ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) -Texas first baseman Mark Teixeira played in his 482nd consecutive game Saturday, matching the Rangers record held by Alex Rodriguez.
The last game Teixeira missed was May 20, 2004, when he was out of his second straight game because of a bruised left hand sustained when he was hit by a pitch.
Teixeira has the second-longest active streak in the major leagues. The longest belongs to Baltimore shortstop Miguel Tejada, who played in his 1,117th straight game Saturday.
“He’s fortunate enough to be healthy all that time, and there was no reason for him not to be playing,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said of Teixeira before the game against the Los Angeles Angels.
In his only season as a player for the Orioles in 1987, Washington replaced Cal Ripken Jr. in the eighth inning of a game to end the Hall of Fame shortstop’s streak of 8,243 consecutive innings played. But Ripken’s streak of consecutive games didn’t end for 11 more years – at 2,632 games.
“Those are special guys,” Washington said. “Believe me, you don’t come every day feeling good. You have aches and pains. You have problems. But they want to do their job.”
Teixeira had a single in the first inning Saturday to extend his hitting streak to 10 games, the longest by a Ranger this season.
Rodriguez played in Texas from 2001-03, and missed his only game for the Rangers when he sat out a game the final week of the 2003 season.
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