The Rangers have their own franchise Hall of Fame, with their own set of retired numbers.
One is more exclusive than the other. The Rangers have retired just five numbers, compared to the 20 players and other figures who have been inducted into their Hall of Fame.
Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez became the third Ranger to have his uniform number retired by Texas in a ceremony prior to the club's game against the Houston Astros on August 12, 2017. Rodriguez had his number retired just weeks after his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 30 in Cooperstown, New York.
Rodriguez batted .296 with 311 home runs and 1332 RBI in 2543 Major League games with Texas (1990-2002; 2009), Florida (2003), Detroit (2004-08), New York-A.L. (2008), Houston (2009), and Washington (2010-11). He was a 14-time American League All-Star and a 13-time recipient of the Rawlings Gold Glove.
With the Rangers, Rodriguez batted .304 with 217 home runs and 842 RBI in 1,507 games. He ranks second on the team's all-time list with 1747 hits, 352 doubles, and 490 multi-hit games, is third in home runs, and fourth in games, runs (866), triples (28), RBI, total bases (2806), and extra base hits (597). He was elected to the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in 2013.
Michael Young became the fifth Ranger to have his uniform number retired by Texas in a ceremony prior to the club's game against the Seattle Mariners on August 31, 2019.
Acquired by Texas from the Toronto Blue Jays in July 2000, Young played in a team record 1,823 games from 2000-12. He captured Rangers Player of the Year honors five times, matching Juan Gonzalez for the most in team history and was selected to the A.L. All-Star team at three different positions. Young batted .300 or better a club record seven times including six seasons with at least 200 hits. He won the A.L. batting title in 2005 and was the MVP of the 2006 All-Star Game at San Diego. Young is the only player in All-Star Game history with two game-winning hits in his team's final at bat (2006 and 2008),
He is the Washington/Texas' all-time leader in games, hits (2230), runs (1085), doubles (415), triples (55), total bases (3286), at bats (7399), and multi-hit games (651) and ranks third in RBI (984) and extra base hits (647) while batting .301 with 177 homers. Young was a starter at all four infield positions in his Rangers career, earning a Gold Glove at shortstop in 2008.
Overall, Young batted .300 with 185 homers and 1030 RBI in 1970 games with the Rangers (2000-2012), Phillies (2013), and Dodgers (2013).
On August 6, 2005 the Texas Rangers retired the number 26 in honor of late manager Johnny Oates in front of a crowd of 34,632. Oates became the 14th full-time manager of the club on October 14, 1994. He spent six seasons at the helm, from 1995-2001, leading the Rangers to their first three division titles and Postseason appearances in franchise history ('96, '98, and '99). In 1996, Oates shared the American League Manager of the Year Award with Yankees skipper Joe Torre, and in 1999 he led the team to a then-record 95 wins.
In his five seasons in Arlington, Oates compiled a record of 506 - 476 and a .515 winning percentage. On August 2, 2003, the organization honored Oates by inducting him into the inaugural class of the Texas Rangers Baseball Hall of Fame. Known for his steady leadership and strong values, Oates passed away on Christmas Eve 2004.
Adrian Beltre became the fourth Ranger to have his uniform number retired by Texas in a ceremony prior to the club's game against the Oakland Athletics on June 8, 2019.
Beltre announced his retirement as an active player on November 20, 2018 after a brilliant 21-year Major League career with the Dodgers (1998-2004), Mariners (2005-2009), Red Sox (2010), and Rangers (2011-18). He ranks among the all-time leaders in doubles (11th, 636), games (14th, 2933), total bases (14th, 5309), extra base hits (14th, 1151), hits (15th, 3166), RBI (21st, 1707), and home runs (30th, 477) and has the most career hits of any non-U.S. native in history. The only other players ever with at least 3166 hits and 477 home runs are Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Eddie Murray.
The five-time Rawlings Gold Glove recipient has played in more games at third base (2759) than any player except Brooks Robinson (2870). His career 95.7 WAR is third base all-time among third basemen behind Mike Schmidt and Eddie Mathews.
In his eight seasons with the Rangers, Beltre batted .304 with 199 homers and 699 RBI in 1098 games. He was a four-time selection as the Rangers' Player of the Year while batting at least .300 five times. His .332 average as a Ranger at Globe Life Park is the highest in the 25-year history of the park, and he ranks second with 120 homers and 426 RBI.
No Ranger will ever wear number 34 again and it's quite possible that no pitcher will ever have a career like Nolan Ryan. Ryan holds numerous major league pitching records, including most strikeouts (5,714), most no-hitters (7), most games with 15 or more strikeouts (26), and most strikeouts in a single season (383). With the Rangers from 1989-1993, Ryan threw his sixth and seventh no-hitters (June 11, 1990 and May 1, 1991) along with recording his 5,000th strikeout. Ryan was the only pitcher to strike out 16 or more batters after the age of 40, accomplishing the feat three times. He was the first American League pitcher to strike out nineteen men in a nine-inning game (August 12, 1974). His 27 major league seasons are the most played by anyone in baseball history. Over his career, the struck out an average of 9.55 batters per nine innings pitched, while allowing opposing batters a .204 batting average.
Ryan had his numbered retired by the Rangers on Sept. 15, 1996. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999. He is the only Major League player to have his number retired by three teams. The Houston Astros retired the number 34 on Sept. 29, 1996 and the California Angels retired the number 30 on June 16, 1992.
