Rangers History Today: The End of the Johnny Oates Era

On this day, Johnny Oates resigned as manager of the Texas Rangers, an unfortunate ending to one of the best tenures in team history

On this date in Texas Rangers history, Johnny Oates’ managerial career came to an end.

Oates resigned as Rangers manager on May 4, 2001, exiting after the Rangers started the season 11-17 and just two years removed from winning the 1999 American League West crown. Jerry Narron, Oates’ bench coach, replaced Oates and went 62-72 the rest of the way.

Oates never managed again. He tragically passed away from a brain tumor on December 24, 2004. But he left the franchise as its most successful manager to that point.

Oates won 506 games for the Rangers after taking over the franchise in 1995, the season after Major League Baseball canceled the World Series due to the players strike. He was general manager Doug Melvin’s first major hire, and both had worked together with the Baltimore Orioles, where Oates managed from 1991-94. There, Oates won 291 games, but never took Baltimore to the postseason.

Oates rectified that with the Rangers. In 1996, he guided the Rangers to 90 wins, their first AL West crown, and their first postseason appearance. He also led the Rangers to their first postseason win in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.

Oates led the Rangers to three AL West titles in four years in 1996, 1998 and 1999, along with 95 wins in 1999, which was a franchise-high until 2011. He was also the 1996 AL Manager of the Year, an award he shared with the Yankees’ Joe Torre. The only blemish on Oates’ time in Texas was that the Game 1 win in the ALDS against the New York Yankees was the Rangers’ only postseason win under Oates. The Rangers went 0-9 from there, losing every game to the Yankees.

After going 71-91 in 2000, Oates started the 2001 season in charge, but resigned after the Rangers lost their fifth straight game. The Rangers were off to their worst start since 1985. The Rangers had just signed shortstop Alex Rodriguez to the game’s richest contract at the time. Oates, Melvin and team owner Tom Hicks even acknowledged that Oates’ decision kept the team’s management from having to make the decision.

The Rangers honored Oates' life by wearing a patch on their uniforms and retired his No. 26 on Aug. 5, 2005. It was only the second retirement of a jersey number in Rangers history, behind Nolan Ryan’s No. 34.

Promo photo: Courtesy of the Texas Rangers

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