All-Stars and Orphans: Over A Half Century of Rangers Relief Pitching

Through 2024, Texas Rangers fans have enjoyed quality relief pitching for over a half century. A look at the careers of the team’s Top Ten career saves leaders reveals both memories and surprises.1

 

 

Four of them combined for five All-Star appearances while with the Rangers (and 12 total, Wetteland 2, Cordero 2, Nathan 6, Henke 2) while adding to their 300+ career save resumes:2

• John Wetteland (150 of 330 career saves were with the Rangers) led the way with two All-Star appearances (1998-99) as a Texas Ranger. A premier reliever of the 1990s, he is often remembered as saving all four Yankee victories in the 1996 World Series, and for retiring prematurely.3, 4
• Francisco Cordero (117 of 329) had his All-Star nod in 2004, but is often remembered as the subject of a viral video of being robbed at gunpoint in the Dominican Republic.5, 6
• Joe Nathan (80 of 377) was a converted shortstop with two All-Star appearances (2012-13) during his stay in Texas.7
• Tom Henke (58 of 311) could have been a fourth, but his All-Star nods came with the Blue Jays (1987) and Cardinals (1995).8, 9

The 300+ career save leaders are joined by another three All-Stars on the list:

• Jeff Russell (134 of 186) appeared as a Rangers All-Star twice (1988-89), but mainly figured in two key Rangers trades: from Cincinnati in 1985 with Duane Walker for Buddy Bell, and in 1992 to Oakland with Ruben Sierra and Bobby Witt for Jose Canseco.10
• Neftali Feliz (93 of 107) became both an All-Star and Rookie of the Year in 2010.11
• C.J. Wilson (all 52 of 52 career), another homegrown All-Star (2011) and auto racing enthusiast, was converted to a starter just before moving on to the Los Angeles Angels.12

Shawn Tolleson earned all 46 of his career saves with Texas, but was never accorded All-Star honors, and became an advocate for health-and-fitness lifestyles based on baseball training techniques.13

The other two pitchers on the list have their numbers split between the Rangers and their previous incarnation, the second Washington Senators (1961-71).14 Despite a brief appearance in Texas (four saves in 1977), peripatetic left-hander Darold Knowles (seven franchises, 1965-80), is most known for his World Series heroics, helping the Oakland A’s to three consecutive championships, 1973-75.15 Knowles earns a spot in Rangers lore through 60 saves (1967-71). When the Senators became the Rangers in 1972, it creating a record-keeping conundrum with Knowles.16 Sixty of his saves were as a Senator, but he added another four as a Ranger. Also, his franchise-related All-Star appearance (1969) was in a Washington uniform. Instead of a Texas fixture, he became a franchise mixture, orphaned by a decisive split in franchise history.

The other relief orphan is Ron Kline, with 83 of 108 career saves coming with Washington (1963-66). Kline was never an All-Star, but led the American League in 1965 with a respectable 29 saves.17 (Ted Abernathy led the NL with 31, the first time 30+ saves led MLB.18) Despite the orphan status, Kline was a notable contributor to the franchise’s relief-pitching history.

While orphans like Knowles and Kline can be easily overlooked by forward-looking fans, they were a part, albeit a peculiar part, of the franchise’s ancestry, and part of its living relief history as well.

WAYNE TOWERS, PhD is a retired Sea World San Diego education specialist and retired college professor and administrator. He also worked as a data analyst for The Oklahoman and Times daily newspaper and for multiple business and marketing research firms. His published work includes “World Series Coverage in the 1920s” (Journalism Monographs).

 

Notes

1. Player data from Baseball Reference unless otherwise noted; “Texas Rangers Top 10 Career Pitching Leaders,” https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/TEX/leaders_pitch.shtml.

2. “Rangers All-Stars,” http://www.mlb.com/rangers/history/all-star-players.

3. Mark Armour, “SABR 50 at 50: Record Setting Events [October 26, 1996: John Wetteland’s fourth save in a World Series], https://sabr.org/50at50/records. Aaron Frisch, The History of the Texas Rangers (Mankato, MN: Creative Education, 2003), 21. Scott Nelson, “Individual Records by Decades: Wagner, Cobb, Williams, Ruth Lead the Way,” Baseball Research Journal, 2000, https://sabr.org/journal/article/individual-records-by-decades-wagner-cobb-williams-ruth-lead-the-way/.

4. David Hooley, John Daniels and Sara Andrasik, “The Specialized Bullpen: History, Analysis, and Strategic Models for Success,” Baseball Research Journal, Fall 2018, https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-specialized-bullpen-history-analysis-and-strategic-models-for-success/. Andrew Mearns, “Happy birthday, John Wetteland: A tribute to a 1996 Yankees hero,” Pinstripe Alley, August 21, 2015, https://www.pinstripealley.com/2015/8/21/9188655/john-wetteland-yankees-biography-closer-world-series-mvp-mariano-rivera; John Pakutka and Elaina Pakutka, “More Relief Pitchers Belong in the Hall of Fame: Which Ones?” Baseball Research Journal, https://sabr.org/journal/article/more-relief-pitchers-belong-in-the-hall-of-fame-which-ones/.

