#26-30 All-Time Rangers List

This week I will give numbers 26-30 on my Top 50 All-Time Ranger List. See my June 14th entry for the previous installment.

30. Rick Helling: 68-51, 1008 IP, 687 K, .571 W%, 4.86 ERA, 20-Game Winner (‘98), T-Win Leader (‘98)

Rick is 4th in winning percentage among Rangers pitchers with at least 400 innings pitched, and 2nd among starters with at least 500 IP. That’s pretty good by itself, but it’s even better when you’re 5th in team history in wins, 8th in innings pitched, and 8th in strikeouts. He also was tied (with Roger Clemens) for the league lead in wins in 1998 with 20. He helped lead the Rangers to the division title in 1998 and 1999 and pitched reasonably well in two losses to the Yankees, with quality starts in both games. The only think holding him back from moving up on this list is his ERA, which is 4.86, which is just 42nd in team history among pitchers with at least 400 innings pitched.

29. Danny Darwin: 224 G, 55-52, 872 IP, 566 K, 3.72 ERA

Danny is 8th in team history in wins with 55, even though he was only a starter in 3 of his 8 seasons as a Ranger. But when he did start, he went the whole way 22.3 percent of the time, which is very, very, very good. He is also 14th in appearances, 10th in innings pitched, and 10th in strikeouts. Not to mention the fact that he is 7th in ERA among pitchers with a minimum of 400 innings pitched.

28. Jose Guzman: 66 W, 24 CG, 1013.2 IP, 715 K, 66-62, 3.90 ERA

Jose is 7th in Rangers history in wins with 66, only two behind Rick Helling, but in 7 less starts. He also has a very good ERA as a Ranger at 3.90, 14th in team history among pitchers with 400 innings pitched or more in their Rangers career. He also has 24 complete games as a Ranger, which ranks 9th in the Rangers record books. And don’t forget that he is 6th in innings pitched and 7th in strikeouts, so that just adds on to an already solid resume.

27. Francisco Cordero: 49 saves in a season, 356 G (3rd), 117 saves (3rd), 21-20, 3.45 ERA, 393 K, 297 IP, All-Star (‘04)

Co-Co Cordero is 3rd in both games and saves in Rangers history, and the 4th place Ranger in saves is nowhere close, 34 saves behind Cordero. Cordero also had 49 saves in 2004, only 4 behind Mariano Rivera for the major league lead in saves that season. He also made the All-Star team that season. He had a winning record as a Ranger, with a record of 21-20, and has 393 strikeouts in only 297 innings pitched, 11.9 strikeouts per every 9 innings pitched, which is a great rate.

26. Jeff Russell: 445 G (2nd), 134 saves (2nd), 3.73 ERA, 42-40, Rolaids Fireman of Year (‘89), All-Star (‘88, ‘89), Save-Leader (‘89)

Jeff Russell had a great Ranger career, ranking 2nd in both games and saves, behind only Kenny Rogers in appearances, and behind only John Wetteland in saves (only 16 saves back). He also won the Rolaids Fireman of the Year Award in 1989, was an All-Star in both 1988 and 1989, and was the AL saves leader in 1989 with 38. He also had 42 wins as a Ranger in his career, a pretty high number for a closer. He is 8th in ERA in team history among all players with at least 400 career innings pitched as a Ranger. He was also an important part of the bullpen in 1996, in his second stint as a Ranger, helping the team win their first division title.

I will be taking next week off, so come back in two weeks for my August Awards.