Seeking biographers for 1972 Texas Rangers BioProject book
By Steve West
The Texas Rangers had decades of futility before their recent run of success, long years where they were out of the pennant race by the All-Star break. Maybe that’s why the first Rangers team — the 1972 Rangers — has become so iconic in franchise history. Despite their record, Rangers fans look back on that team with great fondness, remembering the days when Major League Baseball finally came to North Texas.
We want to celebrate that team with a SABR BioProject book about the 1972 Texas Rangers. From the players you’ve heard of — Jeff Burroughs, Frank Howard, and Tom Grieve — to all the guys whose names may be forgotten today, the book will have bios of every player, along with manager Ted Williams, the coaches, the owner and others. We’ll write stories about the ballpark, about the move of the team from Washington to Texas, a number of games during the season, and more.
The Dallas-Fort Worth chapter has picked up many of the articles for the book, but all SABR members have plenty of opportunities to be involved in the project. We need writers for a number of biographies and other stories. Most of the players are still alive, so you may be able to interview them for the bio you write. Maybe you have an idea for another story about the team. We will work with you to complete the story you choose to write, and get your work published in the resulting book.
If you are interested in writing any of the bios below, or have another story in mind, please contact the editor, Steve West, at texaskiwi98@yahoo.com.
Here is the current list of available topics:
Players
- Jim Driscoll
- Ted Ford
- Vic Harris
- Rich Hinton
- Gerry Janeski
- Hal King
- Steve Lawson
- Joe Lovitto
- Mike Paul
- Tom Ragland
- Lenny Randle
Others
- Joe Burke (general manager)
- Joe Camacho (coach)
- Hal Keller (director/player development)
- Bob Short (owner)
- Bill Ziegler (trainer)
Sidebar
- History of minor-league baseball in Fort Worth
For more information on contributing to the SABR BioProject, click here.
Originally published: August 11, 2015. Last Updated: August 11, 2015.