October 2, 1977: Rangers end season with franchise’s best record and rookie John Poloni’s only career win

By most measures, the game wasn’t important. It was the last of the season, played on a sunny Sunday afternoon before 5,779 fans at Arlington Stadium. No matter the outcome, the Texas Rangers were assured of their best record in franchise history and second place in the American League West. The visiting Oakland A’s, three years removed from their trifecta of World Series titles, could only hope to avoid finishing last in the seven-team division.

The season had been tumultuous for the Rangers. Before a spring-training game, second baseman Lenny Randle punched manager Frank Lucchesi in the face several times, breaking his cheekbone and causing a concussion. The Rangers fined, suspended, and then traded Randle, who also faced criminal charges and a civil suit.1 Lucchesi recovered from his injuries and returned to the dugout, only to be fired on June 21 with the team seemingly unable to play better than .500 ball. His dismissal began a seven-day period in which the Rangers had four managers,2 which may well be a record.3

Under their fourth manager, former Baltimore third-base coach Billy Hunter, the Rangers began to turn the season around. His aggressive style of baseball paid off, and by mid-August the club reached first place for three days before dropping back.4 With one game left to play, the Rangers were 59-33 with Hunter at the helm, 93-68 overall. One of the victories was Bert Blyleven’s no-hitter, the second in franchise history, on September 22.5

Oakland had half as many managers as the Rangers during the season and 30 fewer wins going into the final game. Mercurial owner Charlie Finley fired Jack McKeon in early June and replaced him with former Angels manager Bobby Winkles, then the Giants’ third-base coach.6 Winkles did not fare as well as his Texas counterpart. The Oakland roster was dotted with rookies and journeymen; only center fielder Bill North and pitcher Vida Blue remained from the 1974 World Series champions managed by Alvin Dark and the 1976 team that had finished second in the AL West under Chuck Tanner. And North missed half of the 1977 season with injuries.

The final game may not have mattered much in the standings, or to the fans, but it meant a great deal to Texas pitcher John Poloni, a 6-foot-5 left-hander out of Arizona State who was making his first major-league start. Since his call-up from Triple-A Tucson when the rosters expanded, his only appearance had been two innings in relief against Minnesota on September 16.7 The Rangers lineup for the Oakland game included four of his Tucson teammates: third baseman Kurt Bevacqua, a major-league veteran who had joined the Rangers just after the All-Star break, and rookies Pat Putnam at first, Keith Smith in left field, and Lew Beasley in right. Another rookie, Eddie Miller from Double-A Tulsa, was in center.

Poloni got off to a good start with a one-two-three first inning. Marty Perez flied out to Miller in center field to get the game underway, and Poloni then induced groundouts from Rob Picciolo and Jim Tyrone, both handled by shortstop Jim Mason. In the second, Poloni made one bad pitch, which the leadoff hitter, Mike Jorgensen, deposited in the right-center-field seats. After Manny Sanguillén flied out to Miller, Jerry Tabb singled to right, but Rich McKinney grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning. In the third, Poloni again set down the A’s in order. Larry Murray grounded out to short, Jeff Newman took a called third strike, and Perez flied out to Beasley in right.

Meanwhile, Oakland starter Matt Keough, a rookie right-hander who also debuted in September, held Texas scoreless until the third, when the Rangers pushed across five runs. Mason led off with a walk, advanced to second on second baseman Sandy Alomar’s single to right field, and scored on Smith’s base hit to center. Alomar, who wound up at third, sprinted home on a safety squeeze, with Miller’s bunt going for a hit and Smith moving to third. After Beasley popped out, Bevacqua lashed a double down the line in left to clear the bases. Bevacqua tried for an extra base on left fielder Jorgensen’s futile attempt to nab Smith at the plate and scored when catcher Newman’s throw skipped past third into foul territory. Keough retired the next two hitters, Punam and Bill Fahey, on a popup and a fly ball.

