2002 Texas Rangers season
The 2002 Texas Rangers season was the 42nd of the Texas Rangers franchise overall, their 31st in Arlington as the Rangers, and their 9th season at The Ballpark in Arlington. The Rangers finished fourth in the American League West with a record of 72 wins and 90 losses.
Preseason
- October 29, 2001: Edinson Vólquez was signed by the Rangers as an amateur free agent.
- November 26, 2001: Todd Van Poppel was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.
- December 13, 2001: John Vander Wal was traded by the San Francisco Giants to the New York Yankees for Jay Witasick.
- December 18, 2001: Dave Elder was traded by the Rangers to the Cleveland Indians for John Rocker.
- January 8, 2002: Juan González was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.
- February 28, 2002: Tony Mounce was signed as a free agent by the Rangers.
- March 19, 2002: Justin Duchscherer was traded by the Texas Rangers to the Oakland Athletics for Luis Vizcaíno.
Regular season
Opening Day starters
- Iván Rodríguez, C
- Rafael Palmeiro, 1B
- Michael Young, 2B
- Hank Blalock, 3B
- Alex Rodriguez, SS
- Gabe Kapler, LF
- Carl Everett, CF
- Juan González, RF
- Frank Catalanotto, DH
- Chan Ho Park, RHP
Season summary
- Alex Rodriguez had a major league-best 57 HR, 142 RBI and 389 total bases in 2002, becoming the first player to lead the majors in all three categories since 1984. He had the 6th-most home runs in AL history, the most since Roger Maris' league record 61 in 1961, and the most ever for a shortstop for the 2nd straight year while also winning his first Gold Glove Award, awarded for outstanding defense.
- The 109 home runs hit by Alex Rodriguez in 2001–02 are the most ever by an American League right-handed batter in consecutive seasons. However, the Rangers finished last in the AL Western division in both years, a showing that likely cost Rodriguez the MVP award in 2002 when he finished second to fellow shortstop Miguel Tejada, whose 103-win Oakland A's won the same division.
- The Rangers set the Major League record for most consecutive games with at least one home run, with 27, which eventually was broken in 2019 by the New York Yankees.
Transactions
- July 31, 2002: Gabe Kapler, Jason Romano and cash were traded by the Rangers to the Colorado Rockies for Dennys Reyes and Todd Hollandsworth.
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 | Iván Rodríguez | 108 | 408 | 128 | .314 | 19 | 60 |
| 1B | Rafael Palmeiro | 155 | 546 | 149 | .273 | 43 | 105 |
| 2B | Michael Young | 156 | 573 | 150 | .262 | 9 | 62 |
| 3B | Herbert Perry | 132 | 450 | 124 | .276 | 22 | 77 |
| SS | Alex Rodriguez | 162 | 624 | 187 | .300 | 57 | 142 |
| LF | Kevin Mench | 110 | 366 | 95 | .260 | 15 | 60 |
| CF | Rubén Rivera | 69 | 158 | 33 | .209 | 4 | 14 |
| RF | Juan González | 70 | 277 | 78 | .282 | 8 | 35 |
| DH | Rusty Greer | 51 | 199 | 59 | .296 | 1 | 17 |
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 | 105 | 374 | 100 | .267 | 16 | 62 |
| Mike Lamb | 115 | 314 | 89 | .283 | 9 | 33 |
| Frank Catalanotto | 68 | 212 | 57 | .269 | 3 | 23 |
| Gabe Kapler | 72 | 196 | 51 | .260 | 0 | 17 |
| Bill Haselman | 69 | 179 | 44 | .246 | 3 | 18 |
| Hank Blalock | 49 | 147 | 31 | .211 | 3 | 17 |
| Todd Hollandsworth | 39 | 132 | 34 | .258 | 5 | 19 |
| Todd Greene | 42 | 112 | 30 | .268 | 10 | 19 |
| Ryan Ludwick | 23 | 81 | 19 | .235 | 1 | 9 |
| Calvin Murray | 37 | 77 | 13 | .169 | 0 | 1 |
| Travis Hafner | 23 | 62 | 15 | .242 | 1 | 6 |
| Jason Romano | 29 | 54 | 11 | .204 | 0 | 4 |
| Donnie Sadler | 38 | 30 | 3 | .100 | 0 | 2 |
| Jason Hart | 10 | 15 | 4 | .267 | 0 | 0 |
| Héctor Ortiz | 7 | 14 | 3 | .214 | 1 | 2 |
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 |
| Kenny Rogers | 33 | 210.2 | 13 | 8 | 3.84 | 107 |
| Ismael Valdéz | 23 | 146.2 | 6 | 9 | 3.93 | 75 |
| Chan-Ho Park | 25 | 145.2 | 9 | 8 | 5.75 | 121 |
| Dave Burba | 23 | 111.1 | 4 | 5 | 5.42 | 70 |
| Rob Bell | 17 | 94.0 | 4 | 3 | 6.22 | 70 |
| Joaquín Benoit | 17 | 84.2 | 4 | 5 | 5.31 | 59 |
| Doug Davis | 10 | 59.2 | 3 | 5 | 4.98 | 28 |
| Ben Kozlowski | 2 | 10.0 | 0 | 0 | 6.30 | 6 |
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 |
| Aaron Myette | 15 | 48.1 | 2 | 5 | 10.06 | 48 |
| Dennys Reyes | 15 | 42.1 | 4 | 3 | 6.38 | 29 |
| Colby Lewis | 15 | 34.1 | 1 | 3 | 6.29 | 28 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts| Player | G | IP | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Hideki Irabu | 38 | 47.0 | 3 | 8 | 16 | 5.74 | 30 |
| Todd Van Poppel | 50 | 72.2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5.45 | 85 |
| Jay Powell | 51 | 49.2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3.44 | 35 |
| Francisco Cordero | 39 | 45.1 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 1.79 | 41 |
| Juan Alvarez | 52 | 39.2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4.76 | 30 |
| Rudy Seánez | 33 | 33.0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5.73 | 40 |
| Danny Kolb | 34 | 32.0 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 4.22 | 20 |
| John Rocker | 30 | 24.1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6.66 | 30 |
| Anthony Telford | 20 | 23.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6.46 | 19 |
| Steve Woodard | 14 | 17.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.62 | 14 |
| Rich Rodriguez | 36 | 16.2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5.40 | 12 |
| Chris Michalak | 13 | 14.1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4.40 | 5 |
| C.J. Nitkowski | 12 | 13.2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.63 | 14 |
| Randy Flores | 20 | 12.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.50 | 7 |
| Dan Miceli | 9 | 8.1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8.64 | 5 |
| Reynaldo Garcia | 3 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31.50 | 2 |
Awards and honors
- Alex Rodriguez, Hank Aaron Award
- Alex Rodriguez, A.L. Home Run Champ
- Alex Rodriguez, SS, AL Gold Glove
- Alex Rodriguez, Silver Slugger Award,
- Kenny Rogers, P, Gold Glove,