Texas Rangers: The Four 1B and 1,053 HR That Could’ve Been
Travis Hafner
Travis Hafner and Carlos Pena are different and alike in multiple ways. Like Pena, Hafner was traded by the Rangers shortly after his major league debut. Pena played just 22 games with Texas 2002, while Hafner played 23 games with them in 2001.
Hafner played for his next team for 10 consecutive seasons, while Pena bounced around for years to come. Though, Hafner’s best campaigns culminated over five years, like Pena’s.
The stout left-handed hitter gave the Cleveland Indians four 100-RBI seasons and four 24+ home run seasons.
He finished 5th in MVP voting in 2005 and 8th in MVP voting in 2006. It’s tough to argue his ’05 season over his ’06 season, however, as Hafner reached career highs in home runs (42), RBI (117), OBP (.439), and OPS (1.097) in the latter year.
Ultimately, “Pronk” hit 213 home runs and notched a .874 OPS in his 12-year career. Hafner ranks 9th all-time with 200 home runs as an Indian. Perhaps that’s 200 home runs the Texas Rangers missed on.