The A’s cut the Texas lead to 5-4 with one run in the fourth inning and two more in the fifth. Picciolo singled to center to open the fourth. After Poloni struck out Tyrone and retired Jorgenson on a popup, Sanguillén’s pop fly to right field fell for a double, driving in Picciolo. Poloni struck out Tabb to prevent further damage. In the fifth, McKinney drew a leadoff walk and scored when Murray doubled to left and Smith bobbled the ball. Newman and Perez flied out, but Picciolo drove in Murray with a single to right. Poloni, in his final inning of work, stranded the potential tying run by retiring Tyrone on a pop fly to shortstop Mason.

The Rangers increased their margin to 8-4 in the home half of the fifth. Miller and Beasley nicked Keough for singles, the former moving to third and the latter winding up at second when right fielder Tyrone fumbled the ball. Manager Winkles brought in right-hander Rick Langford, who struck out Bevacqua and intentionally walked Putnam, a left-handed hitter. The strategy didn’t work: Consecutive singles to center by Fahey and Tom Grieve emptied the bases. That ended the Texas scoring, however, as Langford walked one and allowed one hit the rest of the way. The Rangers got a runner into scoring position in the seventh with one out when Grieve reached on an error after Putnam’s single, but a double play ended the inning.

In relief of Poloni, manager Hunter brought in veteran left-hander Roger Moret, who had taken a no-hitter into the seventh against Oakland in August.8 After setting down the A’s in order in the sixth, Moret gave up one run in each of the next three innings. With one out in the seventh, Murray drew a walk, went to third on Newman’s double, and scored on a single by Perez. A double play ended the inning. In the eighth, Jorgensen’s second home run made it 8-6. The A’s threatened to tie the game with two outs in the ninth when Perez singled and scored on Piccolo’s double, but Moret retired Tyrone on a tapper to the mound.

Oakland’s loss, coupled with Seattle’s 3-2 win over Chicago, dropped the A’s into last place in the final AL West standings with a 63-98 record, a half-game behind the expansion Mariners. It was the Athletics’ worst showing since the club moved to Oakland in 1968. The Rangers finished with a 94-68 record, eight games better than the previous best for the franchise.9

“Poloni did all right,” manager Hunter said of the rookie pitcher. “He forgot to cover first base once [presumably on Sanguillén’s bloop double in the fourth] and that cost us a run, but I expect young mistakes like that.”10 For his part, Poloni was pleased to get the win. “I wasn’t all that sharp, but I’ll take it,” he said. “It’s hard to be sharp when you’ve worked only two innings in a month.”11 Poloni faced 21 batters, allowed four earned runs on six hits, struck out three, and walked one.

It was his last major-league game. After two more seasons in the minors, one marred by injury, Poloni was a minor-league pitching coach for 13 years and a scout for two dozen more. Drawing on his experience as a coach, he developed “a reputation in the business for finding pitchers where no one else does.”12

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Bruce Slutsky and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted the following:

Bush, Danny. “Rangers Outrun A’s in Finale,” Arlington (Texas) Daily News, October 3, 1977: 5.

“Ranger Scoring,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, October 3, 1977: 2D.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TEX/TEX197710020.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1977/B10020TEX1977.htm

Notes

1 Bob Lindley, “Randle Punches Lucchesi; Ranger Manager in Hospital,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, March 29, 1977: 1D; Randy Galloway, “Ranger Manager Lucchesi Attacked by Unhappy Player,” Dallas Morning News, March 27, 1977: 1A; Mike Jones, “Rangers Trade Randle to Mets,” Dallas Morning News, April 27, 1977: 1B. The Rangers fined Randle $10,000 and suspended him for 30 days without pay, which cost him another $13,400. The prosecuting attorney in Orlando, Florida, where the attack occurred, charged Randle with aggravated battery, a felony, but ultimately worked out a plea bargain under which the player pleaded no contest to simple battery, a misdemeanor, paid a $1,000 fine, and agreed make “full and complete restitution” of Lucchesi’s medical expenses. Peter Schaal, “Randle Facing a Fine of $1,000,” The Sporting News, August 6, 1977: 17. Lucchesi later sued Randle for $200,000, based on pain and suffering and lost earning power, but the parties settled the case in December 1978 after three days of trial. The terms were confidential, but courthouse chatter put the amount at $20,000. Bob Lindley, “Terms of Lucchesi-Randle Settlement May Remain Secret,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, December 9, 1978: 1F; “Randle Settles with Lucchesi,” Dallas Morning News, December 9, 1978: 1B.

