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    The Team that Couldn’t Hit: The 1972 Texas Rangers: SABR Digital Library, #63
    The Team that Couldn’t Hit: The 1972 Texas Rangers: SABR Digital Library, #63
    The Team that Couldn’t Hit: The 1972 Texas Rangers: SABR Digital Library, #63
    Ebook1,068 pages8 hours

    The Team that Couldn’t Hit: The 1972 Texas Rangers: SABR Digital Library, #63

    By Society for American Baseball Research

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    About this ebook

    The 1972 Texas Rangers were a culmination of decades of trying to get a major-league team in Dallas-
    Fort Worth. The area has a long history with baseball, going back to the 1800s, and minor-league teams played in both cities right up until the Rangers arrived with Ted Williams at the helm.


    High expectations were quickly dashed. Just how bad were those early Rangers teams? When reporter Mike Shropshire wrote a book about covering the Rangers from 1973 to '75, he titled it Seasons In Hell. Twenty years later, the Rangers still hadn't made the playoffs. Counting the decade when the franchise was known as the Washington Senators, the team did not go to the playoffs for the first 35 years of its
    existence.

    So why write a book about the 1972 Texas Rangers, perhaps the worst team in club history? Because
    they're the start of that history. Articles in this book cover the effort to bring a team to North Texas and
    the story of Tom Vandergriff, the man now known as "the father of the Rangers." Biographies of every
    man to play--or coach--for the 1972 team are presented, including Frank Howard, Larry Bittner, Horacio
    Pina and Tom Grieve, and broadcasters Don Drysdale and Bill Mercer. Owner Bob Short and Arlington
    Stadium itself are given full write-ups as well.

    This book is the collaborative work of 46 members of SABR—the Society for American Baseball
    Research.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSociety for American Baseball Research
    Release dateFeb 28, 2019
    ISBN9781943816927
    The Team that Couldn’t Hit: The 1972 Texas Rangers: SABR Digital Library, #63

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      Book preview

      The Team that Couldn’t Hit - Society for American Baseball Research

      1972-Rangers-cover-final-1400x2100px

      Edited by Steve West 

      and Bill Nowlin

      Associate Editors: 

      Len Levin and Carl Riechers

      Society for American Baseball Research, Inc.
      Phoenix, AZ

      The Team That Couldn’t Hit: The 1972 Texas Rangers

      Edited by Steve West and Bill Nowlin

      Associate Editors: Len Levin and Carl Riechers

      Copyright © 2019 Society for American Baseball Research, Inc.

      All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.

      Front cover photograph courtesy Special Collections, University of Texas at Arlington Libraries. The date of the photograph is April 22, 1972.

      Back cover images courtesy of Ray Cherry.

      Photographs on pages 100, 119, 157, 206, 270, and 271 are courtesy of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

      All other photographs in the interior of the book are courtesy of the Texas Rangers. 

      Special thanks to John Blake and Kelly Gavin of the Rangers.

      Print ISBN 978-1-943816-93-4

      Ebook ISBN 978-1-943816-92-7

      Book design: Wrenn Simms

      Society for American Baseball Research

      Cronkite School at ASU

      555 N. Central Ave. #416

      Phoenix, AZ 85004

      Phone: (602) 496-1460

      Web: www.sabr.org

      Facebook: Society for American Baseball Research

      Twitter: @SABR

      CONTENTS

      INTRODUCTION

      By Steve West

      Prologue: The Washington Senators: 1961-71

      By Joseph Wancho

      Major League Baseball Comes to Arlington

      By Greg Chandler

      Players

      Larry Biittner

      By David E. Skelton

      Rich Billings

      By Chris Jones

      Dick Bosman

      By Dale Voiss

      Pete Broberg

      By Gregory H. Wolf

      Jeff Burroughs

      By David E. Skelton

      Casey Cox

      By Alan Cohen

      Jimmy Driscoll

      By Charlie Grassl

      Jan Dukes

      By Clayton Trutor

      Bill Fahey

      By Kris Rutherford

      Ted Ford

      By Chris Holaday

      Bill Gogolewski

      By Gregory H. Wolf

      Tom Grieve

      By Steve West

      Rich Hand

      By Raymond Rossi

      Toby Harrah

      By Frederick C. Bush

      Vic Harris

      By Paul Hofmann

      Rich Hinton

      By Mark S. Sternman

      Frank Howard

      By Mark Armour

      Gerry Janeski

      By David E. Skelton

      Dalton Jones

      By Maurice Bouchard

      Hal King

      By Chris Holaday

      Ted Kubiak

      By Rory Costello

      Steve Lawson

      By Chris Holaday

      Paul Lindblad

      By Paul Hofmann

      Joe Lovitto

      By Charlie Grassl

      Elliott Maddox

      By Gordon Janis

      Orlando Marty Martínez

      By Joseph Gerard

      Jim Mason

      By Steve West

      Don Mincher

      By Marc Z. Aaron

      Dave Nelson

      By Rick Schabowski

      Jim Panther

      By Chad Moody

      Mike Paul

      By Wayne Strumpfer

      Horacio Piña

      By Rory Costello and Francisco Rodríguez Lozano

      TOM Ragland

      By Bob LeMoine

      Lenny Randle

      By Charlie Grassl

      Jim Roland

      By Gregory H. Wolf

      Jim Shellenback

      By Paul Geisler

      Don Stanhouse

      By Maxwell Kates

      Ken Suarez

      By Bo Carter

      Manager

      Ted Williams

      By Bill Nowlin

      Joe Camacho

      By Charlie Grassl

      Nellie Fox

      By Robert W. Bigelow and Don Zminda

      Sid Hudson

      By John Bennett

      George Susce

      By David E. Skelton

      Wayne Terwilliger

      By C. Paul Rogers III

      Owner

      Bob Short

      By Bob Whelan and Steve West

      Ballpark

      Arlington Stadium

      By Will Osgood

      Players Who Homered at Arlington Stadium as Both Minor and Major League Players

      By Alan Cohen

      Media

      Dallas-Fort Worth Baseball Media in 1972

      By Steve West

      Broadcasters

      Bill Mercer

      By Bo Carter

      Don Drysdale

      By Joseph Wancho

      Beat Writer

      Randy Galloway

      By Norm King

      Others

      Tom Vandergriff

      By Greg Chandler

      Joe Burke

      By Steve West

      Hal Keller

      By Nelson Chip Greene

      Bill Zeigler

      By Charlie Grassl

      Great Games

      Rangers Throw Away Their First-ever Game: April 15, 1972: California Angels 1, Texas Rangers 0 at Anaheim Stadium