5. “Francisco Cordero,” BR Bullpen, https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Francisco_Cordero; Pakutka, “More Relief Pitchers Belong in the Hall of Fame.”

6. “Former MLB pitcher Francisco Cordero Reportedly a Victim of Armed Robbery in Dominican Republic,” MARCA, https://www.marca.com/en/mlb/texas-rangers/2024/10/29/67214446ca4741ba628b45ce.html; Erich Richter, “Ex-MLB Closer Francisco Cordero Robbed at Gunpoint in Stunning Video” New York Post, October 30, 2024. https://nypost.com/2024/10/30/ex-mlb-closer-francisco-cordero-robbed-at-gunpoint-video/.

7. David Bilmes, “Joe Nathan,” SABR Bioproject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/joe-nathan/. Larry DeFillipo, “April 21, 1999: Joe Nathan’s Famous: Converted Shortstop Brings the Mustard in Impressive Giants Debut,” SABR Games Project, https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/april-21-1999-joe-nathans-famous-converted-shortstop-brings-the-mustard-in-impressive-giants-debut/; Pakutka, “More Relief Pitchers Belong in the Hall of Fame.”

8. “Tom Henke,” https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/henketo01.shtml.

9. Eric Nadel, Texas Rangers: The Authorized History (Dallas, TX: Taylor Publishing Company, 1997), 135, 148, 189, 191, 193, 203. Pakutka, “More Relief Pitchers Belong in the Hall of Fame;” Jamie Seiko, “A Tale of Two Seasons: Bob Veale in 1971 and Tom Henke in 1987,” 2001 Baseball Research Journal, https://sabr.org/journal/article/a-tale-of-two-seasons-bob-veale-in-1971-and-tom-henke-in-1987/, accessed February 1, 2025. “Tom Henke,” Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, https://baseballhalloffame.ca/hall-of-famer/tom-henke/. “Tom Henke.” Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, https://mosportshalloffame.com/inductees/tom-henke-2/. Eric Vickrey, “Tom Henke,” SABR Bio Project, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/tom-henke/.

10. “Jeff Russell,” BR Bullpen, https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Jeff_Russell; Nadel, Texas Rangers, 7, 152, 166, 209, 211.

11. Bilmes, “Joe Nathan.”; Clay Coppedge, A Lone Star Diamond History from Town Teams to the Big Leagues (Charleston, SC: The Hickory Press, 2012), 164, 167, 169, 171, 177. “Rangers’ closer Neftali Feliz Wins AL Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year,” BBWAA, November 15, 2010, https://bbwaa.com/10-al-roy/. Jim Reeves, Dugouts and Diamonds: Heartaches and Triumphs with the Texas Rangers (Fort Worth, TX: Berkeley Place Books, 2022), 136. Kevin Sutton, The Fail and Rise of the Texas Rangers (Dallas, TX: OKF Books, 2015), 45, 87, 112, 129, 132, 138, 198. Texas Rangers Shock the World (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: A360MEDIA, 2014), 63. Noah Wright, “Forgotten Pittsburgh Pirates: Neftali Feliz,” Rumbunter, https://rumbunter.com/2020/05/19/forgotten-pittsburgh-pirates-neftali-feliz/.

12. “CJ Wilson,” Speed Secrets, https://speedsecrets.com/137-cj-wilson-pro-baseball-player-to-race-driver/.

13. Larry Hagner, “Health Is Wealth With Shawn Tolleson,” The Dad Edge, May 16, 2021, https://thedadedge.com/health-is-wealth/.

14. Conor Buckley, Texas Rangers: Stars, Stats, History, and More! (Mankato, MN: The Child’s World, 2019), 9; Coppedge, A Lone Star Diamond History, 68, 91; James R. Hartley, Washington’s Expansion Senators (1961-1971) (Germantown, MD: Corduroy Press, 1997;1998), iii; Ethan Olson, Rangers All-Time Greats (Mendota Heights, MN: Press Box Books, 2024), 5.

15. Austin Gisriel, “Darold Knowles,” SABR Bio Project, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/darold-knowles; “Darold Knowles,” Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, https://mosportshalloffame.com/inductees/darold-knowles/.

16. Josh Anderson, The Texas Rangers (Parker, CO: The Child’s World, 2025), 7. Nadel, Texas Rangers, 50-59; Reeves, Dugouts and Diamonds, 193; Texas Rangers Shock the World, 58.

17. Bill Nowlin, “Ron Kline,” SABR Bio Project. https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/ron-kline.

18. “Year-by-Year Top-Tens Leaders & Records for Saves,” https://baseball-reference.com/leaders/SV_top_ten.shtml.