2 Lucchesi was fired after the Rangers lost to the Twins on June 21. Eddie Stanky managed the next day, then abruptly quit, saying he was homesick. Texas coach Connie Ryan took over as interim manager on June 23, and Billy Hunter was hired on June 27. “Hunter Fourth Ranger Skipper in Seven Days,” The Sporting News, July 9, 1977: 7. Hunter’s first game as manager was on June 28. Jim Reeves, “Rangers Fold in Ninth Again,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, June 29, 1977: 1D. If one counts days in the dugout, the Rangers had four managers in eight days rather than seven.

3 Other teams have had four managers in a season − the 1907 Boston Americans, 1961 Chicago Cubs, and 1980 St. Louis Cardinals − but not in a seven-day span. An asterisk could go to the 1961 Cubs and their so-called “college of coaches.” Four “head coaches” directed the team from May 30 through June 5, but one coach held the top position twice in that seven-day stretch. The 1980 Cardinals deserve special mention. Because of the ham-handed dismissal of Ken Boyer between games of a doubleheader, the club had three of its four managers in two days. Jerome Holtzman, “Was the Cubs’ ‘College of Coaches’ a Complete Failure? To a Degree,” Chicago Tribune, December 21, 1986: sec. 3, 2; Rick Hummel, “Boyer: ‘No Emotion,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 9, 1980: 1C.

4 Jim Reeves, “Rangers Win, Surge Into First Place,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, August 18, 1977: 1D; Jim Reeves, “Rangers Hold First, Rout Blue Jays 8-0,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, August 19, 1977: 1D; Jim Reeves, “Rangers Lose, Fall Into Tie for First Place,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, August 20, 1977: 1D.

5 Jim Reeves, “Blyleven Hurls No-Hitter at Angels,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 23, 1977: 1D.

6 “Winkles Replaces McKeon as A’s Boss,” San Francisco Examiner, June 10, 1977: 55.

7 Jim Reeves, “Twins Pin 9-7 Defeat on Rangers,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 17, 1977: 1D. Poloni, the last of five Texas pitchers, did not figure in the decision. He allowed one run on two hits in his two innings of work, with no walks and one strikeout.

8 Bob Lindley, “Torrid Rangers Sweep A’s,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, August 9, 1977: 1D. Moret was aided by a triple play, the first in Rangers history.

9 Before moving to Texas, the expansion Washington Senators finished 86-76 in 1969. The 1977 Rangers also set records in every offensive category except triples and equaled that mark. Randy Galloway, “Ranger Historians Busy,” Dallas Morning News, October 3, 1977: 6B.

10 “Rangers Tap Farm, A’s Hit Rock Bottom,” San Francisco Examiner, October 3, 1977: 54.

11 Jim Reeves “Rangers Close with Win,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, October 3, 1977: 1D. Before he relieved against the Twins in mid-September, Poloni’s last appearance was a start for Tucson at Albuquerque on September 3. He allowed one earned run on five hits in seven innings, but the Dukes’ Quincey Hill shut out the Toros 2-0. “Toros Close Out PCL Slate Today,” Tucson Citizen, September 5, 1977: 2D.

12 Gerry Fraley, “Rangers’ Key Pickup Got His Start in 1977,” Dallas Morning News, March 13, 2003: 1B.