1972 California Angels season

1972 California Angels
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1961)
West Division (since 1969)
Location
Anaheim Stadium (since 1966)
Anaheim, California (since 1966)
Other information
Owner(s)	Gene Autry
General manager(s)	Harry Dalton
Manager(s)	Del Rice
Local television	KTLA
Local radio	KMPC (Dick Enberg, Don Wells, Dave Niehaus)
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The 1972 California Angels season involved the Angels finishing 5th in the American League West with a record of 75 wins and 80 losses.

Offseason

• October 27, 1971: Tony González was released by the Angels.^[1]
• December 10, 1971: Jim Fregosi was traded by the Angels to the New York Mets for Nolan Ryan, Don Rose, Leroy Stanton, and Frank Estrada.^[2]
• January 26, 1972: Tommie Reynolds was traded by the Angels to the Milwaukee Brewers for Andy Kosco.^[3]

Regular season

• April 18, 1972: Nolan Ryan struck out Charlie Manuel for the 500th strikeout of his career.^[4]

Opening Day starters

• Sandy Alomar
• Leo Cárdenas
• Ken McMullen
• Andy Messersmith
• Vada Pinson
• Mickey Rivers
• Jim Spencer
• Leroy Stanton
• Jeff Torborg^[5]

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	93	62	0.600	—	48–29	45–33
Chicago White Sox	87	67	0.565	5½	55–23	32–44
Minnesota Twins	77	77	0.500	15½	42–32	35–45
Kansas City Royals	76	78	0.494	16½	44–33	32–45
California Angels	75	80	0.484	18	44–36	31–44
Texas Rangers	54	100	0.351	38½	31–46	23–54

Record vs. opponents

1972 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	TEX
Baltimore	—	7–11	6–6	8–4	8–10	10–8	6–6	10–5	6–6	7–6	6–6	6–6
Boston	11–7	—	8–4	6–6	8–7	5–9	6–6	11–7	4–8	9–9	9–3	8–4
California	6–6	4–8	—	7–11	8–4	5–7	9–6	7–5	7–8	4–8	8–10	10–7
Chicago	4–8	6–6	11–7	—	8–4	5–7	8–9	9–3	8–6	7–5	7–8	14–4
Cleveland	10–8	7–8	4–8	4–8	—	10–8	6–6	5–10	8–4	7–11	2–10	9–3
Detroit	8–10	9–5	7–5	7–5	8–10	—	7–5	10–8	9–3	7–9	4–8	10–2
Kansas City	6–6	6–6	6–9	9–8	6–6	5–7	—	7–5	9–9	7–5	7–11	8–6
Milwaukee	5–10	7–11	5–7	3–9	10–5	8–10	5–7	—	4–8	9–9	4–8	5–7
Minnesota	6–6	8–4	8–7	6–8	4–8	3–9	9–9	8–4	—	6–6	8–9	11–7
New York	6–7	9–9	8–4	5–7	11–7	9–7	5–7	9–9	6–6	—	3–9	8–4
Oakland	6–6	3–9	10–8	8–7	10–2	8–4	11–7	8–4	9–8	9–3	—	11–4
Texas	6–6	4–8	7–10	4–14	3–9	2–10	6–8	7–5	7–11	4–8	4–11	—

Notable transactions

• May 2, 1972: Billy Cowan was released by the Angels.^[6]
• May 16, 1972: Steve Barber was signed as a free agent by the Angels.^[7]
• May 26, 1972: Archie Reynolds was traded by the Angels to the Milwaukee Brewers for Curt Motton.^[8]
• July 28, 1972: Joe Azcue and Syd O'Brien were traded by the Angels to the Milwaukee Brewers for Ron Clark and Paul Ratliff.^[9]
• August 1, 1972: Fred Kuhaulua was signed as an amateur free agent by the Angels.^[10]
• August 15, 1972: Andy Kosco was traded by the Angels to the Boston Red Sox for Chris Coletta.^[3]
• August 17, 1972: Eddie Fisher was traded by the California Angels to the Chicago White Sox for a player to be named later and Bruce Miller. The Chicago White Sox sent Bruce Kimm (September 1, 1972) to the California Angels to complete the trade.^[11]

