1976 Topps Rangers Strikeout Leaders

Since I made one for the Cardinals, I needed  to make one last franchise leader card for the Rangers. Again, I used the 1976 Topps leader format for the last card in my World Series leader theme. 

Charlie Hough leads the Rangers with 1452 all-time strikeouts. Hough made his only All Star appearance in 1986 with the Rangers. Although he had 3 strikeouts in 1 2/3rds innings, catcher Rich Gedman had a hard time with his knuckleball with a wild pitch and a passed ball leading to the NL's only runs in a 3-2 AL victory.

Nolan Ryan is now the Owner/President/CEO of the Texas Rangers and is shown repeatedly during telecasts of this Series. He threw the final 2 of his record 7 no-hitters in a Rangers uniform.

C.J. Wilson had a career high 206 strikeouts this year. He also had 26 K's in the 2011 post-season.

1982 Topps Texas Rangers Leaders ERA

The Rangers have advanced to the World Series for the second year in a row and I've hijacked the 1982 Topps team leader cards to show how the 2011 World Series team stack up against their franchise historic leaders.

Darold Knowles pitched for the Washington Senators from 1967-1971 before the franchise moved to Texas. Knowles had a respectable career ERA of 3.12 and his 5 years with the Senators was among his best with a 2.46 ERA in 271 games.

Dick Bosman pitched for the Senators/Rangers from 1966-1973. He had a career season in 1969 going 14-5 and leading the league with a 2.19 ERA despite missing part of the season with an elbow injury. 

C.J. Wilson placed 7th among AL pitchers in 2011 with a 2.94 ERA. Wilson was selected to the All Star team this year. He pitched the 4th inning giving up 3 hits including a 3 run homer to Prince Fielder earning the loss.