My First Cards

Danny Darwin was almost traded to Pittsburgh with Al Oliver before the season, for Dave Parker, but the trade fell through and Danny became a large part of why the 98 loss Rangers avoided losing 100 games in 1982.

Danny, out of the bullpen, managed to win 10 games while he led the team with 7 saves. His 3.44 ERA was 2nd best on the staff among pitchers who’d thrown more than 18 innings….and those 2 pitchers were September call-ups, so Texas didn’t really have them all season long.

Being the most consistent on a pitching staff isn’t always enough though, ’cause you also have to be good at the right times too. Well, Danny was good at the right times. He made 4 appearances in 1-run or tie games, that kept his team from ending up with over 100 loses.

The first, was very early in the season against the eventual AL champs, the Brewers. On April 16, Danny came into the game to start the 6th, with the score tied at 1. The game remained tied after 9, but the Rangers got to Rollie Fingers in the 10th to take the lead. Danny held the Brew Crew down in the bottom half of the inning to keep the game in favor of Texas.

The second, was on May 7 against the Red Sox, who were 18-9 and in 1st place in the AL East. The Rangers were just 7-16, in last place, and in the midst of a 12 game losing streak. It would’ve become a 13 game losing streak that night if not for Danny getting a fine 5 out save in a 1-0 Rangers victory. He came into the game with a man on 2nd and only 1 out, having to keep big bats Dwight Evans and Jim Rice from driving in the runner. That’s a situation, and a game, that easily could’ve slipped away. The Rangers couldn’t beat Boston that year, going just 2-10 against ‘em.

The third, came on July 31 against the Yankees when he tossed 3 1/3 shutout innings to save another 1 run game.

The fourth appearance, was about a week later, in Yankee stadium. Danny entered a tie game with 2 outs in the 6th and a runner on 3rd to face Dave Winfield. Not only does he get the slugger to hit a weak grounder to shortstop, but he ends up inducing 6 groundballs out of the 7 batters he faces to finish the game. The tie game, turned into a Rangers victory thanks to Danny keeping the Yankees offense shut down.

When the season was finished, the Rangers had 98 losses, just 4 games ahead of the Twins in the AL standings. Seems to me, Danny Darwin was the difference between Texas and Minnesota in ’82.