      By Steve West

      Broberg’s Eight Strong Innings Give Rangers First Win In Club History: April 16, 1972: Texas Rangers 5, California Angels 1, at Anaheim Stadium

      By Gregory H. Wolf

      Fans Celebrate the Arrival of Major-League Baseball in North Texas: April 21, 1972: Texas Rangers 7, California Angels 6 at Arlington Stadium

      By Duane Victor Keilstrup

      Broberg, Rangers Suffer Hard-Luck Loss to Orioles:May 10, 1972: Baltimore Orioles 1, Texas Rangers 0 at Memorial Stadium

      By Frederick C. Bush

      Rangers Win 18-Inning Marathon: May 17, 1972: Texas Rangers 4, Kansas City Royals 3 at Municipal Stadium

      By Frederick C. Bush

      Nelson, Randle Help Rangers Subdue Tribe In 12 Innings: July 16, 1972: Texas Rangers 3, Cleveland Indians 2 at Arlington Stadium

      By Frederick C. Bush

      Ryan Overcomes 107-Degree Heat and Fatigue to Shut Out Rangers and Fan 14: July 27, 1972: California Angels 5, Texas Rangers 0 at Anaheim Stadium

      By Gregory H. Wolf

      Rangers Manager Ted Williams Tees Off in Batting Practice at Fenway: August 25, 1972: Boston Red Sox 4, Texas Rangers 0 at Fenway Park

      By Bill Nowlin

      GoGo Tosses One-Hitter and Outduels the Ryan Express: September 12, 1972: Texas Rangers 3, California Angels 0 at Anaheim Stadium

      By Gregory H. Wolf

      Dick Bosman Beats the White Sox, Ending Rangers’ 15-Game Losing Streak: October 1, 1972: Texas Rangers 1, Chicago White Sox 0 at Arlington Stadium

      By Michael Huber

      Sidebars

      Minor-League Baseball in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area

      By Bruce Bumbalough

      Embracing the Future: The Transactions of the 1972 Texas Rangers

      By William Schneider

      Texas Rangers 1972 Season Summary

      By Steve West

      By The Numbers

      By Dan Fields

      The First Two Dozen Years: Bad Management, Worse Baseball

      By Joe Stroop

      Contributors

      INTRODUCTION

      By Steve West

      Just how bad were the early Texas Rangers teams? Put it this way: When reporter Mike Shropshire wrote a book about covering the Rangers from 1973 to ’75, he called it Seasons In Hell, and when that book was published, two decades later, the Rangers still hadn’t made the playoffs. Counting the ’60s, the decade that they began as the Washington Senators, the Rangers did not go to the playoffs for the first 35 years of their existence. They threatened, finishing second six times (but never within five games of the division winners). The one time they were in first, the season ended with a strike, and they still had only a 52-62 record.

      So why write a book about the 1972 Texas Rangers, perhaps the worst team in club history? Well, it’s because they’re the start of that history. It seems that you can’t swing a bat in the team store at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington without hitting something with 1972 written on it. For a team that has been around a relatively short time, the Rangers certainly like to promote the history of the club, and it all began with this team. Many Rangers fans wear T-shirts with 1972 on them, or have key rings, or pennants, or some other memorabilia. These guys are, for good or bad, legendary. And this book is the story of why.

      Perhaps one of the biggest influences on this book is one of the men who have been in the broadcast booth for so many years, Tom Grieve. Grieve was a Washington Senator who came over to Texas, was the longest-serving player from that original team, then became the general manager, before moving into the broadcast booth. Since then he regularly tells stories about the 1972 team, or about the early years, making it yet another point of interest for that first team.

      The 1972 Texas Rangers

      It took the vision of one man to get a major-league baseball team in North Texas. Tom Vandergriff, mayor of Arlington, a small town midway between the big cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, had that vision. Hoping to build economic opportunities in his city, he persuaded people to support his plan. It took a lot of Texas guts to pull this off, but by pitting the two big rival cities against each other, he managed to get a team into the little town in the middle.

      It took a long time, though, a lot longer than he expected. He spent the 1950s and ’60s trying to lure a team to move, or get an expansion team. He built Turnpike Stadium, a ballpark for the minor-league team that could quickly be converted to major-league status. He almost got Charlie Finley to bring his Kansas City A’s to Texas, but Charlie eventually decided on the West Coast.

      Then Vandergriff found his man. Or, maybe, Bob Short found his mark. Short was a veteran of moving sports teams, having taken the NBA’s Lakers from Minneapolis to Los Angeles. Now he’d bought the Washington Senators – the expansion team, not the original, which itself had moved to Minnesota a decade before. Was it Short’s plan all along? Buy a team, run it down, move it, profit? Who knows? He certainly never admitted to something like that. But he did it – twice.

      Short complained about everything in Washington. The fans didn’t show up. It was because of the horrible ballpark, or the neighborhood around it. He had a terrible ballpark deal, and couldn’t make any money because of it. His radio and television deals tied his hands. About the only thing he had going for him was the manager, Hall of Famer Ted Williams. Until Vandergriff showed up.

      Secret negotiations ensued in the middle of 1971. The Texas people were willing to give Short anything he wanted if he moved the team. They had a ballpark ready. They had broadcast deals ready. And the fans, who came out to see a minor-league team would surely flock to see a major-league one too. All Short had to do was agree to move the team.

      And he did. It took some finagling, a few lawsuits, and a lot of complaining from real senators. There was an air of financial shenanigans, too. Baseball wouldn’t let the Senators leave Washington without proving Short was losing money, which was easy, since he created the books. They wanted him to find local owners to buy the team instead of moving it. He found some, but they couldn’t provide enough guarantees for his liking. Notably, he wanted them to cover all his losses for the last several years – which were largely paper losses anyway.

      So baseball voted, and Short was allowed to go. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow was sitting there waiting for him. All he had to do was suffer some verbal slings and arrows, along with the indignity of seeing the final game in Washington abandoned when fans invaded the field, and he could cash in. He did, by the way: the city of Arlington paid him upfront for 10 years of broadcasting fees. Not only did that $7.5 million pay off his debts, but it ensured a handsome profit, given that later investigations showed he’d put down almost no money to buy the team in the first place. And he certainly wasn’t going to be around for 10 years to see how much selling the radio and TV rights would hurt the team.

      The Senators moved to Arlington for the 1972 season. Rebranding called them the Texas Rangers, after the legendary state law-enforcement group. They embraced the area, using Texas symbols in all their marketing, doing everything but wearing cowboy boots and hats on the field. They did what they could to bring immediate success, but they couldn’t fix one thing: the players. The team was a roster of has-beens and never-weres, with the occasional rough diamond that was either not yet polished or was quickly traded away at any sign of life.

