2003 Texas Rangers season

The 2003 Texas Rangers season was the 43rd of the Texas Rangers franchise overall, their 32nd in Arlington as the Rangers, and their 10th season at The Ballpark in Arlington. The Rangers finished fourth in the American League West with a record of 71 wins and 91 losses.

2003 Texas Rangers
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	The Ballpark in Arlington
City	Arlington, Texas
Record	71–91 (.438)
Divisional place	4th
Owners	Tom Hicks
General managers	John Hart
Managers	Buck Showalter
Television	KDFI FSN Southwest (Tom Grieve, Josh Lewin)
Radio	KRLD (Eric Nadel, Vince Cotroneo) KESS-FM (Eleno Ornelas, Edgar Lopez)
← 2002 Seasons 2004 →

Preseason

• October 3, 2002: John Rocker was released by the Rangers.^[1]
• December 6, 2002: Travis Hafner and Aaron Myette were traded by the Rangers to the Cleveland Indians for Einar Díaz and Ryan Drese.^[2]
• December 23, 2002: Ugueth Urbina was signed as a free agent with the Rangers.^[3]

Regular season

The Rangers home opener on April 4

Opening Day starters

• Einar Díaz, C
• Rafael Palmeiro, 1B
• Michael Young, 2B
• Hank Blalock, 3B
• Alex Rodriguez, SS
• Carl Everett, LF
• Doug Glanville, CF
• Juan González, RF
• Rubén Sierra, DH
• Ismael Valdez, RHP

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	96	66	.593	—	57‍–‍24	39‍–‍42
Seattle Mariners	93	69	.574	3	50‍–‍31	43‍–‍38
Anaheim Angels	77	85	.475	19	45‍–‍37	32‍–‍48
Texas Rangers	71	91	.438	25	43‍–‍38	28‍–‍53

Record vs. opponents

2003 American League record Source: MLB Standings Grid – 2003 v t e
Team	ANA	BAL	BOS	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TB	TEX	TOR	NL
Anaheim	—	1–8	3–6	3–4	6–3	6–1	6–3	5–4	3–6	8–12	8–11	6–3	9–10	2–7	11–7
Baltimore	8–1	—	9–10	2–4	3–3	3–3	3–4	3–4	6–13–1	2–7	4–5	8–11	7–2	8–11	5–13
Boston	6–3	10–9	—	5–4	4–2	8–1	5–1	2–4	9–10	3–4	5–2	12–7	5–4	10–9	11–7
Chicago	4–3	4–2	4–5	—	11–8	11–8	11–8	9–10	4–2	4–5	2–7	3–3	3–4	6–3	10–8
Cleveland	3–6	3–3	2–4	8–11	—	12–7	6–13	9–10	2–5	3–6	3–6	5–2	4–5	2–4	6–12
Detroit	1–6	3–3	1–8	8–11	7–12	—	5–14	4–15	1–5	3–6	1–8	2–4	1–6	2–7	4–14
Kansas City	3–6	4–3	1–5	8–11	13–6	14–5	—	11–8	2–4	2–7	4–5	4–3	7–2	1–5	9–9
Minnesota	4–5	4–3	4–2	10–9	10–9	15–4	8–11	—	0–7	8–1	3–6	6–0	5–4	3–3	10–8
New York	6–3	13–6–1	10–9	2–4	5–2	5–1	4–2	7–0	—	3–6	5–4	14–5	4–5	10–9	13–5
Oakland	12–8	7–2	4–3	5–4	6–3	6–3	7–2	1–8	6–3	—	7–12	6–3	15–4	5–2	9–9
Seattle	11–8	5–4	2–5	7–2	6–3	8–1	5–4	6–3	4–5	12–7	—	4–5	10–10	3–4	10–8
Tampa Bay	3–6	11–8	7–12	3–3	2–5	4–2	3–4	0–6	5–14	3–6	5–4	—	3–6	11–8	3–15
Texas	10–9	2–7	4–5	4–3	5–4	6–1	2–7	4–5	5–4	4–15	10–10	6–3	—	5–4	4–14
Toronto	7–2	11–8	9–10	3–6	4–2	7–2	5–1	3–3	9–10	2–5	4–3	8–11	4–5	—	10–8

Transactions

• May 9, 2003: Alan Benes was sent to the Texas Rangers by the Chicago Cubs as part of a conditional deal.^[4]
• June 3, 2003: Ian Kinsler was drafted by the Rangers in the 17th round of the 2003 amateur draft. Player signed June 24, 2003.^[5]
• July 11, 2003: Ugueth Urbina was traded by the Rangers to the Florida Marlins for Adrián González, Ryan Snare, and Will Smith (minors).^[3]

