TEXAS RANGERS WILL NOT RETAIN DICK BOSMAN AS PITCHING COACH FOR 2001 SEASON
FOR RELEASE: Immediate
The Texas Rangers announced this morning that Dick Bosman will not return as the team’s major league pitching coach for the 2001 season.
Bosman, who has served as the Rangers’ pitching coach for the last six years, also will not work the final three games of the season this weekend in Oakland. Bullpen coach Larry Hardy will handle the pitching coach duties for the Oakland series. The search for a new pitching coach will begin after the season.
“The decision to change pitching coaches was totally mine,†commented Rangers Manager Johnny Oates. “After further analyzing where we are and where we want to be, I felt it was time for an overall change in our pitching philosophy.
“Dick and I have worked together for a long time, and I appreciate all his efforts. The job of a pitching coach in today’s game is a tough one. He is not the reason that we have failed to perform up to expectations this season. However, I feel that we need to make improvement and progress in our overall pitching.â€
Bosman served as Oates’ pitching coach in Baltimore from 1992-94 before joining him in Texas for the 1995 season. The former major league pitcher with Washington/Texas, Cleveland, and Oakland from 1967-76 was previously pitching coach for the Chicago White Sox in 1986-87 and a minor league pitching instructor for Baltimore from 1988-91.
Oates also indicated that the other five members of the major league coaching staff: dugout coach Bucky Dent, bullpen coach Larry Hardy, hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo, first base coach Bobby Jones, and third base coach Jerry Narron have been invited to return for the 2001 season. Dent, Hardy, Jaramillo, and Narron have been on Oates’ staff since 1995. Jones was added in May, 2000 following the retirement of Ed Napoleon.
Roster Transaction
- Pitching Coach Dick Bosman not asked to return
for next season – will not work the remainder of the season.
G160: Rangers drop opener to A’s, 7-5, Dick Bosman fired
The final series of the season. I hope going into this series that we actually lose all three, and let the A’s win it. We have nothing to play for at this point – the season is just about a total loss, we’re way in last place, and the only point in winning now would be to help the Mariners. Given a choice between the Mariners and the A’s, I’d rather the A’s get the division crown.
Well, we followed up on this plan in Game 1, losing 7-5. As losses go, it wasn’t the worst, we didn’t lie down, but a loss is a loss, and in this season, there’s a ton of ’em. 89 losses. That means we have to win both the last two to avoid a 90 loss season – don’t think it’s gonna happen. :)
We used seven pitchers, Kenny Rogers going 4.1, giving up five hits, and 3 earned runs. No one else pitched more than a single inning (Perisho had a 0 for IP). Francisco Cordero gave up two runs in 2/3 of an inning, and Jonathan Johnson & Mike Venafro each gave up a run, but neither was earned. On our side of the stick, we had a few decent nights by Scott sheldon, who went 2 for 3 after coming in early for Luis Alicea (Luis never played the field), Royce Clayton, who went 3 for 5, and Randy Knorr, who went 3 for 4.
Johnny Oates also fired Dick Bosman, which was a surprise, as they’d been together 9 years over two teams. Be curious to see who we bring in as a pitching coach. My initial vote – Bill Haselman.
G159: Rangers win with big offense, 13-6
Well, I was really hoping to come out of Seattle winning two of three and hurting Seattle – I really want to see the A’s win the division. Didn’t happen. No change in the standings at all during this series – Seattle is still 1/2 game up on Oakland going into the final three games of the season.
I had forgotten this game was on at 5:30, and didn’t see much of it, as I tuned in late. I did get to see Ruben Sierra’s home run – I was really really hoping he’d get one, on the (fairly decent) chance he won’t be here next season. He was all kinds of smiles in the dugout, and that was very nice to see – my wife even commented that it’s great to see players smile like that.
The other notable about this game (other than the fact we trounced on the Mariners) was the 5 stolen bases by Scarborough Green. I really think he should be given a shot at a 5th outfielder position. It’s too bad he can’t hit – because he plays passable defense, and has some ungodly speed – he could be a great leadoff hitter.