      Bad luck hit the team even before it played its first game. The first-ever players strike in the spring of 1972 delayed Opening Day, and all the plans the team had to bring in the crowds for their first game. After a week of the season was lost, instead of the first game being at home, the Rangers opened in California, and didn’t get home until a few days later. But when they did, the pageantry was there, albeit to a much smaller crowd than hoped.

      That first-ever Texas Rangers game? You wouldn’t believe it if you read it in a novel. They lost, but they did it impressively. With the Rangers and Angels tied, 0-0, in the bottom of the ninth, Rangers reliever Paul Lindblad threw a bases-loaded walk-off wild pitch – perhaps symbolic of all the bad luck that would follow the team for decades.

      When the Rangers came home for their first North Texas series, they swept the Angels in four games. Imagine the excitement in DFW for the first-place Texas Rangers. But they lost the following day and fell to fourth, and reality set in. By early June they hit last place and kept falling. Pretty much everyone quit on the team during the dog days of August, just showing up for the paychecks.

      In late August the Rangers started a string in which they lost five, won one, lost four, won one, then lost five again. 2-14, if you’re trying to add it up. Next they won two out of three, so they were up to 4-15. The last of those three was a one-hitter by Bill Gogolewski, who apparently used up all the luck from the baseball gods, because the very next day they started the infamous 15-game losing streak. By the end of the streak they’d completed a 4-30 run, bad enough to make any fan cry. The game to end the losing streak took another Herculean pitching effort: Dick Bosman threw a three-hit shutout to beat the White Sox, 1-0.

      Toward the end of the streak the media began to report the rumor that Williams was quitting at the end of the season. The Greatest Hitter That Ever Lived had been driven crazy by this team. With a combined .217 average, they were The Team That Couldn’t Hit, and there was nothing he could do about it. He would rather go fishing than manage them for another year.

      Good things did happen during the season. Several game stories in this book tell of some of the better days the team had. In the June amateur draft the Rangers got Jim Sundberg and Mike Hargrove, who would each go on to long careers in the major leagues. Sunny is still around the team, having worked in the front office and in the media for the Rangers. Bobby Jones was around, too, although he was still in the minors. He’d been to Vietnam, where he’d earned a Bronze Star, and came back to play and coach for the Rangers, and spend more than two decades managing in the farm system. He retired in 2016, having spent 45 of his 50 years in baseball in the Rangers organization.

      If you want to find a win for Bob Short, take a look at the attendance figures. He brashly predicted a million fans would come out, but he was wildly wrong. In the early part of the season, writers in Washington were quick to point out that compared with the prior season, Rangers fans weren’t showing up as much as Senators fans had. But by the end, Short had the last laugh. Barely. Although they had four fewer home games, the Rangers had 662,974 fans through the turnstiles, 7,818 more than the Senators did the previous year. And Short proved right in the long term. There were just 25,000 more fans in 1973, but in 1974 the Rangers hit almost 1.2 million. The most the expansion Senators ever had was 918,000, while the original Senators passed a million just once. Since 1974 the Rangers have hit at least a million every season, except for the strike year of 1981, when they had 850,000 in just 56 home games. By the 1990s they were regularly hitting 2 million and passed 3 million a couple of times in the 2010s.

      The on-field effort helped with attendance, of course. Short sold the team to Brad Corbett in 1974, just a few months after the fifth anniversary of his buying it. (This was not a coincidence: It was the most favorable tax window to sell, and may have been his plan all along.) Corbett owned the team until 1980. Neither of them had money to put into the team (and neither of them wanted to). They spent the decade trading good players for bad, almost always with some cash coming back to them, which was used just to fund operations. They even lied about that – when shortstop Jim Mason was sold to the Yankees at the end of 1973, Short told local media that he got $250,000. The Yankees said they paid $100,000, and the media in New York thought even that was too much.

      And that’s largely why the Rangers of the 1970s (and the Senators of the 1960s) were so bad. Owners operating on shoestring budgets, trying to stay afloat. The 1972 Rangers were the start of it in Texas, but they were a symptom of the malaise that was in the organization. The team had several good young players, but they were either traded away or rushed to the big leagues – David Clyde, anyone? – for financial purposes, and not developed properly. Mason and Grieve are good examples of that, too. In both cases Short wanted to put them on the major-league team, but Williams said they needed much more development in the minors.

      It wasn’t until Eddie Chiles bought the team from Corbett – effectively a forced sale, because Chiles had loaned Corbett money to keep the team afloat, and he couldn’t afford to repay it – that the Rangers began showing some professionalism. Perhaps it was the escape from the wild times of the ’70s, too. By the time George W. Bush bought the team in 1989, they were on a solid financial foundation. And then they could push on to develop teams that would be competitive in the next decade. Again partly thanks to Grieve, who spent 1984-94 as the general manager.

      So, if you remember the Rangers of the 1970s, you know how bad things can be. Hopefully you stuck around to see them turn into a winning team. Of course, they still don’t have a ring, 45 years later. Two World Series appearances, and twice they were one strike away from winning it all. But the curse of the Rangers continues.

      Did You Know?

      Some fun facts about the 1972 Texas Rangers:

      They spent time in first place, and it wasn’t just on Opening Day. A week into the season they won and jumped to first. The following day they lost and fell to fourth. They never got above third place again all season.

      Imagine finishing 20½ games back. No, not behind the league leaders. The 1972 Rangers finished that far behind the next-to-last team, the Angels, who, at 18 games behind division champs Oakland, were closer to first than to last.

      Surprisingly, the Rangers were pivotal in a division race. The Detroit Tigers were 10-2 against the Rangers, while the Boston Red Sox were 8-4. The Tigers won the American League East by half a game over the Red Sox. Just one more loss by the Tigers, or one more win by the Red Sox, against the Rangers, and baseball history could have been completely different.

      They had a 15-game losing streak, still the worst in franchise history (through 2017). That streak was part of a 4-30 run in August and September, which got them to 99 losses with three games to go. They managed to win the first two but got their 100th loss on the last day.

      The team batting average was .217, the fourth lowest since the start of the twentieth century. How galling was that to manager Ted Williams, the greatest hitter of all time? The only teams that were worse? The Yankees at .214, in the Year of the Pitcher, 1968, and two Deadball Era teams, the 1908 Brooklyn Dodgers at .213, and the 1910 Chicago White Sox at .211.

      Only one pitcher reached 10 wins, Rich Hand. He also led the team with 14 losses. Naturally he was traded the following May. The best pitcher may have been Mike Paul, who was 8-9 with a 2.17 ERA in 20 starts and 29 relief appearances. They traded him too, the following August.

