Rangers batting order, 1-6, could be best in team history

Baseball-reference.com is one of my favorite websites for tracking down statistics in my free time.

I'm a bit of a dork when it comes to batting orders. For some reason, I think it's awesome to go back to, say, 1999 — the last time the Texas Rangers won the AL West — and look at the batting order.

I've really been thinking of batting orders of late, particularly with the Rangers in 2010.

Texas currently sits at 49-34, four-and-a-half games up on Anaheim in the AL West. The Rangers are on pace to have their best season (record-wise) ever. Texas has never won more than 95 games (1999).

It made me come up with the following bold statement: The Rangers 2010 batting order, one through six, could be the best in team history.

When healthy, I truly think this is the best the franchise has ever had to offer.

The 2010 Rangers are currently second in hits, second in batting average, third in on-base percentage and third in runs. They're not mashing as many home runs as in the past, but the mentality on offense is different under manager Ron Washington.

2010 Texas Rangers batting order, 1-6:
1. Elvis Andrus
2. Michael Young
3. Ian Kinsler
4. Vladimir Guerrero
5. Josh Hamilton
6. Nelson Cruz

Here are some other memorable Rangers batting orders:

2003: 71-91, 4th in AL West
1. Michael Young (14 HR, 72 RBI, 13 SB, .306 avg.)
2. Hank Blalock (29 HR, 90 RBI, .300 avg.)
3. Alex Rodriguez (47 HR, 118 RBI, 17 SB, .298 avg.)
4. Rafael Palmeiro (38 HR, 112 RBI, .260 avg.)
5. Juan Gonzalez (24 HR, 70 RBI, .294 avg.)
6. Mark Teixeira (26 HR, 84 RBI, .259 avg., rookie year)

1999 (95-67, first in AL West)
1. Mark McLemore (6 HR, 45 RBI, 16 SB, .274 avg.)
2. Ivan Rodriguez (35 HR, 113 RBI, 25 SB, .332 avg.)
3. Rusty Greer (20 HR, 101 RBI, .300 avg.)
4. Juan Gonzalez (39 HR, 128 RBI, .326 avg.)
5. Rafael Palmeiro (47 HR, 148 RBI, .324 avg.)
6. Todd Zeile (24 HR, 98 RBI, .293 avg.)

1998 (88-74, first in AL West)
1. Tom Goodwin (2 HR, 33 RBI, 38 SB, .290 avg.)
2. Mark McLemore (5 HR, 53 RBI, 12 SB, .247 avg.)
3. Rusty Greer (16 HR, 108 RBI, .306 avg.)
4. Juan Gonzalez (45 HR, 157 RBI, .318 avg.)
5. Will Clark (23 HR, 102 RBI, .305 avg.)
6. Ivan Rodriguez (21 HR, 91 RBI, 9 SB, .321 avg.)

1996 (90-72, first in AL West)
1. Darryl Hamilton (6 HR, 51 RBI, 15 SB, .293 avg.)
2. Ivan Rodriguez (19 HR, 86 RBI, 5 SB, .300 avg.)
3. Will Clark (13 HR, 72 RBI, .284 avg.)
4. Juan Gonzalez (47 HR, 144 RBI, .314 avg.)
5. Mickey Tettleton (24 HR, 83 RBI, .246 avg.)
6. Dean Palmer (38 HR, 107 RBI, .280 avg.)

I hope the 2010 edition will go down as the best. Too many guys linked to steroids in the earlier lineups. The 2010 guys deserve it.