Rangers History Today: A Perfect Game

A Rangers left-hander found perfection on a Friday night in front of a packed house at The Ballpark in Arlington nearly 30 years ago.

On this date in Texas Rangers history, "The Gambler" found perfection.

On July 28, 1994, the Texas Rangers hosted the Los Angeles Angels at The Ballpark in Arlington on a sweltering Friday night. Kenny Rogers was on the mound for the Rangers and something magical happened.

Rogers threw the first perfect game in Rangers history.

The lefty threw just 98 pitchers. He struck out eight Angels. He was completely locked in, and so was the defense behind him. The Rangers staked him to a 4-0 lead after three innings, fueled by two home runs by Jose Canseco and another by Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez.

Before Rogers and the Rangers could celebrate, though, they had to get out of the final inning. That led to one of the most iconic catches in Rangers history, as center fielder Rusty Greer hustled in and dove to catch Rex Hudler’s line drive to preserve the perfect game. Greer also ended the game by catching Gary DiSarcina’s fly ball for the final out.

Rogers won his 11th game of the year and etched his name in Rangers history. He became well-traveled in his career, but those roads always seemed to lead back to Texas, where fans remembered him for that incredible memory in 1994 and the Rangers ultimately enshrined him in their Hall of Fame after his retirement.

Rogers’ perfect game is always worth another look back.

Also on this date …

July 28, 1982: Don Zimmer is fired as Rangers manager. Darrell Johnson is named his interim replacement.

July 28, 2006: The Rangers acquired outfielder Nelson Cruz and outfielder Carlos Lee from the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for outfielder Kevin Mench, pitcher Francisco Cordero, outfielder Laynce Nix and pitcher Julian Cordero.

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