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Futility and instability defined the Texas Rangers in the 1970s and 1980s. Owner Rob Short transferred the second incarnation of the Washington Senators to Arlington, Texas in 1972. The old tradition continued, though, as Texas lost 205 games in two years. The first brought Ted Williams's managerial career to an end. Brad Corbett, who made his money in plastic pipes, acquired the Rangers in May 1974. Manager Billy Martin led the team to second place that season, but had burned out by mid-1975. In 1977, Corbett employed four different managers (counting Eddie Stanky, who quit after one day, and interim Connie Ryan). The fourth, Billy Hunter, guided the club to a Ranger-record 94 victories. But cash-poor Corbett all but dismantled the team, and let young pitchers Dave Righetti and Jim Clancy escape as well. Mediocrity was the order under Eddie Chiles, who bought the Rangers in February 1980 and allowed GM Eddie Robinson to deal two more young pitchers, Walt Terrell and Ron Darling, for Lee Mazzilli. In 1985 Bobby Valentine (the team's 13th manager in 15 seasons), innovative pitching coach Tom House, and the president-GM combo of Mike Stone and Tom Grieve began a patient building plan. A devotion to scouting in Latin America introduced young stars such as Ruben Sierra. Chiles, fading in the oil bust, sold out to a group led by George W. Bush, son of the president, in March 1989. Bush began negotiations for a new stadium as neighboring Dallas opened a campaign to usurp the team just as Arlington had from the nation's capital in 1972. (KT)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » March 4, 1972: The Texas Rangers (formerly the Washington Senators) trade 2-time Cy Young Award winner Denny McLain to the A's for two pitchers. » March 18, 1974: At Pompano Beach, singer Charlie Pride plays for the Texas Rangers against Jim Palmer and the Orioles. The former Negro Leaguer grounds out and singles in two at-bats, as the O's coast, 14–2. » September 10, 1974: Former batting champion Alex Johnson, purchased by the Yankees from the Texas Rangers yesterday, arrives in Boston during the Red Sox–Yankee game. With the score tied 1–1 in the 12th, Johnson socks a pinch-HR to win it for New York 2–1. » July 11, 1976: Hank Aaron's 10th-inning homer, his 9th, in game two gives the Brewers a doubleheader sweep over the Texas Rangers and a sweep of the 4-game series. Milwaukee wins 6–3 and 5–4 with the W's going to Jim Slaton and Bill Castro, » June 15, 1977: The Reds keep trading today, sending P Gary Nolan to the Angels for INF Craig Henderson. Cincy also swaps P Rawly Eastwick to the Cardinals for P Doug Capilla. Then, a fine trade for the Brewers, Milwaukee snag P Mike Caldwell from the Reds for P Dick O'Keeffe and infielder Garry Pyka. Caldwell has had trouble regaining his form following arm surgery, but in 1978 he will be the American League's comeback player of the year. In a final deal, the Reds acquire infielder Rick Auerbach from the Texas Rangers. » June 20, 1978: Toronto is defeated for the 3rd consecutive game by a Canadian-born pitcher. The Blue Jays lose to John Hiller of Detroit, after having previously tasted defeat at the hands of Ferguson Jenkins and Reggie Cleveland of the Texas Rangers. » February 15, 1980: The San Diego Padres trade 41-year-old pitcher Gaylord Perry and a pair of minor leaguers to the Texas Rangers for 1B Willie Montanez. » November 12, 1980: Don Zimmer is named manager of the Texas Rangers, becoming the 10th manager in the club's 9-year history. » November 1, 1982: Thirty-eight-year-old Doug Rader, who spent the last three seasons as manager of the Padres' Triple-A farm club, will pilot the Texas Rangers. The former infielder becomes the club's 12th manager in its 12-year life. » September 1, 1986: After winning 7–3 in game 1, Texas Rangers pinch hitters Oddibe McDowell and Darrell Porter blast 9th inning back-to-back homers off Boston's Steve Crawford in game 2, but Boston wins 8–6. Nine homers are hit in the twinbill. » April 6, 1992: The Seattle Mariners lose to the Texas Rangers, 12–10, on Opening Day, allowing Texas to score nine runs with two outs in the 8th inning. The game draws 55,918 to the Kingdome. » July 9, 1992: Bobby Valentine is fired as manager of the Texas Rangers. At the time, he had managed the team for 1,186 games, the most in major league history with one club without winning a division or league title. Toby Harrah replaces Valentine on an interim basis. » July 17, 1992: Baltimore P Mike Mussina tosses a one-hitter against the Texas Rangers, striking out 10 as the Orioles win by a score of 8–0. Reimer has the lone hit, a double. Kevin Brown (14–5) takes the loss. » September 27, 1992: Mariners P Randy Johnson ties an American League record for lefthanders by striking out 18 Texas Rangers in a 3–2 Mariners' loss. Ron Guidry of the Yankees set the mark against California on June 17, 1978. » October 12, 1994: The Texas Rangers fire manager Kevin Kennedy. » July 6, 1996: The Seattle Mariners ride three solo home runs by Edgar Martinez to a 9-5 win over the Texas Rangers. » June 12, 1997: In the first-ever regular-season interleague game, the visiting SF Giants defeat the Texas Rangers, 4-3, behind the pitching of Mark Gardner. SF OF Darryl Hamilton gets the 1st interleague hit, OF Stan Javier the 1st home run, and Rod Beck the 1st save. Glenallen Hill has the distinction of being the first National League DH in a regular season game. » June 19, 1997: Seattle's Randy Johnson wins his seventh straight beating the Texas Rangers, 2–1, allowing one unearned run and four hits in seven innings. while striking out six. Bobby Ayala finished. Ken Hill takes the loss, serving up home run pitches to Paul Sorrento and Jay Buhner. Sorrento has now hit seven home runs at The Ballpark in Arlington, tops among Rangers opponents. » August 12, 1997: The Texas Rangers showed off for former president George Bush by routing the Boston Red Sox for the second consecutive game, 12-2, scoring 10 runs in the first four innings. Bush—whose son, Texas Gov. George W. Bush, owns the Rangers—sits next to the team's dugout with acting Massachusetts Gov. Paul Cellucci and a group of Secret Service agents. » March 16, 2000: In a 3-team deal, the Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers, and Montreal Expos all exchanged first basemen. Toronto trades David Segui to Texas. The Rangers then send Lee Stevens to the Expos. Montreal then swaps Brad Fullmer to the Blue Jays. » November 16, 2000: The Toronto Blue Jays announce that they will open the 2001 season against the Texas Rangers in San Juan, Puerto Rico. » January 13, 2001: Major league baseball announces that the Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays will open the 2001 season in Puerto Rico, marking the 3rd straight year the season will begin outside the US and Canada. » January 18, 2001: President-elect George W. Bush, in an interview with the AP, says he is worried about baseball's labor contract, which expires on October 31. "I was around when the last strike occurred and it hurt the game.'' Bush, once managing partner of the Texas Rangers left the job to run for governor in 1994. The team was sold in 1998. "I can just say loud and clear, I hope there's not a strike. But it's going to be up to the participants. . . . They shouldn't be looking to me. They need to get this settled themselves.'' He suggests, "Get rid of arbitration if possible and have, maybe, free agency occur at an earlier time, and if there's three shortstops and two bidders the price goes down, and vice versa, it goes up."