      The best hitters were Toby Harrah and Larry Biittner at .259 (Harrah was ahead by a few decimal points). Or, if you want to use the OPS+ stat (On-base Plus Slugging, adjusted to ballpark, with 100 being league average), it was Don Mincher, at 133. Only two others, Frank Howard and Ted Ford, were above league average in that stat.

      Wins Above Replacement (WAR) is the currently fashionable stat to show how good a player is. Replacement level is zero, which means you could pick someone up from the minor leagues who should do that job just as well. The Rangers had 11 hitters and 8 pitchers at or below zero. In other words, 19 of the 38 players the Rangers used in 1972, exactly half of them, were below replacement level. The Rangers also had three hitters and three pitchers over 2 WAR. For context, a WAR over 5 puts you at All-Star level, while a WAR over 2 could be a starting player in the major leagues. Mike Paul led the team with 3.4 WAR, while Elliott Maddox was the best hitter at 2.5 WAR.

      Despite all those terrible players, it was the only major-league season for just one of them. Pity poor Steve Lawson, who pitched well with a 2.81 ERA in 16 innings in his debut season. Arm trouble quickly led to the end of his career, but he at least could say that he played in the big leagues.

      The ballpark was a converted minor-league park, with thousands of seats quickly added when the Rangers arrived. It was so hot in the summer that fans called it a frying pan for the two decades it somehow remained in use. When they replaced it, in 1994, they still weren’t smart enough to put a roof on the new park.

      What’s in the book?

      All this history and more is covered in this book. The 1972 Texas Rangers were a culmination of a couple of decades of trying to get a major-league team. Dallas-Fort Worth has a long history with baseball, going back to the 1800s. Minor-league teams played in both cities for many years, indeed right up until the Rangers arrived. Articles in this book tell you that history, about the effort to bring a team to North Texas, and the story of Tom Vandergriff, the man now known as the father of the Rangers.

      The franchise began as the expansion Washington Senators, and we cover their story, which is often forgotten since it was so brief. We’ll tell you about Bob Short, the wheeler-dealer who ran the team on a shoestring, and looked at Texas as a way to make a quick profit. You already know everything there is to know about manager Ted Williams, right? We’ll tell you the story of Ted and his coaches, and the guys in the front office who ran the team, often despite Short’s interference.

      And there are the players. Biographies of everyone who played on the 1972 Rangers, whether it was their only major-league experience or if they had long careers. None longer than Tom Grieve, of course, who went on to spend five decades with the franchise, as player, general manager, and broadcaster, and earned the nickname Mr. Ranger.

      We also have several game stories from 1972. The first-ever game, which wasn’t supposed to be. The first home game, cowboy boots and all. The time that Nolan Ryan struck out 14 Rangers, decades before he became a Rangers legend. And more.

      Then there are all the fascinating extras we include. Stories of the guys who broadcast the games (including a Hall of Fame pitcher) in the days when the radio broadcasters took turns in the TV booth too. A newspaper beat reporter who went on to become one of the best-known writers in the Dallas media market. The story of how the team was put together, how the season unfolded, and the long suffering of Rangers fans before the team finally put a winning product on the field.

      There’s a lot of history here. Not all of it was good, but they were the first. Next time you’re in the ballpark, look around for a 1972 logo, and think back to the people who started it, all those years ago.

      Acknowledgments

      Many people worked together to produce this book. Every article was written by a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), all of whom volunteered their time. My original idea for the book was enthusiastically supported by C. Paul Rogers, chair of the Banks-Bragan Dallas-Ft. Worth chapter of SABR (who also gave me the book’s title), and other chapter members. SABR members everywhere pitched in, providing help and advice or, more directly, writing articles for the book. The story of the 1972 Texas Rangers presented here is due to their interest in recording and preserving baseball history. You can read biographies of all the contributors at the back of the book. I thank each and every one for their time and patience as this book moved through the process from conception to publication.

      Of course, there were also contacts with the players in the book. Many of them gave their time freely either to me or to writers throughout the book, and I acknowledge the importance of getting the book written with their first-person knowledge and experience.

      Thanks to my wife, Marian, and son, Joshua, for their enthusiastic support during the long gestation of the book. Many times I read odd stories about the team and players, and they listened to all of them with at least polite understanding. I’m glad to have them with me, and happy they enjoy watching the Rangers both on television and at the ballpark as much as I do.

      I thank Carl Riechers, the book’s fact-checker, and Len Levin, the copy editor. They went through every article with a fine-toothed comb and found many things that I had missed. I would read each article two or three times before they even saw it, and they’d still catch things. Carl’s ability to fact-check is amazing, making sure that someone hit .215, not .216, somewhere in the distant past. I’d get my own articles back from him and wonder how I managed to write some of the things I wrote, and glad he was there to fix it. As copy editor Len’s job is to make sure everything follows SABR’s Style Guide, which he must have memorized by heart, and also to ensure that everything reads properly. Often Len would subtly change a sentence I’d written and make it much clearer. Thank you both so much, Carl and Len. You definitely made this book better.

      Finally, my deepest thanks go to my co-editor, Bill Nowlin, SABR director and coordinator of BioProject books. Bill invested a lot of time and effort in guiding me to produce this book, and I am grateful for his help. It took longer than we both expected from start to finish, but Bill was there all the way, and pushed it over the finish line. Maybe a baseball metaphor is better: I got the book to third base (with a lot of help), but it was Bill who drove in the winning run. Bill, thank you so much for all your work and support.

      Steve West

      Carrollton, Texas

      March 2018

      Prologue: The Washington Senators: 1961-71

      By Joseph Wancho

      I’d love to be the man going into Washington. I’ve always felt that city is one of the top two or three franchises in the nation.

      – Frank Lane, general manager, Cleveland Indians¹

      October 26, 1960, started a new era of Washington Senators baseball. It began auspiciously enough. Senators’ president Calvin Griffith was relocating his team to Minnesota. The Senators had been an original franchise in the American League since its inception in 1901. But for years the son of Clark Griffith, a former Senators pitcher and the team’s owner since 1920, had been wanting to move his club. Washington won its last pennant in 1933. Except for second-place finishes in 1943 and 1945, the Senators were a second-division club in the junior circuit. Often they were battling it out with Philadelphia or St. Louis for last place. From 1955 to 1959, they finished in the cellar. When Charles Dryden penned the phrase Washington – first in war, first in peace, last in the American League in 1909, it was meant to be a humorous observation. But unfortunately for Washington fans, it became a reality most seasons. I regret leaving Washington, said Griffith, but I just couldn’t turn down the Minneapolis deal. I think we’ll draw 1.3 million our first year there and we’ll average more per head than we did in Washington.²

      As part of the deal to assuage the Nats fans, an expansion team was granted to the nation’s capital beginning with the 1961 season. Both the American and National Leagues were expanding to 10 teams. The American League opened for business in Los Angeles and Washington. The senior circuit put down stakes in New York and Houston. Many fans had grown weary of Griffith, and were not terribly sorry to see him leave. They were getting a new franchise, a fresh start, and that was exciting. Not to mention that a new stadium would be christened in time for the 1962 season.

