The Texas Rangers 2001 season involved the Rangers finishing 4th in the American League West with a record of 73 wins and 89 losses. Despite the team's batting leading the league in home runs and finishing second in on-base percentage and OPS, the team's pitching was historically poor; the team combined for an ERA of 5.71 (a franchise-worst mark), and led the league in hits allowed, earned runs surrendered, and total runs surrendered. Their 913 earned runs allowed would also be a franchise-worst, and out of all pitchers that recorded at least 75 innings, none had an ERA below 4.45. Offseason November 17, 2000: Aaron Harang was traded by the Texas Rangers with Ryan Cullen (minors) to the Oakland Athletics for Randy Velarde. December 10, 2000: Ken Caminiti was signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers. January 26, 2001 – Alex Rodriguez signed with the Texas Rangers, who had fallen to last in their division in 2000. The contract he signed is the most lucrative contract in sports history: a 10-year deal worth $252 million. The deal is worth $63 million more than the second-richest baseball deal. Regular season Opening Day Starters Iván Rodríguez, C Rafael Palmeiro, 1B Randy Velarde, 2B Ken Caminiti, 3B Alex Rodriguez, SS Rusty Greer, LF Bo Porter, CF Rubén Mateo, RF Andrés Galarraga, DH Rick Helling, RHP Season Summary June 8, 2001 – The first interleague game between the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers took place at The Ballpark at Arlington. The rivalry would be known as the Lone Star Series. The Astros won the game by a score of 5-4. The team that would win the most games between the two in a season would be awarded the Silver Boot. Season standings Record vs. opponents Transactions June 5, 2001: Mark Teixeira was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 1st round (5th pick) of the 2001 amateur draft. Player signed August 24, 2001. June 12, 2001: Justin Duchscherer was traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Texas Rangers for Doug Mirabelli. July 2, 2001: Ken Caminiti was released by the Texas Rangers. July 24, 2001: Andrés Galarraga was traded by the Texas Rangers to the San Francisco Giants for Todd Ozias (minors), Chris Magruder and Erasmo Ramirez. August 31, 2001: Randy Velarde was traded by the Texas Rangers to the New York Yankees for players to be named later. The