This weekend Tom Grieve has a chance to see his son’s team clinch the division with him announcing it. That must be cool for him.
G158: Rangers lose to Mariners, 6-4
As this season draws to a close, I’m finding it harder and harder to sit and watch an entire game without flipping channels, looking at something else on my TiVo… This game was no exception.
We lost, and we had chances. We couldn’t follow through and beat the Mariners’ closer for the win. Oh well.
Roster Transaction
- Recalled IF Mike Young from AA Tulsa.
G157: Rangers shut out by Sele and M’s, 5-0
Not much to talk about here. We lost 5-0 on a complete game shutout by our traitor old friend, Aaron Sele. He pitched a 6 hit complete game shutout. We couldn’t get anything going at all. Period.
About the only highlights on the other side was a pickoff of Rickey Henderson by Ryan Glynn early in the game, and the fact that our bullpen didn’t make the game any worse. :)
Worst Trades in Team History: 3rd Worst
On December 9th, 1976, the Rangers traded Jeff Burroughs (OF) to the Atlanta Braves for Roger Moret (P), Carl Morton (P), Adrian Devine (P), Ken Henderson (OF) and Dave May (OF). If you thought that the Rangers received little in return for the Righetti trade, they traded away one of their first stars for literally nothing in return.
Burroughs came to the Rangers with the Senators and was the nation’s first draft pick in 1969. He first came up with the Senators at age 19, and often clashed with manager Ted Williams, though Burroughs later credited Williams for teaching him to concentrate. In 1973, in his first season as the Rangers starting right fielder, Burroughs hit 30 homers and was immediately thought of as one of the premier young power hitters in the game. Burroughs followed that up by hitting .301 with 25 homers and a league-leading 118 RBI in 1974, he also won AL MVP that year. Burroughs often complained about the south wind at Arlington Stadium and he continued to strike out at a torrid pace. The Rangers felt that they could spare him. In his first year after the trade, Burroughs hit 41 homers with 114 RBI with the Braves.
Roger Moret was the “big-gun” in this trade and he played for the Rangers for 1 ½ years, going 3-4 in 25 games. The sidearming Moret’s aim for the strike zone was erratic as his personality, but when he had control of both he was a capable winner. Moret was coming off of a 14-3 season at the time of the trade, and the Rangers were looking to see more of that.
Carl Morton won the NL rookie of the Year award in 1970 for the Expos, he was never quite the same again. In fact, at the time of the trade, Morton was pitching in the minors. I don’t know if the Rangers were thinking that he would return to his form from 6 years earlier, but if they were, it was quite a stretch. Morton never played in the Majors again and died at age 39 of a heart attack after jogging.
Adrian Devine was actually a nice surprise out of this deal. He came off arm surgery in 1975 and rebounded to go 11-6 with a 3.58 ERA and 15 saves in 1977. Devine then returned to Atlanta in 1978, was then traded back to Texas in 1979 in a very complicated deal. Arm troubles were his demise in 1980.
The Rangers were looking at getting a superstar out of Ken Henderson when they made this deal. Ken was touted as Willie Mays successor when Henderson was only 19. Henderson only played in 75 games in 1977 and was then traded to Cincinnati. In those 75 games, he hit only 5 HR and 23 RBI.
Dave May also managed to stay with the Rangers for the entire 1977 season. Not that this was a good thing, May hit .241 with 7 HR and 42 RBI. May had showed some promise earlier in his career. In 1973, he hit 25 HR, 93 RBI and a .303 average. In a part-time role with the Braves in 1975, he hit 12 HR in only 203 AB”s. He dropped off again in 1976, thus prompting the Braves to trade him.
This trade boils down to one thing, the Rangers took players that they were either hoping would develop, or return to form from a few seasons back. They traded one of the best, young power hitters in the game for these guys, and not one of them panned out. Now, if Ken Henderson went on to star for the Rangers for 10 years, would I be writing this article? No way, but the fact is, the franchise took five separate chances when they made this deal, and not one of them worked out.
Remember the Rangers!
