After taking over the sad-sack Rangers and promising legions of skeptical fans that he would put them in the pennant race, this manager did exactly that. He led the Rangers to the best season in their history to that date -- finishing five games behind Oakland in the AL West in 1974. After engineering this astounding turnaround, he was the first Ranger to be voted AL Manager of the Year. The following season, the Rangers showed their gratitude, firing him during a mid-season slump. Billy Martin went on to manage the World Series Champion New York Yankees.

The 1977 Rangers had 4 managers in a one week period, including three in three days and one never seen by the home fans! During a Minnesota road trip, on 22 June, they fired Frank Lucchesi and hired Eddie Stanky. Homesick after one game, Stanky caught a plane from Minneapolis back to Alabama. Connie Ryan became the interim manager, but refused to assume full-time managing duties. Former Twins slugging legend Harmon Killebrew was offered the job, and also turned it down. [Clearly, this was not a job in great demand.] Finally, on 27 June, the Rangers hired Billy Hunter as manager.

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