1978 California Angels
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkAnaheim Stadium
CityAnaheim, California
OwnersGene Autry
General managersBuzzie Bavasi
ManagersDave Garcia, Jim Fregosi
TelevisionKTLA
RadioKMPC
(Dick Enberg, Don Drysdale, Al Wisk)
← 1977 Seasons 1979 →

The 1978 California Angels season involved the Angels finishing tied for second in the American League West with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses.

Late in the season, the Angels suffered the loss of outfielder Lyman Bostock when Bostock was murdered on September 23 in Gary, Indiana.[1]

Offseason

Regular season

On May 12, Angels pitcher Nolan Ryan struck out Buddy Bell for the 2500th strikeout of his career.[8]

Season standings

AL West 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Kansas City Royals 92 70 0.568 — 56–25 36–45
Texas Rangers 87 75 0.537 5 52–30 35–45
California Angels 87 75 0.537 5 50–31 37–44
Minnesota Twins 73 89 0.451 19 38–43 35–46
Chicago White Sox 71 90 0.441 20½ 38–42 33–48
Oakland Athletics 69 93 0.426 23 38–42 31–51
Seattle Mariners 56 104 0.350 35 32–49 24–55

Record vs. opponents

1978 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore — 7–8 4–6 8–1 9–6 7–8 2–8 7–8 5–5 6–9 11–0 9–1 7–4 8–7
Boston 8–7 — 9–2 7–3 7–8 12–3 4–6 10–5 9–2 7–9 5–5 7–3 3–7 11–4
California 6–4 2–9 — 8–7 6–4 4–7 9–6 5–5 12–3 5–5 9–6 9–6 5–10 7–3
Chicago 1–8 3–7 7–8 — 8–2 2–9 8–7 4–7 8–7 1–9 7–8 7–8 11–4 4–6
Cleveland 6–9 8–7 4–6 2–8 — 5–10 5–6 5–10 5–5 6–9 4–6 8–1 1–9 10–4
Detroit 8–7 3–12 7–4 9–2 10–5 — 4–6 7–8 4–6 4–11 6–4 8–2 7–3 9–6
Kansas City 8–2 6–4 6–9 7–8 6–5 6–4 — 6–4 7–8 6–5 10–5 12–3 7–8 5–5
Milwaukee 8–7 5–10 5–5 7–4 10–5 8–7 4–6 — 4–7 10–5 9–1 5–5 6–4 12–3
Minnesota 5–5 2–9 3–12 7–8 5–5 6–4 8–7 7–4 — 3–7 9–6 6–9 6–9 6–4
New York 9–6 9–7 5–5 9–1 9–6 11–4 5–6 5–10 7–3 — 8–2 6–5 6–4 11–4
Oakland 0–11 5–5 6–9 8–7 6–4 4–6 5–10 1–9 6–9 2–8 — 13–2 6–9 7–4
Seattle 1–9 3–7 6–9 8–7 1–8 2–8 3–12 5–5 9–6 5–6 2–13 — 3–12 8–2
Texas 4–7 7–3 10–5 4–11 9–1 3–7 8–7 4–6 9–6 4–6 9–6 12–3 — 4–7
Toronto 7–8 4–11 3–7 6–4 4–10 6–9 5–5 3–12 4–6 4–11 4–7 2–8 7–4 —


Notable transactions

Roster

1978 California Angels
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

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 Brian Downing 133 412 105 .255 7 46
1B Ron Jackson 105 387 115 .297 6 57
2B Bobby Grich 144 487 122 .251 6 42
SS Dave Chalk 135 470 119 .253 1 34
3B Carney Lansford 121 453 133 .294 8 52
LF Joe Rudi 133 497 127 .256 17 79
CF Rick Miller 132 475 125 .263 1 37
RF Lyman Bostock 147 568 168 .296 5 71
DH Don Baylor 158 591 151 .255 34 99

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
Ken Landreaux 93 260 58 .223 5 23
Ron Fairly 91 235 51 .217 10 40
Rance Mulliniks 50 119 22 .185 1 6
Terry Humphrey 53 114 25 .219 1 9
Jim Anderson 48 108 21 .194 0 7
Merv Rettenmund 50 108 29 .269 1 14
Tony Solaita 60 94 21 .223 1 14
Danny Goodwin 24 58 16 .276 2 10
Dave Machemer 10 22 6 .273 1 2
Ike Hampton 19 14 3 .214 1 4

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
Frank Tanana 33 239.0 18 12 3.65 137
Nolan Ryan 31 234.2 10 13 3.72 260
Chris Knapp 30 188.1 14 8 4.21 126
Don Aase 29 178.2 11 8 4.03 93
Dave Frost 11 80.1 5 4 2.58 30
John Caneira 2 7.2 0 0 7.04 0

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
Paul Hartzell 54 157.0 6 10 3.44 55
Ken Brett 31 100.0 3 5 4.95 43
Tom Griffin 24 56.0 3 4 4.02 35
Al Fitzmorris 9 31.2 1 0 1.71 8

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 LaRoche 59 10 9 25 2.82 70
Dyar Miller 41 6 2 1 2.66 34
Mike Barlow 1 0 0 0 4.50 1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Salt Lake City Gulls Pacific Coast League Deron Johnson
AA El Paso Diablos Texas League Moose Stubing
A Salinas Packers California League Chuck Cottier
A Quad Cities Angels Midwest League Cotton Nash
Rookie Idaho Falls Angels Pioneer League Reuben Rodriguez

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: El Paso

Notes

  1. ^ "Archives". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ^ Lyman Bostock at Baseball-Reference
  3. ^ Richard Dotson at Baseball-Reference
  4. ^ Don Aase at Baseball-Reference
  5. ^ Gary Nolan at Baseball-Reference
  6. ^ Fred Kuhaulua at Baseball-Reference
  7. ^ Merv Rettenmund at Baseball-Reference
  8. ^ "The Nolan Ryan Express | The Strikeout King". smackbomb.com/nolanryan. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
  9. ^ Dave Engle at Baseball-Reference
  10. ^ Dan Whitmer at Baseball-Reference

References

External links

1978 MLB season by team
Los Angeles Angels
Categories