1973 California Angels
Night game in 1973
Night game in 1973
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkAnaheim Stadium
CityAnaheim, California
OwnersGene Autry
General managersHarry Dalton
ManagersBobby Winkles
TelevisionKTLA
RadioKMPC
(Dick Enberg, Dave Niehaus, Don Drysdale)
← 1972 Seasons 1974 →

The 1973 California Angels season involved the Angels finishing fourth in the American League West with a record of 79 wins and 83 losses.

Offseason

Regular season

1973 was an eventful season for Angels pitcher Nolan Ryan. On May 15, Ryan threw the first no-hitter of his career.[2] On July 3, he struck out Sal Bando of the Oakland Athletics for the 1000th strikeout in his career.[3] Twelve days later, Ryan threw a second no-hitter, becoming the fifth pitcher in major league history to throw two no-hitters in one season.[4]

For the year, Ryan set what is, as of 2022, the post-1900 Major League Baseball record for most strikeouts in a season with 383, topping Sandy Koufax's 1965 mark by one.[5] (The all-time record belongs to Matt Kilroy, who struck out 513 batters in 1886).[5] In the process, he struck out at least 10 batters in 23 different games.[6]

Season standings

AL West 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 94 68 0.580 — 50–31 44–37
Kansas City Royals 88 74 0.543 6 48–33 40–41
Minnesota Twins 81 81 0.500 13 37–44 44–37
California Angels 79 83 0.488 15 43–38 36–45
Chicago White Sox 77 85 0.475 17 40–41 37–44
Texas Rangers 57 105 0.352 37 35–46 22–59

Record vs. opponents

1973 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK TEX
Baltimore — 7–11 6–6 8–4 12–6 9–9 8–4 15–3 8–4 9–9 5–7 10–2
Boston 11–7 — 7–5 6–6 9–9 3–15 8–4 12–6 6–6 14–4 4–8 9–3
California 6–6 5–7 — 8–10 5–7 7–5 10–8 5–7 10–8 6–6 6–12 11–7
Chicago 4–8 6–6 10–8 — 7–5 5–7 6–12 3–9 9–9 8–4 6–12 13–5
Cleveland 6–12 9–9 7–5 5–7 — 9–9 2–10 9–9 7–5 7–11 3–9 7–5
Detroit 9–9 15–3 5–7 7–5 9–9 — 4–8 12–6 5–7 7–11 7–5 5–7
Kansas City 4–8 4–8 8–10 12–6 10–2 8–4 — 8–4 9–9 6–6 8–10 11–7
Milwaukee 3–15 6–12 7–5 9–3 9–9 6–12 4–8 — 8–4 10–8 4–8 8–4
Minnesota 4–8 6–6 8–10 9–9 5–7 7–5 9–9 4–8 — 3–9 14–4 12–6
New York 9–9 4–14 6–6 4–8 11–7 11–7 6–6 8–10 9–3 — 4–8 8–4
Oakland 7–5 8–4 12–6 12–6 9–3 5–7 10–8 8–4 4–14 8–4 — 11–7
Texas 2–10 3–9 7–11 5–13 5–7 7–5 7–11 4–8 6–12 4–8 7–11 —


Notable transactions

Roster

1973 California Angels
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Jeff Torborg 102 255 56 .220 1 18
1B Mike Epstein 91 312 67 .215 8 32
2B Sandy Alomar Sr. 136 470 112 .238 0 28
SS Rudy Meoli 120 305 68 .223 2 23
3B Al Gallagher 110 311 85 .273 0 26
LF Vada Pinson 124 466 121 .260 8 57
CF Ken Berry 137 415 118 .284 3 36
RF Leroy Stanton 119 306 72 .235 8 34
DH Frank Robinson 147 534 142 .266 30 97

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Bob Oliver 151 544 144 .265 18 89
Tom McCraw 99 264 70 .265 3 24
Richie Scheinblum 77 229 75 .328 3 21
Winston Llenas 78 130 35 .269 1 25
Billy Grabarkewitz 61 129 21 .163 3 9
Mickey Rivers 32 129 45 .349 0 16
Bobby Valentine 32 126 38 .302 1 13
John Stephenson 60 122 30 .246 1 9
Billy Parker 38 102 23 .225 0 7
Jim Spencer 29 87 21 .241 2 11
Dave Chalk 24 69 16 .232 0 6
Art Kusnyer 41 64 8 .125 0 3
Jerry DaVanon 41 49 12 .245 0 2
Charlie Sands 17 33 9 .273 1 5
Rick Stelmaszek 22 26 4 .154 0 3
Doug Howard 8 21 2 .095 0 1
Bobby Brooks 4 7 1 .143 0 0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Nolan Ryan 41 326.0 21 16 2.87 383
Bill Singer 40 315.2 20 14 3.22 241
Clyde Wright 37 257.0 11 19 3.68 65
Rudy May 34 185.0 7 17 4.38 134
Frank Tanana 4 26.1 2 2 3.08 22

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Rich Hand 16 54.2 4 3 3.62 19
Dick Lange 17 52.2 2 1 4.44 27
Andy Hassler 7 31.2 0 4 3.69 19

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Dave Sells 51 7 2 10 3.71 25
Steve Barber 50 3 2 4 3.53 58
Aurelio Monteagudo 15 2 1 3 4.20 8
Ron Perranoski 8 0 2 0 4.09 5
Lloyd Allen 5 0 0 1 10.38 4
Terry Wilshusen 1 0 0 0 81.00 0

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Salt Lake City Angels Pacific Coast League Les Moss
AA El Paso Sun Kings Texas League Norm Sherry and Moose Stubing
A Salinas Packers California League Jim Saul
A Quad Cities Angels Midwest League Dick Kinaman
Rookie Idaho Falls Angels Pioneer League Bob Clear

Notes

  1. ^ Frank Robinson at Baseball-Reference
  2. ^ Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 12, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, ISBN 978-1-55365-507-7
  3. ^ "The Nolan Ryan Express | The Strikeout King". smackbomb.com/nolanryan. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
  4. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 139, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  5. ^ a b Single-Season Leaders & Records for Strikeouts
  6. ^ Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 32, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, ISBN 978-1-55365-507-7
  7. ^ Mike Epstein at Baseball-Reference
  8. ^ Brian Kingman at Baseball-Reference
  9. ^ Curt Motton at Baseball-Reference

References

Categories