Roster

2003 Texas Rangers
Roster
Pitchers 44 Alan Benes 53 Joaquín Benoit 36 Mickey Callaway 31 Francisco Cordero 17 Doug Davis 45 R. A. Dickey 41 Juan Dominguez 37 Ryan Drese 50 Robert Ellis 38 Aaron Fultz 57 Reynaldo Garcia 56 Rosman García 48 Colby Lewis 32 Ron Mahay 43 Tony Mounce 50 C. J. Nitkowski 61 Chan Ho Park 39 Jay Powell 54 Erasmo Ramirez 40 Mario Ramos 49 Víctor Santos 58 Brian Shouse 46 John Thomson 41 Ugueth Urbina 14 Ismael Valdez 47 Todd Van Poppel 43 Esteban Yan		Catchers  5 Einar Díaz 27,22 Todd Greene 12 Chad Kreuter 51 Gerald Laird Infielders 11,9 Hank Blalock 13 Mike Lamb 25 Rafael Palmeiro 35 Herbert Perry  3 Alex Rodriguez 23 Mark Teixeira 10 Michael Young		Outfielders 16 Ryan Christenson 24 Jermaine Clark  2 Carl Everett  6 Doug Glanville 19 Juan González 21 Jason Jones 15 Ryan Ludwick 28 Kevin Mench  2 Ramón Nivar 17 Laynce Nix  4 Donnie Sadler 21,38 Rubén Sierra 47 Shane Spencer 27 Marcus Thames		Manager 11 Buck Showalter Coaches 52 Mark Connor (bullpen) 20 DeMarlo Hale (first base) 55 Orel Hershiser (pitching)  8 Rudy Jaramillo (hitting)  1 Steve Smith (third base) 18 Don Wakamatsu (bench)

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Einar Diaz	101	334	86	.257	4	35
1B	Mark Teixeira	146	529	137	.259	26	84
2B	Michael Young	160	666	204	.306	14	72
SS	Alex Rodriguez	161	607	181	.298	47	118
3B	Hank Blalock	143	567	170	.300	29	90
LF	Shane Spencer	55	185	42	.227	4	23
CF	Ryan Christenson	60	165	29	.176	2	16
RF	Juan González	82	327	96	.294	24	70
DH	Rafael Palmeiro	154	561	146	.260	38	112

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Carl Everett	74	270	74	.274	18	51
Todd Greene	62	205	47	.229	10	20
Doug Glanville	52	195	53	.272	4	14
Laynce Nix	53	184	47	.255	8	30
Rubén Sierra	43	133	35	.263	3	12
Donnie Sadler	77	131	26	.198	1	5
Kevin Mench	38	125	40	.320	2	11
Jason Jones	40	107	23	.215	3	11
Ramón Nivar	28	90	19	.211	0	7
Marcus Thames	30	73	15	.205	1	4
Jermaine Clark	24	46	8	.174	0	6
Gerald Laird	19	44	12	.273	1	4
Mike Lamb	28	38	5	.132	0	2
Ryan Ludwick	8	26	4	.154	0	0
Herbert Perry	11	24	4	.167	0	2
Chad Kreuter	7	18	2	.111	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
John Thomson	35	217.0	13	14	4.85	136
Colby Lewis	26	127.0	10	9	7.30	88
Ismael Valdéz	22	115.0	8	8	6.10	47
Tony Mounce	11	50.2	1	5	7.11	30
Chan Ho Park	7	29.2	1	3	7.58	16
Robert Ellis	4	18.1	1	1	8.35	8
Alan Benes	4	15.0	0	3	11.40	11
Mario Ramos	3	13.0	1	1	6.23	8
Doug Davis	1	3.0	0	0	12.00	2

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
R.A. Dickey	38	116.2	9	8	5.09	94
Joaquin Benoit	25	105.0	8	5	5.49	87
Ryan Drese	11	46.0	2	4	6.85	26
Víctor Santos	8	25.2	0	2	7.01	15
Mickey Callaway	6	22.1	0	3	6.45	19
Juan Domínguez	6	16.1	0	2	7.16	13
Todd Van Poppel	7	12.2	1	0	8.53	9

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Ugueth Urbina	39	0	4	26	4.19	41
Francisco Cordero	73	5	8	15	2.94	90
Aaron Fultz	64	1	3	0	5.21	53
Brian Shouse	62	0	1	1	3.10	40
Jay Powell	51	3	0	0	7.82	40
Rosman García	46	1	2	0	6.02	25
Ron Mahay	35	3	3	0	3.18	38
Erasmo Ramirez	34	3	1	0	3.86	28
Reynaldo Garcia	17	0	0	0	9.00	15
Esteban Yan	15	0	1	0	6.94	25
C.J. Nitkowski	6	0	0	0	7.45	5

Awards and honors

• Alex Rodriguez, American League Most Valuable Player Award
• Alex Rodriguez, Hank Aaron Award
• Alex Rodriguez, A.L. Home Run Champ
• Alex Rodriguez, SS, AL Gold Glove
• Alex Rodriguez, Silver Slugger Award

All-Star Game

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Oklahoma RedHawks	Pacific Coast League	Bobby Jones
AA	Frisco RoughRiders	Texas League	Tim Ireland
A	Stockton Ports	California League	Arnie Beyeler
A	Clinton LumberKings	Midwest League	Carlos Subero
A-Short Season	Spokane Indians	Northwest League	Darryl Kennedy
Rookie	AZL Rangers	Arizona League	Pedro López

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Spokane