PERSONAL: Jeffrey Todd Banister…wife's name is Karen…has two children; daughter Alexandra (4/30/95) and son Jacob (4/5/02)…over the offseason, Alexandra completed her coursework to graduate from Baylor University, where she played on the volleyball team…in November 2017, Jeff was inducted into the La Marque (TX) ISD Legacy Hall, created to inspire current students…Jeff shared the NBC Sportsman-of-the-Week award with Dennis Martinez (who threw a perfect game for the Expos) after making his Big League debut in 1991…was the first recipient of the Gilda Radner Courage Award (1991-92)… received the "Pride of the Pirates" award in 2011, recognizing a member of the Pirates family who has demonstrated the qualities of sportsmanship, dedication and outstanding character during a lifetime of service…had arthroscopic surgery to remove bone chips and a bone spur from right elbow on 1/11/16.
TWO DIVISION TITLES: Banister guided the Rangers to consecutive A.L. West Division titles in 2015 and 2016, becoming just the fourth manager to capture division crowns in each of his first two seasons as a Major League manager since the start of three-division play in 1994…he is tied with 5 other managers for most division titles in MLB over the last 3 seasons, joining Dusty Baker (WAS), John Farrell (BOS), Terry Francona (CLE), Joe Maddon (CHC), and Dave Roberts (LAD)…is one of 3 Rangers managers to ever lead the club to a division title, joining Johnny Oates (1996; 1998; 1999) and Ron Washington (2010; 2011)…the 7 overall A.L. West titles by Texas are the most for any team in three-division play, one more than the Angels and A's.
WINS: Has posted a 261-225 (.537) record in his 3 seasons as the Rangers' manager…Texas' winning percentage under Banister ranks 9th in MLB and 5th in the A.L. since 2015, trailing only CLE (.572, 277-207), HOU (.558, 271-215), BOS (.543, 264-222), and NYY (.539, 262-224) in the junior circuit in that span. Has the 5th-best career winning percentage among all current ML managers (450-or-more games) behind STL's Mike Matheny (.560, 544-428), CLE's Terry Francona (.554, 988-794), LAA's Mike Scioscia (.5384, 1570-1346), and CHC's Joe Maddon (.5376, 1073-922)…ranks 5th all-time in victories among Rangers managers with the highest winning percentage of any Texas skipper with at least 300 total games…enters 2018 needing 59 wins to pass Buck Showalter (319) for 4th place on Rangers' all-time managerial list.
TOP TWO FINISHES: Placed first (2015) and second (2016) in A.L. Manager of the Year voting in his first 2 seasons on the job…finished as runner-up to CLE's Terry Francona in the 2016 vote, landing 64 points to Francona's 128 total…recorded 4 first-place votes, 2nd-most to Francona (22), and was selected on 24 of 30 ballots. Selected as the BBWAA 2015 A.L. Manager of the Year following his first season as Texas manager…received 17 of 30 first-place votes for the award, finishing with 112 total points, 30 more than runner-up A.J. Hinch (82) of the Houston Astros…it marked the third time that a Rangers manager has been so honored since the BBWAA began the award in 1983…Johnny Oates shared the award with New York's Joe Torre in 1996 and Buck Showalter was selected in 2004…it marks one of 7 times that an individual with no previous Major League managerial experience has captured a BBWAA award, and the only instance ever in the A.L…first-year N.L. managers to do it: HOU's Hal Lanier in 1986, SF's Dusty Baker in 1993, FLA's Joe Girardi in 2006, WAS' Matt Williams in 2014, LAD's Dave Roberts in 2016, and ARI's Torey Lovullo in 2017.
PLAYING CAREER: Played 8 seasons in the Pittsburgh system from 1986-93, missing the entire 1992 campaign due to right elbow surgery…compiled a .247 average with 37 home runs and 204 RBI in 515 Minor League games…had one Major League game in his career, posting a pinch-hit single off Atlanta's Dan Petry on July 23, 1991 at Three Rivers Stadium in his lone career MLB plate appearance…pinch-hit for Doug Drabek in the 7th inning of that 12-3 Pirates win and never appeared in the field in a game between the eventual NLCS opponents.