Roster

1972 California Angels
Roster
Pitchers 40 Lloyd Allen 31 Steve Barber 44 Rickey Clark 48 Paul Doyle 15 Tom Dukes 24 Eddie Fisher 32 Alan Foster 35 Dick Lange 34 Rudy May 47 Andy Messersmith 41 Tom Murphy 46 Mel Queen 41 Don Rose 30 Nolan Ryan 46 Dave Sells 38 Clyde Wright		Catchers 31 Joe Azcue  8 Jack Hiatt 39 Art Kusnyer 37 John Stephenson 10 Jeff Torborg Infielders  2 Sandy Alomar 17 Leo Cárdenas 12 Winston Llenas  4 Ken McMullen  8 Syd O'Brien 33 Bob Oliver 18 Billy Parker  9 Jim Spencer		Outfielders 16 Ken Berry 14 Chris Coletta 29 Doug Howard 29 Andy Kosco  6 Curt Motton 28 Vada Pinson  5 Mickey Rivers 33 Tom Silverio 36 Leroy Stanton Other batters 14 Billy Cowan  6 Roger Repoz		Manager  7 Del Rice Coaches 22 Peanuts Lowrey 27 Tom Morgan 20 John Roseboro 21 Bobby Winkles

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
1B	Oliver, BobBob Oliver	134	509	137	.269	19	70
2B	Alomar, SandySandy Alomar	155	610	146	.239	1	25
3B	McMullen, KenKen McMullen	137	472	127	.269	9	34
SS	Cárdenas, LeoLeo Cárdenas	150	551	123	.223	6	42
LF	Pinson, VadaVada Pinson	136	484	133	.275	7	49
CF	Berry, KenKen Berry	119	409	118	.289	5	39
RF	Stanton, LeroyLeroy Stanton	127	402	101	.251	12	39

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
Spencer, JimJim Spencer	82	212	47	.222	1	14
Rivers, MickeyMickey Rivers	58	159	34	.214	0	7
Torborg, JeffJeff Torborg	59	153	32	.209	0	8
Kosco, AndyAndy Kosco	49	142	34	.239	6	13

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
Ryan, NolanNolan Ryan	39	284	19	16	2.28	329
Wright, ClydeClyde Wright	35	251	18	11	2.98	87
May, RudyRudy May	35	205.1	12	11	2.94	169
Messersmith, AndyAndy Messersmith	25	169.2	8	11	2.81	142

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
Clark, RickeyRickey Clark	26	109.2	4	9	4.51	61
Rose, DonDon Rose	16	42.2	1	4	4.22	39
Lange, DickDick Lange	2	7.2	0	0	4.70	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
Allen, LloydLloyd Allen	42	3	7	5	3.48	53
Fisher, EddieEddie Fisher	43	4	5	4	3.76	32
Barber, SteveSteve Barber	34	4	4	2	2.02	34
Dukes, TomTom Dukes	7	0	1	1	1.64	8
Doyle, PaulPaul Doyle	2	0	0	0	0.00	4

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Salt Lake City Angels	Pacific Coast League	Les Moss
AA	Shreveport Captains	Texas League	Norm Sherry
A	Stockton Ports	California League	Mike Stubbins
A	Quad Cities Angels	Midwest League	Dick Kinaman
Rookie	Idaho Falls Angels	Pioneer League	Bob Clear

Notes

1. Tony González page at Baseball Reference
2. Nolan Ryan page at Baseball Reference
3. Andy Kosco page at Baseball Reference
4. The Nolan Ryan Express | The Strikeout King | smackbomb.com/nolanryan
5. http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1972&t=CAL
6. Billy Cowan page at Baseball-Reference
7. Steve Barber page at Baseball Reference
8. Curt Motton page at Baseball Reference
9. Joe Azcue page at Baseball-Reference
10. Fred Kuhaulua page at Baseball Reference
11. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fisheed02.shtml

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1972 California Angels team page at Baseball Reference
• 1972 California Angels team page at www.baseball-almanac.com