Rangers History Today: Charging Toward The 1996 AL West Crown

On this day, the Rangers continued their push to their first AL West crown with the help of a 'Gross' pitcher.

On this date in franchise history, the Texas Rangers continued their charge toward an American League West crown, with the help of a veteran pitcher looking to aid Texas get its first taste of the postseason

On August 18, 1996, the Rangers defeated the Kansas City Royals, 10-3, at The Ballpark in Arlington, building a 6-0 lead after the first two innings. Darren Oliver started the game for the Rangers, but he only threw 4 2/3 innings, which wasn’t quite enough to get credit for the win. Instead, Rangers manager Johnny Oates turned the game over to Kevin Gross, who threw the final 4 1/3 innings of the game, giving up three hits and no runs in the process to claim his 10th victory of the season.

Gross has an interesting history for a pitcher who was taken in the first round by Philadelphia in 1981. He made his Major League debut in 1983, as the Phillies were making their second push to the World Series in four years. But the Phillies lost to the Baltimore Orioles in five games.

Gross spent six years with the Phillies, but had just one winning season as a starter, going 15-13 in 1985. He made one All-Star Game in 1988, but he finished the season with a losing record, going 12-14. While in Philly he was also suspended for 10 games for scuffing the baseball.

In 1992, he threw a no-hitter while with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He finally ended up with the Rangers in 1995, and proceeded to set a career record for losses with 15. But, in 1996, Gross had the best of his three seasons, in which he threw in 28 games, started 19 and went 11-8 as the Rangers won the American League West.

Gross ended up pitching 15 years and went 142-158.

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