Jeremy Northrip
rangerhistory@hotmail.com
Ranger Player from the Past: Buddy Bell
Bell could do it all. In the field, he was a sure-handed third basemen with enough range to play SS when needed and he won six straight Gold Gloves. At the plate, he was a clutch hitter who had one of the best hitter’s eyes in the league.
The Indians traded Bell to Texas in December of 1978 for Toby Harrah. Bell had already established himself as one of the best third basemen in the game, but when he came to Texas, he responded with his best year to that point in 1979. He won his first gold glove that year while hitting .299 with 18 HR and 101 RBI, he also led the league in game-winning RBI with 16. Bell was never much of a pure power hitter. I liken his swing and approach to the plate of Rusty Greer. Bell was a line-drive hitter. Hie line-drive hitting eventually carried him to rank first among all Rangers in career doubles, RBI, extra-base hits, and total bases.
Bell started at third for the Rangers for seven seasons. When 1985 rolled around, Bell started the season slowly and felt that it was time to go in a new direction at third. They traded Bell to the Reds and gave the starting third base job to prospect, Steve Buechele.
The most amazing thing about Bell is that he achieved all of this despite being an epileptic. He suffered from seizures during his early years, and decided to seek medical help after he fell out of a golf cart and broke his nose in 1976. Doctor’s initially thought that a brain tumor might have caused the collapse, but later diagnosed him as epileptic; thanks to medication, he has never had a seizure on the field.
Since his retirement, Bell has gone on to manage for the Tigers and the Rockies. Bell and his father (Gus) are also 2nd all-time in father-son total homers with 407. Bell has also had three sons play pro ball. Bell goes down as one of the greatest Rangers ever any way that you look at it.
Click here to see Buddy Bell’s lifetime stats. Here’s some more pictures of Buddy Bell – you can click on any of them to see a larger version.
Remember the Rangers!
Jeremy Northrip
rangerhistory@hotmail.com
G156: Rangers lose finale of home season, 9-2
The final home game of the 2000 season played out pretty much like the rest of the year. Rather irritating weather, and rather irritating performance by the team on the field. After yesterday being 97 degrees with like 80 percent humidity, it was about 60 degrees at the game. Since I’m from up north these temperatures don’t bother me, but the day after 97, it’s very noticeable.
Kenny Rogers started off by walking the first three batters of the game, and surprisingly only gave up one run that inning. Kenny went five innings, and only gave up a single hit, but he also allowed a career high eight walks. Given that many walks, it’s surprising he only gave up two runs in these five innings. When he left, I was feeling pretty good about our chances to win the final home game. However, our usual problem reared it’s head. Jonathan Johnson came on and pitched a couple of innings, but gave up two consecutive solo home runs for two more runs allowed – those were his only two hits though, he didn’t pitch all that bad. Then the fun began. Tim Crabgrass came in and only pitched 1/3 of an inning, but he walked two, and with an error, ending up allowing four runs, because of Mike Venafro’s gopher ball to Mo Vaughn – a towering grand slam into the second level of the upper deck. That was the epitaph for the Ranger’s home season. Brian Sikorski came on for the ninth, and was the only pitcher not to allow any runs, but he too walked a batter – bringing the total walks allowed by Ranger pitching to FOURTEEN!!
Offensively, we didn’t have much – we had the solo home run by Randy Knorr, and an RBI bloop single by Ruben Sierra in the fourth, scoring Scarborough Green. That was it. Speaking of Ruben, he’ll be a trivia question – he made the final out of the home 2000 season, a come backer to the pitcher.
When the Rangers were coming off the field, they got (what I felt to be) a fairly decent standing ovation. Hardly anyone came back out onto the field after the game was over, but I can’t be surprised at that – they probably just wanted to get out. Raffy came out, and Scott Sheldon did, and I thought I saw Ruben Sierra, but I wasn’t sure. I was very pleased to see the fans give the team applause after the season was over. Given the usual Cowboy mentality that this town has, I figured they’d get booed – but they didn’t. I liked that.
Speaking of Raffy, he was given a special framed Rangers jersey before the game in honor of his 400th HR. It looked normal, except the number on the back of the uniform was #400. Was a nice gesture, for sure.
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