's parent in
1964
. Moreover, that season the Texas League placed a team (another Cubs' affiliate) in Fort Worth, and the Rangers reverted to their Dallas-only identity.
The last Dallas Rangers club, managed by
John McNamara
, won only 53 of 157 PCL games.
Starting pitchers
Lew Krausse Jr.
and
Bill Landis
lost 19 and 17 games, respectively. The team drew only 39,000 fans all season. The franchise then moved in
1965
to, coincidentally,
Vancouver
. The Dallas-Fort Worth regional name was then applied to the Texas League club, which played in
Arlington
and became known as the
Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs
through 1971. The old nickname Rangers was revived for the major league
Texas Rangers
, who moved to
Turnpike (renamed Arlington) Stadium
in 1972.
Yearly record
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Notable alumni
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References
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Further reading
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]