      However, the short turnaround time for the expansion franchises would be a burden. Most knowledgeable baseball fans expected a couple of years of futility before progress was made. Elwood R. Pete Quesada was named the owner of the new franchise on November 17. Quesada was an administrator with the Federal Aviation Agency (as of 1967 the Federal Aviation Administration). Before that, he had a decorated career in military aviation. Quesada immediately made overtures to Cleveland general manager Frank Lane to come to Washington. Although Lane was intrigued by the idea, he knew a bad proposition when he saw one, and stayed put. Eventually Ed Doherty was named the GM and Mickey Vernon was hired to be the manager. Vernon was an icon in Washington, one of the few stars the franchise had in the 1940s and ’50s. However, over his 20 years as a major-league player, Vernon ranked third all-time in games played (2,409) without a playoff appearance. It was no fault of his own, as he owned a .286 lifetime batting average.

      The expansion draft was held in Boston in AL President Joe Cronin’s office. A flip of the coin for the four categories (pitching, catching, infield, and outfield) determined whether the Senators or Angels would select first. The Angels won three of the four flips; the Senators were able to get only their first pick of outfielders. Each of the existing eight AL clubs was required to make a total of 15 players available, making 120 players eligible to be drafted. As in many expansion drafts in professional sports, the names were a jumble of have-nots, also-rans, and never-were ballplayers.

      The highlight of the 1961 season may have been Opening Day. Although the Nats dropped a 4-3 decision to the White Sox, President John F. Kennedy was on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. The paid attendance for the last home opener at Griffith Stadium was 26,275. That total was surpassed only twice during the season, and both times the Yankees were the visitor. Led by Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, the M&M boys’ pursuit of Babe Ruth’s single-season home-run record was a boon to teams needing a boost in ticket sales.

      Dick Donovan led the league with a 2.40 ERA. Gene Woodling was the only player to bat over .300 (.313), and catcher Gene Green also enjoyed a good season, batting .280, hitting 18 home runs, and driving in 62 runs. The club enjoyed a winning month in May (17-12), but not much else. The Senators finished tied with Kansas City for last place in the AL. The Senators had a 61-100 record, 47½ games behind New York.

      The Senators looked to improve their offense, acquiring outfielder Jimmy Piersall from Cleveland for Donovan and Green. After batting .322 for the Tribe in 1961, Piersall slumped to .244 in 1962. Donovan was named The Sporting News American League Pitcher of the Year.

      The 1962 season was a carbon copy of the previous year. Not one pitcher posted a winning record and the Nats finished in last place with a 60-101 record, 35½ games out of first place. After the season, Quesada sold the team to James H. Lemon, an investment banker in Washington. Lemon hired George Selkirk to replace Doherty as the general manager. Selkirk was probably best known for taking the place of Babe Ruth in 1934, but he carved out a good career in his own right. In his nine years with the Bombers, the Yanks won six pennants.

      Forty games into the 1963 season, Vernon was let go as the Senators’ skipper. Piersall was traded to the New York Mets for Gil Hodges, with the understanding that Hodges would take over the reins of the club. His playing days were in the rear-view mirror. It was a curious move in that Hodges had never managed a baseball team, at any level. He likes to work with young players, and he has the ability to teach them the things that made him a great hitter and a great defensive player, said Mets manager Casey Stengel.³

      The Senators finished in last again in 1963, but in 1964 they crawled out of the basement into ninth place. However, they still lost 100 games for the fourth straight season. One of the highlights in the 1964 season came when right fielder Jim King hit for the cycle on May 26. He was the only player of the new Senators to accomplish the feat.

      After the 1964 season Selkirk made a deal that gave a face to the Senators franchise. In a six-player swap with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Frank Howard was bringing his big bat east. Howard had been the 1960 Rookie of the Year. Although like many power hitters he had a penchant for striking out, Howard could also hit for average.

      The Senators posted their best post-Griffith record, 70-92, in 1965 and inched up in the standings to eighth place. But for the Washington fans, the real kick in the teeth came when the Minnesota Twins won the pennant. To make it worse, their core players (Earl Battey, Zoilo Versalles, Harmon Killebrew, Don Mincher, Bob Allison, Jim Kaat, and Camilo Pascual) were all on the Washington roster in 1960. A hard pill to swallow for Nats fans, to be sure

      The Senators went 71-88 in 1966, again finishing in eighth place. Sonny Siebert fired a no-hitter against Washington on August 10 at Cleveland.

      The next four seasons could be termed the Frank Howard years. He was nicknamed the Washington Monument for his 6-foot-7 frame. Howard averaged 43 home runs and 108 RBIs from 1967 through 1970. His best season was 1970, when he smacked 46 round-trippers, drove in 126 runs, and drew 132 walks. All three categories led the American League.

      Despite Howard’s offensive fireworks, changes were being made in the Capital City. Hodges did about as much as he could with talent he was given. He was traded back to the Mets for pitcher Bill Denehy and $100,000 on November 27, 1967. Jim Lemon (no relation to the Washington owner) took over the reins of the club. A former player for the Senators, Lemon had a solid career. He had one year of managerial experience, with York (Pennsylvania) of the Eastern League in 1964. Lemon was on the Twins coaching staff before joining the Senators. The Nats sank to the bottom of the American League standings in 1968.

      Owner Lemon sold his interest in the club to Bob Short in the fall of 1968. Short, a trucking magnate from Minneapolis, had owned the Minneapolis Lakers of the NBA. He moved them to Los Angeles in 1957. He then sold the franchise to Jack Kent Cooke in 1965, making a profit of $5.2 million. Short outbid comedian Bob Hope for the majority rights to the Senators, and kept Lemon on as chairman of the board.

      Would the Senators face the same fate as the Lakers? Short said all the right things when the announcement of his ownership was made. But two days later he remarked, I am not committed to keep the team in Washington if D.C. Stadium is not made safe for the fans.⁴ Selkirk was removed from his general-manager position, and Doherty was brought back into the fold, although his new responsibilities were not clearly defined. Short was his own general manager.

      Jim Lemon the manager was also shown the door. Short tried to woo Kansas City manager Bob Kennedy to succeed Lemon. Kennedy wasn’t interested. Short then persuaded Ted Williams to take the post. Williams signed on for a sweetheart deal to pilot the Senators. Teddy Ballgame was given a five-year pact calling for $65,000 annually. Included was a $15,000-a-year apartment in Washington and an unlimited expense account. It was surely enough for the Splendid Splinter to abandon his tackle box and reel.

