The Texas Rangers 1996 season involved the Rangers finishing 1st in the American League west with a record of 90 wins and 72 losses. It would be the first post-season appearance for the Senators/Rangers in franchise history, taking 36 seasons to finally accomplish the feat. This remains the longest amount of time it has ever taken any North American professional sports franchise to make their first playoff appearance. The Rangers would win their first post-season game at Yankee Stadium against the New York Yankees, but would lose the last three games to lose the division series. The one post-season win would be the club's only post-season success until 2010. Offseason October 8, 1995: Scott Podsednik was sent by the Rangers to the Florida Marlins to complete an earlier deal (the Rangers sent players to be named later to the Marlins for Bobby Witt, and sent Wilson Heredia to the Marlins on August 11) and made on August 8, 1995. December 21, 1995: Ken Hill was signed as a free agent by the Rangers. December 22, 1995: Mike Henneman was signed as a free agent by the Rangers. January 16, 1996: Kevin Elster was signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers. Regular season Season standings Record vs. opponents Game log |- bgcolor="ccffcc" | 1 || April 1 || Red Sox || 5–3 || Hill (1–0) || Clemens || Vosberg (1) || 40,484 || 1–0 |- bgcolor="ccffcc" | 2 || April 3 || Red Sox || 7–2 || Pavlik (1–0) || Gordon || — || 24,483 || 2–0 |- bgcolor="ccffcc" | 3 || April 4 || Red Sox || 13–2 || Gross (1–0) || Wakefield || — || 18,086 || 3–0 |- bgcolor="ccffcc" | 4 || April 6 || Yankees || 4–2 || Witt (1–0) || Key || Henneman (1) || 35,510 || 4–0 |- bgcolor="ccffcc" | 5 || April 7 || Yankees || 7–2 || Hill (2–0) || Gooden || — || — || 5–0 |- bgcolor="ccffcc" | 6 || April 7 || Yankees || 4–1 || Pavlik (2–0) || Howe || Vosberg (2) || 36,248 || 6–0 |- bgcolor="ccffcc" | 7 || April 9 || @ White Sox || 3–2 || Gross (2–0) || Thomas || Henneman (2) || 34,750 || 7–0 |- bgcolor="ffbbbb" | 8 || April 11 || @ White Sox || 5–8 (11) || Thomas || Henneman (0–1) || — || 16,685 || 7–1 |-