Rangers History Today: Jenkins and Perry Inducted Into Hall of Fame

On this date in Texas Rangers history, a pair of former Rangers pitchers took their place in the Baseball Hall of Fame — Ferguson Jenkins and Gaylord Perry.

On July 21, 1991, the pair were in Cooperstown, New York, to accept their plaques in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Inducted along with the pair was Rod Carew.

But the inductions of Jenkins and Perry were significant in that they were the first two former Rangers to earn induction into the Hall, even though neither went into the Hall as a Ranger.

Jenkins and Perry were two of the most durable pitchers of their era. Jenkins, a native of Canada, spent six seasons with the Rangers, the second-most time he played with any one team (he was a Chicago Cub for 10 seasons). With the Rangers, Jenkins won 93 games, with the 1974 season being his signature year in Arlington. That season, he won an American League-high 25 games, including an AL-high 29 complete games and a 2.82 earned run average. He was second in Cy Young Award voting that season.

Jenkins won 284 games for his career, earned three All-Star Game appearances and won the 1971 Cy Young Award with the Cubs.

Perry pitched longer than Jenkins, going 22 years with a whopping eight different teams and winning 314 games. With the Rangers, Perry won 48 games in four seasons, as he logged back-to-back 15 win seasons in 1976 and 1977. Perry won the Cy Young Award twice, and was the first to do it in both leagues — with Cleveland in 1972 and with San Diego in 1978. He was also a five-time All-Star.

Also on this date …

July 21, 1975: Billy Martin is fired as manager of the Rangers after a 44-51 start to the season. Frank Lucchesi replaces him and went 35-32 as the interim manager.

July 21, 1994: Rusty Greer became the fifth Rangers player to hit an inside-the-park home run and an over-the-fence home run in the same game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

July 21, 2015: Shin Soo Choo hits for the cycle. Choo was the eighth Ranger to accomplish the feat.

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