      In 1969 both leagues expanded by two more teams and each went to a two-division format. This created a round of playoffs before the World Series. No longer was the team with the best regular-season record guaranteed a spot in the fall classic. Not that the Senators needed to be concerned with postseason play. However, under Williams, they finished in fourth place in the American League East Division in 1969 with a record of 86-76. Howard (48 HR, 111 RBIs) and first baseman Mike Epstein (30 HR, 85 RBIs) carried the offense, while pitcher Dick Bosman led the league with a 2.19 ERA and was 14-5. Williams was named American League Manager of the Year in 1969.

      Meanwhile Hodges won a world championship with the Mets, who upended the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.

      One of the more entertaining nights for Senators fans was the All-Star Game, which was held on July 23, 1969, at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. (Renamed from D.C. Stadium, it was commonly called RFK Stadium.) Although the National League won the contest, 9-3, Howard hit a second-inning home run to give the home crowd something to cheer about. The Senators topped the 900,000 mark in attendance for the season. There was no better advertising than a competitive team on the field.

      Short saw no reason to have a general manager. He had no experience and it showed. He passed on offers to obtain Graig Nettles, instead bringing in Denny McLain and Curt Flood. Short really had no clue what he was doing. Ironically, if Bob Hope had been allowed to purchase the team they might have been less of a joke.

      The Senators slumped to their old ways in 1970 and 1971. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, who as a youth worked at Griffith Stadium, felt that it was important to keep a team in the nation’s capital. American League President Joe Cronin, himself a former Senator and a great one at that, felt likewise. Kuhn made last-ditch efforts to find a buyer for the flailing franchise.

      Short was asking for $12 million for the franchise, or he would not renew the lease at RFK Stadium and move the team. Short set his sights on the Southwest. He received an offer to move his franchise to Arlington, Texas, a city between Dallas and Fort Worth. Part of the deal was a 10-year broadcasting contract that paid $7.5 million in advance. American League owners also realized that it was prudent to have a team presence in that burgeoning area of the country. The owners voted 10-2 in favor of Short relocating the team to Texas. On September 21, 1971, the news became final.

      The Senators played their last game on September 30, 1971. A banner that read, Goodbye Boob Short hung in the ballpark. Another reading Bob Short Fan Club was draped over a completely empty section. Fans raced onto the field in the seventh and ninth innings, causing a forfeit to the New York Yankees. Howard stepped to the plate in the sixth inning with the bases empty and hit a home run off lefty Mike Kekich. The fans went berserk, clamoring for Howard to take a curtain call. Next time up I told [Yankees catcher Thurman] Munson to thank Mike for the gift, said Howard. All I know is, he gave me a pitch I could hit.⁵

      Notes

      1 Burton Hawkins, New Era for Baseball, Washington Evening Star, October 27, 1960: A-15.

      2 Burton Hawkins, Baseball Gets New Start Here as Griffs Move, Washington Evening Star, October, 27, 1960: A-15.

      3 Gil Has Ability to Become Successful Manager – Casey, The Sporting News, June 1, 1963: 9.

      4 Short Changes Tune on Move, Washington Evening Star, December 5, 1968: B-8.

      5 Dick Heller, Kekich’s Pitch to Howard: One for the Road Maybe?, Washington Evening Star, October 1, 1971: E-2.

      Major League Baseball Comes to Arlington

      By Greg Chandler

      The On-the-field History of the Texas Rangers began on April 15, 1972, but efforts to bring major-league baseball to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex started more than a decade earlier. In 1953, after 50 years without expansion or relocations in either the American League or the National League, the Braves’ move from Boston to Milwaukee was the first of many changes for both leagues in the next few years. Existing teams, especially those struggling in their current market, would look to new markets to improve their financial situation. Perhaps the most surprising moves were made in 1958, with the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn for Los Angeles, and the New York Giants changing their home to San Francisco, the two clubs becoming the first on the West Coast.

      At the same time, both the American and National Leagues were considering adding teams. By the fall of 1960, both leagues had formed expansion committees to explore potential locations for new teams, as many as four in each league, along with the issues in adding so many new teams. The cities of Dallas and Fort Worth came together to make a proposal to both leagues. The Bi-County Park Commission, which consisted of some of the most influential people in north Texas, had assembled a comprehensive plan for a new stadium to be built in Arlington, a small town halfway between the two cities near the turnpike that connected them. They already had approval to sell bonds to raise $9.5 million for the first domed stadium for baseball. The stadium would guarantee indoor playing conditions at 75 degrees, relieving concerns over the oppressive heat of a Texas summer. The dome would also mean no threat of rainouts that would force schedule changes. Since most teams in the league would have to travel a long distance to get to Texas, and with no other teams in the area, eliminating the possibility of having to travel back for makeup games was considered a necessity by the committee. Despite a well-organized committee with financial backing and community support from one of the largest cities without a major-league team, both leagues opted for other cities. The American League added the Los Angeles Angels and replaced the Washington Senators team that was moving to Minneapolis in 1961, and the National League added teams in New York and Houston in 1962.

      Tom Vandergriff, the mayor of Arlington and the chairman of the Bi-County Park Commission, continued his efforts to bring major-league baseball to north Texas. He proposed the area to club owners who were struggling and wanting to move their teams. Charley Finley was eager to move the A’s out of Kansas City, but at a meeting of the American League on September 18, 1962, it was evident that a move was not going to be approved.

      Determined to demonstrate support of baseball in Arlington, Mayor Vandergriff initiated construction of Turnpike Stadium in September 1964. The ballpark became the home field for the Texas League’s Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs in 1965. Originally, it seated 10,000 fans, large by minor-league standards, but was designed to be easily expanded to 50,000 seats in hopes of becoming home to a major-league team. Attendance at the Spurs games was very good, but Arlington was still unable to land a major-league team.

      The next serious opportunity came in 1968. Both leagues were considering adding two teams, and the Kansas City A’s were now adamant about moving. Dallas-Fort Worth made a bid for a National League team but lost out to Montreal and San Diego. Roy Hofheinz, the owner of the Houston Astros, resisted a north Texas team because of the television contracts the Astros had throughout Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. Vandergriff argued that an in-state rivalry would benefit Hofheinz, but it was not to be. The American League had finally approved the A’s moving to Oakland, but legal threats forced them to grant Kansas City a new expansion team to replace the A’s. The league chose Seattle over Dallas-Fort Worth for its second expansion team, although the Pilots would play in Seattle for only one year before moving to Milwaukee.

