1979 California Angels season

1979 California Angels
1979 AL West Champions
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)	Buzzie Bavasi
Manager(s)	Jim Fregosi
Local television	KTLA (Don Drysdale, Ron Fairly)
Local radio	KMPC (Don Drysdale, Al Wisk)
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The 1979 California Angels season involved the Angels finishing first in the American League West with a record of 88 wins and 74 losses. They went on to lose to the Baltimore Orioles in the 1979 American League Championship Series, three games to one.

Offseason

• December 4, 1978: Ron Jackson and Danny Goodwin were traded by the Angels to the Minnesota Twins for Dan Ford.^[1]
• January 9, 1979: 1979 Major League Baseball draft
  • Al Newman was drafted by the Angels in the 3rd round.^[2]
  • Otis Nixon was drafted by the Angels in the 1st round (4th pick) of the secondary phase, but did not sign.^[3]
• January 29, 1979: Bobby Jones was released by the Angels.^[4]
• February 3, 1979: Ken Landreaux, Dave Engle, Paul Hartzell, and Brad Havens were traded by the Angels to the Minnesota Twins for Rod Carew.^[5]
• March 27, 1979: Willie Davis was signed by the California Angels as a free agent.^[6]

Regular season

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
California Angels	88	74	0.543	—	49–32	39–42
Kansas City Royals	85	77	0.525	3	46–35	39–42
Texas Rangers	83	79	0.512	5	44–37	39–42
Minnesota Twins	82	80	0.506	6	39–42	43–38
Chicago White Sox	73	87	0.456	14	33–46	40–41
Seattle Mariners	67	95	0.414	21	36–45	31–50
Oakland Athletics	54	108	0.333	34	31–50	23–58

Record vs. opponents

1979 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	8–5	9–3	8–3	8–5	7–6	6–6	8–5	8–4	5–6	8–4	10–2	6–6	11–2
Boston	5–8	—	5–7	5–6	6–7	8–5	8–4	8–4	9–3	5–8	9–3	8–4	6–6	9–4
California	3–9	7–5	—	9–4	6–6	4–8	7–6	7–5	9–4	7–5	10–3	7–6	5–8	7–5
Chicago	3–8	6–5	4–9	—	6–6	3–9	5–8	5–7	5–8	4–8	9–4	5–8	11–2	7–5
Cleveland	5–8	7–6	6–6	6–6	—	6–6	6–6	4–9	8–4	5–8	8–4	7–5	5–7	8–5
Detroit	6–7	5–8	8–4	9–3	6–6	—	5–7	6–7	4–8	7–6	7–5	7–5	6–6	9–4
Kansas City	6–6	4–8	6–7	8–5	6–6	7–5	—	5–7	7–6	5–7	9–4	7–6	6–7	9–3
Milwaukee	5–8	4–8	5–7	7–5	9–4	7–6	7–5	—	8–4	9–4	6–6	9–3	9–3	10–3
Minnesota	4–8	3–9	4–9	8–5	4–8	8–4	6–7	4–8	—	7–5	9–4	10–3	4–9	11–1
New York	6–5	8–5	5–7	8–4	8–5	6–7	7–5	4–9	5–7	—	9–3	6–6	8–4	9–4
Oakland	4–8	3–9	3–10	4–9	4–8	5–7	4–9	6–6	4–9	3–9	—	8–5	2–11	4–8
Seattle	2–10	4–8	6–7	8–5	5–7	5–7	6–7	3–9	3–10	6–6	5–8	—	6–7	8–4
Texas	6–6	6–6	8–5	2–11	7–5	6–6	7–6	3–9	9–4	4–8	11–2	7–6	—	7–5
Toronto	2–11	4–9	5–7	5–7	5–8	4–9	3–9	3–10	1–11	4–9	8–4	4–8	5–7	—

Notable transactions

• April 19, 1979: Curt Brown was signed as an amateur free agent by the Angels.^[7]
• May 4, 1979: Dave Chalk was traded by the Angels to the Texas Rangers for Bert Campaneris.^[8]
• July 31, 1979: Terry Humphrey was released by the Angels.^[9]