      With further expansion not expected for several years, the only hope Vandergriff had of bringing a major-league team to Arlington was to get approval for an existing club to relocate. To that end, he continued to build relationships with owners. He garnered support from California Angels owner Gene Autry, and the owner of the Washington Senators, Bob Short. Short and the Senators were having financial difficulties, which some say were of his own doing so that he could move the team to Texas. During the 1971 season, Short petitioned the American League to be able to move the team to Arlington. He had tried to negotiate a lower lease on RFK Stadium, but even with the threat of moving the team to Arlington if a new deal could not be reached, the D.C. Armory Board would not alter the lease. Short also offered to sell the team to anyone willing to pay $12 million to keep the team in Washington. On September 21, 1971, the league convened a meeting in Boston to discuss the relocation request. Vandergriff led a contingent from Dallas-Fort Worth. While he was presenting, a messenger knocked on the door and gave them a note signed by President Nixon which read, I implore you. Repeat: I implore you: Do not move the nation’s national pastime from the nation’s capital. ¹ Following Vandergriff’s presentation, the league excused the Texas delegation so the owners could vote. After a lengthy debate, the move was approved despite dissenting votes from the owners of the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox.²

      News of the move was met with a flood of emotions in Washington. The nation’s capital couldn’t fathom how they could be losing their team to a dinky, nowhere town between Dallas and Fort Worth with all the big-league stature of an anthill.³ Players who enjoyed playing and living in Washington were disappointed to be moving, too. Many of the fans were very angry with Short and it was in full display in the final game of the season when the Senators hosted the Yankees. Fans hung banners all over the ballpark expressing their feelings about Short. The game ended when several hundred fans stormed the field with two outs in the top of the ninth inning. They literally stole the bases, pulled up grass, put dirt in their pockets, and grabbed anything else they could. The Senators were leading the game, but were forced to forfeit, ending a dismal season and closing the book on baseball in Washington, D.C., for 33 years.

      That fall, Turnpike Stadium was expanded to a capacity over 35,000 and renamed Arlington Stadium. The team was named the Texas Rangers. It had taken 13 years of persistence, especially by Mayor Vandergriff, but Dallas-Fort Worth finally had the baseball team they coveted.

      Sources

      In addition to the sources in the notes, the author also consulted:

      Daniel, Dan. Finley Backs Off – Fails to Seek A.L. Approval for Shift, The Sporting News, September 29, 1962.

      Daniel, Dan. Let’s Speed Up Expansion Plan, The Sporting News, September 21, 1960.

      Gillespie, Ray. Dallas-Fort Worth Join Hands in Major Bid, The Sporting News, September 21, 1960.

      thisgreatgame.com.

      baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Expansion_of_1961.

      texas.rangers.mlb.com/tex/history/timeline.jsp.

      Notes

      1 Aaron Mathews, shutdowninning.com/boy-mayor-first-hero/.

      2 American League Owners Approve Washington Shift, Ludington (Michigan) Daily News, September 21, 1971.

      3 Timothy Dwyer, The Season Washington Was Out, Washington Post, August 31, 2004.

      Players

      Larry Biittner

      By David E. Skelton

      I’m nobody’s caddy. I should be playing somewhere, Larry Biittner insisted. I don’t want to be stereotyped. … Once you get the label you can’t play every day, it sticks. I’ve seen too many careers ruined that way, and I don’t want it to happen to mine.¹ These frustrations were expressed in 1979 as the 33-year-old was concluding his 10th major-league season with fewer than 350 at-bats. In 1970-1971 Ted Williams tried to mold the left-handed hitter into something resembling his own Hall of Fame career; six years later Biittner was described as one of the best fill-in first basemen since Lou Gehrig stepped in for Wally Pipp.² The lofty expectations beg the question: How was Biittner pigeonholed into just over 1,200 appearances throughout his 14-year major-league career?

      Lawrence David Biittner was born on July 27, 1946, one of a dozen children of Edward Oscar and Henrietta Amollia (Stoulil) Biittner in the tiny Iowa city of Pocahontas, 200 miles southwest of Minneapolis, Minnesota. His paternal grandparents appear to have arrived separately in the United States from Bavaria as teenagers in 1879. They married 10 years later and settled in Iowa to raise their large family (the surname was changed from Büttner (pronounced Beautner). They farmed the rich, dark loam … [of] undisturbed drift soil³ in Pocahontas County, a pursuit that Larry’s father followed.

      Larry attended Pocahontas Catholic High, where he demonstrated tremendous prowess in basketball and baseball. In the former he shattered various Iowa prep-school scoring records to earn All-State honors his junior and senior years. This hardwood success won him induction into the Iowa High School Athletic Association Basketball Hall of Fame. (Through 2015 right-handed slugger Casey Blake is the only other inductee to advance to the major leagues.) After graduating from high school in 1964, Biittner received a basketball scholarship from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

      With a near-exclusive focus on basketball alone, Biittner tired of Drake. He transferred to Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa (30 miles west of Pocahontas), on a double scholarship to include baseball.⁴ Biittner’s induction into the Iowa High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame (primarily as a pitcher) demonstrated finesse nurtured further by four-time Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year Jay Beekman. The pair led the Buena Vista Beavers to a state championship in 1965. Three years later, Biittner’s 8-0 record earned NAIA All-Star placement.⁵ He had attracted professional scouts in high school. In 1968, as he neared completion of a degree in physical education, this attention intensified.

      Central Scouting Bureau’s Joe McDermott, a former minor-league player, manager, and owner, was one such scout. His notes on Biittner (including a remarkably frank closing assessment):

      I have followed this boy in high school and college. Saw him pitch, play [first base] and outfield. Pitched real well at Wichita Tournament. Led his college conference in all departments. I like him at [first base or outfield]. Poor family. Will sign.⁶

      If McDermott believed he would easily sign Biittner, that privilege went instead to former minor-league pitcher and manager Lee Anthony. The Washington Senators scout persuaded the club to select Biittner in the 10th round of the June 1968 amateur draft. The Senators planned to send him to Geneva, New York, (short-season A) as a pitcher, but changed course after determining Biittner to be a better hitter than pitcher. He was advanced instead to Double-A Savannah, Georgia, where he played outfield and first base. Biittner’s .286 average in 199 at-bats placed among the team leaders; afterward he played in the Florida Instructional League.

      Biittner spent most of 1969 in the US Army. When he was discharged, the season was almost over. He made just 14 appearances with Savannah before a second assignment to the Instructional League. A standout Florida campaign earned placement on Washington’s 40-man roster. In the spring of 1970 Biittner was reassigned to Double-A Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in the Eastern League. On May 20 he set the tone for the season by going 5-for-6 in a doubleheader against the Reading Phillies. On July 14 he returned from another (much shorter) military stint to again beat up on the Phillies: 4-for-6 to lead Pittsfield to an 11-7 win. After the Senators (worst in the American League in batting) lost two players to injury, they recalled Biittner.

      On July 17, 1970, Biittner made his major-league debut, as a pinch-hitter against the California Angels – a weak groundout to lefty hurler Clyde Wright. Four days later, Biittner had a second pinch-hit appearance – a fly out – before returning to Pittsfield. Despite the abbreviated stay, he captured considerable attention: [Manager Ted] Williams was enthused after watching Biittner in batting practice. Ted wants the young left-handed hitting outfielder to get about 500 more times at bat in the minors and thinks he will then be ready. … ‘[Williams] talked quite a lot about the logics of hitting,’ Biittner said. ‘[H]e advised me to bring my hips into the ball a little faster.’⁷

      Biittner returned to Pittsfield in time to capture the league’s Player of the Month honor for July. On August 1 he collected two hits in the All-Star game. Ten days later he led his team to a 6-2 win over Elmira with two doubles and three RBIs. On September 22 Biittner was a triple shy of the cycle as his four hits paced Pittsfield to another win over Reading. He finished the season with a .325 average, .0001 behind Reading slugger Greg Luzinski for the batting title. Biittner’s hot bat continued through a third Instructional League assignment, placing among the league leaders with a .350 average.

      Biittner reported to spring training in 1971 among outfield hopefuls Jeff Burroughs and Tom Grieve. A crowded field greeted the three youngsters following the Senators’ offseason acquisition of outfielder Elliott Maddox and first baseman Tommy McCraw. On March 6 Biittner made an impressive start in Grapefruit League competition with three hits and two runs scored in a 3-1 win over the Montreal Expos. But in late March all three young hopefuls were assigned to the Senators’ minor-league camp.

      Biittner’s assignment to the Triple-A Denver Bears proved very short. He lashed out against American Association pitching at a .356 pace, including a five-RBI game against the Tulsa Oilers on April 14. At the same time Senators reserve outfielder Richie Scheinblum struggled below .155. Scheinblum was released and Biittner recalled. On May 18 Biittner collected his first major-league hit: a ninth-inning pinch-hit single off Cleveland Indians reliever Vince Colbert. Biittner came around to score. He earned his first starting assignment the next day. An 11-at-bat drought gave way to a 12-for-19 surge, including two three-hit performances contributing to two Senators victories (the team managed a mere 63 wins for the season). Another three-hit outing on June 30 included Biittner’s ninth-inning walk-off single in a 2-1 come-from-behind win over the New York Yankees.

      Biittner was used primarily in right field and as a pinch-hitter. On August 26 he delivered a game-winning pinch-hit double in his first at-bat following a three-week military stint. Biittner finished his rookie campaign with 44 hits in 171 at-bats (.257, with an eye-popping .368 as a pinch-hitter). Only five of the hits were of the extra-base variety. The Splendid Splinter claimed Biittner’s bat evoked memories "of Johnny Mize without Mize’s power."⁸ Williams was determined that more heft was forthcoming from the left-handed hitter’s 6-foot-2, 205-pound frame. The following February he personally directed hitting drills with Biittner (among a select few) to develop the untapped power.

      In 1972 Biittner arrived at spring training possessing his best chance of sticking⁹ with the Senators. The offseason had witnessed the exodus of a number of veteran players. By midseason a full-fledged youth movement abounded as the team – relocated to Arlington, Texas – suffered through a 100-loss campaign. The departures provided Biittner a starting role (primarily right field) but he began the season with a cold bat: .147 through May 12. A superb gloveman, Biittner was relegated to roles as a reserve fielder and pinch-hitter. In June injuries began decimating the Rangers’ outfield. Biittner was pressed back into service, including a brief but uncomfortable stint in center field. I don’t mind left or right, but center field was murder, he admitted. I really don’t have enough speed for center.¹⁰

      At this same time, life was breathed back into Biittner’s bat. From June 4 through August 1 he was the Rangers’ hottest hitter (.363 in 124 at-bats). On June 30 Biittner connected for his first major-league homer. The blast, off Angels pitcher Lloyd Allen, came on the heels of outfielder Ted Ford’s home run, marking the first back-to-back dingers in Texas Rangers history. Williams lamented the fact that Biittner managed just two additional homers afterward and eventually gave up trying to convert the 26-year-old: He doesn’t have the swing to be a home run hitter. … Contact is his strength. He hits the ball where it’s pitched. To try to change him would be stupid.¹¹ Though Biittner’s bat cooled again in September, he finished the season tied with shortstop Toby Harrah with a team-leading .259 average. Biittner was the regular at first base after the July 20 trade of veteran Don Mincher. Dubbed the team’s first baseman of the future,¹² Biittner prepared for the 1973 season alongside Harrah and other fellow Rangers in the Venezuelan League.¹³

      Biittner’s future appeared in doubt after the Rangers during the offseason acquired slugging first baseman Mike Epstein. When Epstein struggled against the wind-thwarted power alleys in Arlington Stadium, he was traded to the Angels in a deal that brought the Rangers first baseman Jim Spencer. Biittner was relegated to a utility role. On May 16, 1973, he delivered a ninth-inning, two-out, game-winning single on a check swing to beat the Kansas City Royals 2-1. But this proved one of Biittner’s few highlights. With infrequent use, he struggled below .200 into June, though a late-season surge lifted his average to a respectable .252 by season’s end. In November Biittner was assigned to the Rangers’ Spokane affiliate. A month later, he was traded to the Montreal Expos for hurler Pat Jarvis and then transferred to Triple-A Memphis.

      The driving force behind the trade was Expos general manager Jim Fanning. He correctly assessed that Jarvis’s best days were behind him (Jarvis did not pitch professionally again) and hoped to secure something in return. A fellow Buena Vista alumnus, Fanning had scouted Biittner for the Atlanta Braves in 1968. [Biittner] is a good Triple-A ballplayer with a better-than-average chance of being a major leaguer, Fanning announced after the trade. He’s an established player.¹⁴ The Expos invited Biittner to spring training as a nonroster invitee and – apparently ignorant of Williams’s earlier attempts – tried to convert him into a power hitter.

      With Memphis Biittner again demonstrated his minor-league hitting credentials with a .327 average, placing among the International League leaders. Promoted to the Expos in August, Biittner found profit in the all-too-familiar pinch-hitting role: .267 in 15 at-bats. This limited success, combined with the team’s loss of a number of left-handed hitters via offseason trades, made Biittner a valuable commodity in 1975. In May, when injuries and general ineffectiveness limited

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