Roster

1979 California Angels
Roster
Pitchers 46 Don Aase 36 Mike Barlow 33 Jim Barr 34 Ralph Botting 38 Mark Clear 41 Steve Eddy 45 Bob Ferris 37 Dave Frost 42 Chris Knapp 17 Dave LaRoche 41 Dyar Miller 39 John Montague 30 Nolan Ryan 41 Dave Schuler 40 Frank Tanana		Catchers 23 Tom Donohue  5 Brian Downing  9 Terry Humphrey Infielders 22 Willie Aikens 14 Jim Anderson 19 Bert Campaneris 29 Rod Carew  4 Bobby Grich 15 Ike Hampton  9 John Harris 12 Carney Lansford 18 Rance Mulliniks  2 Orlando Ramírez 31 Dickie Thon		Outfielders 25 Don Baylor 32 Bobby Clark 24 Willie Davis 15 Dan Ford 20 Larry Harlow  3 Rick Miller  8 Merv Rettenmund 26 Joe Rudi Other batters 28,48 Ralph Garr  7 Brian Harper		Manager 11 Jim Fregosi Coaches 49 Bob Clear  6 Deron Johnson  1 Bobby Knoop 50 Jimmie Reese 51 Larry Sherry

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	Downing, BrianBrian Downing	148	509	166	.326	12	75
1B	Carew, RodRod Carew	110	409	130	.318	3	44
2B	Grich, BobbyBobby Grich	153	534	157	.294	30	101
3B	Lansford, CarneyCarney Lansford	157	654	188	.287	19	79
SS	Campaneris, BertBert Campaneris	85	239	56	.234	0	15
LF	Baylor, DonDon Baylor	162	628	186	.296	36	139
CF	Miller, RickRick Miller	120	427	125	.293	2	28
RF	Ford, DanDan Ford	142	569	165	.290	21	101
DH	Aikens, WillieWillie Aikens	116	379	106	.280	21	81

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
Clark, BobbyBobby Clark	19	54	16	.296	1	5
Humphrey, TerryTerry Humphrey	9	17	1	.059	0	0
Ramírez, OrlandoOrlando Ramírez	13	12	0	.000	0	0
Harris, JohnJohn Harris	1	2	0	.000	0	0
Davis, WillieWillie Davis	43	56	14	.250	0	2

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	34	223	16	14	3.60	223
Frost, DaveDave Frost	36	239	16	10	3.57	107
Aase, DonDon Aase	37	185.1	9	10	4.81	96
Barr, JimJim Barr	36	197	10	12	4.20	69
Tanana, FrankFrank Tanana	17	907	7	5	3.89	46

Starting pitchers

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

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Clear, MarkMark Clear	52	11	5	14	3.63	98
LaRoche, DaveDave LaRoche	53	7	11	10	5.17	59

ALCS

The Baltimore Orioles defeated the Angels, three games to one.

Game	Score	Date	Location	Attendance
1	California – 3, Baltimore – 6	October 3	Memorial Stadium	52,787
2	California – 8, Baltimore – 9	October 4	Memorial Stadium	52,108
3	Baltimore – 3, California – 4	October 5	Anaheim Stadium	43,199
4	Baltimore – 8, California – 0	October 6	Anaheim Stadium	43,199

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Salt Lake City Gulls	Pacific Coast League	Jimy Williams
AA	El Paso Diablos	Texas League	Moose Stubing
A	Salinas Packers	California League	Chris Cannizzaro
Rookie	Idaho Falls Angels	Pioneer League	Reuben Rodriguez

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Salt Lake City

Notes

1. Dan Ford at Baseball-Reference
2. Al Newman at Baseball-Reference
3. Otis Nixon at Baseball-Reference
4. Bobby Jones at Baseball-Reference
5. Rod Carew at Baseball-Reference
6. Willie Davis at Baseball-Reference
7. Curt Brown at Baseball-Reference
8. Bert Campaneris at Baseball-Reference
9. Terry Humphrey at Baseball-Reference

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.

External links

• 1979 California Angels team at Baseball-Reference
• 1979 California Angels at Baseball Almanac