1978 California Angels season

{{Infobox baseball team season

| name = California Angels

| season = 1978

| misc =

| league = American League

| division = West

| ballpark = Anaheim Stadium

| city = Anaheim, California

| owners = Gene Autry

| general_managers = Buzzie Bavasi

| managers = Dave Garcia, Jim Fregosi

| television = KTLA

| radio = KMPC
(Dick Enberg, Don Drysdale, Al Wisk)

|}}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-07-15-sp-3976-story.html|title = Archives|website = Los Angeles Times}}

Offseason

November 21, 1977: Lyman Bostock was signed as a free agent by the Angels.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bostoly01.shtml Lyman Bostock] at Baseball-Reference
December 5, 1977: Bobby Bonds, Richard Dotson and Thad Bosley were traded by the Angels to the Chicago White Sox for Brian Downing, Chris Knapp, and Dave Frost.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/d/dotsori01.shtml Richard Dotson] at Baseball-Reference
December 8, 1977: Jerry Remy was traded by the Angels to the Boston Red Sox for Don Aase and cash.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/a/aasedo01.shtml Don Aase] at Baseball-Reference
January 15, 1978: Gary Nolan was released by the Angels.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/n/nolanga01.shtml Gary Nolan] at Baseball-Reference
March 20, 1978: Fred Kuhaulua was released by the Angels.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/k/kuhaufr01.shtml Fred Kuhaulua] at Baseball-Reference
March 25, 1978: Merv Rettenmund was signed as a free agent by the Angels.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/retteme01.shtml Merv Rettenmund] at Baseball-Reference

Regular season

On May 12, Angels pitcher Nolan Ryan struck out Buddy Bell for the 2500th strikeout of his career.{{Cite web |url=http://www.smackbomb.com/nolanryan/strikeouts.html |title=The Nolan Ryan Express {{!}} The Strikeout King |website= smackbomb.com/nolanryan |access-date= July 28, 2008 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110716092407/http://www.smackbomb.com/nolanryan/strikeouts.html |archive-date=July 16, 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}

= Season standings =

= Record vs. opponents =

= Notable transactions =

June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball draft
Dave Engle was drafted by the Angels in the 3rd round.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/e/engleda01.shtml Dave Engle] at Baseball-Reference
Dan Whitmer was drafted by the Angels in the 14th round.[https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/whitmda01.shtml Dan Whitmer] at Baseball-Reference

= Roster =

class="toccolours" style="font-size: 95%;"
colspan="10" style="background-color: #CE2029; color: white; text-align: center;" \| 1978 California Angels
colspan="10" style="background-color:#333366; color: white; text-align: center;" \| Roster
valign="top" \| Pitchers {{MLBplayer\|46\|Don Aase}} {{MLBplayer\|33\|Mike Barlow}} {{MLBplayer\|34\|Ken Brett}} {{MLBplayer\|39\|John Caneira}} {{MLBplayer\|36\|Al Fitzmorris}} {{MLBplayer\|37\|Dave Frost}} {{MLBplayer\|38\|Tom Griffin}} {{MLBplayer\|45\|Paul Hartzell}} {{MLBplayer\|42\|Chris Knapp}} {{MLBplayer\|17\|Dave LaRoche}} {{MLBplayer\|41\|Dyar Miller}} {{MLBplayer\|30\|Nolan Ryan}} {{MLBplayer\|40\|Frank Tanana}} \| width="25px" \| \| valign="top" \| Catchers {{MLBplayer\| 5\|Brian Downing}} {{MLBplayer\|15\|Ike Hampton}} {{MLBplayer\| 9\|Terry Humphrey}} Infielders {{MLBplayer\|14\|Jim Anderson}} {{MLBplayer\| 7\|Dave Chalk}} {{MLBplayer\| 6\|Ron Fairly}} {{MLBplayer\| 4\|Bobby Grich}} {{MLBplayer\|16\|Ron Jackson}} {{MLBplayer\|12\|Carney Lansford}} {{MLBplayer\|35\|Dave Machemer}} {{MLBplayer\|18\|Rance Mulliniks}} {{MLBplayer\|27\|Tony Solaita}} \| width="25px" \| \| valign="top" \|Outfielders {{MLBplayer\|25\|Don Baylor}} {{MLBplayer\|10\|Lyman Bostock}} {{MLBplayer\|19\|Ken Landreaux}} {{MLBplayer\| 3\|Rick Miller}} {{MLBplayer\| 8\|Merv Rettenmund}} {{MLBplayer\|26\|Joe Rudi}} Other batters {{MLBplayer\|20\|Danny Goodwin}} \| width="25px" \| \| valign="top" \| Manager {{MLBplayer\|11\|Jim Fregosi}} {{MLBplayer\| 1\|Dave Garcia}} Coaches {{MLBplayer\|49\|Bob Clear}} {{MLBplayer\|24\|Marv Grissom}} {{MLBplayer\| 2\|John McNamara}} {{MLBplayer\|50\|Jimmie Reese}} {{MLBplayer\|48\|Bob Skinner}}

class="toccolours" style="font-size: 95%;"

colspan="10" style="background-color: #CE2029; color: white; text-align: center;" | 1978 California Angels

colspan="10" style="background-color:#333366; color: white; text-align: center;" | Roster

valign="top" | Pitchers

| width="25px" |

| valign="top" | Catchers

Infielders

| width="25px" |

| valign="top" |Outfielders

Other batters

| width="25px" |

| valign="top" | 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

bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="5%" \| Pos ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="16%" \| Player ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| G ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| AB ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| H ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| Avg. ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| HR ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| RBI
class="wikitable sortable"
align="center" \| C	Brian Downing	133	412	105	.255	7	46
align=center \| 1B	Ron Jackson	105	387	115	.297	6	57
align=center \| 2B	Bobby Grich	144	487	122	.251	6	42
align=center \| SS	Dave Chalk	135	470	119	.253	1	34
align=center \| 3B	Carney Lansford	121	453	133	.294	8	52
align=center \| LF	Joe Rudi	133	497	127	.256	17	79
align=center \| CF	Rick Miller	132	475	125	.263	1	37
align=center \| RF	{{sortname\|Lyman\|Bostock}}	147	568	168	.296	5	71
align="center" \| 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

bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="16%" \| Player ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| G ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| AB ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| H ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| Avg. ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| HR ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| RBI
class="wikitable sortable"
align="center" \| Ken Landreaux	93	260	58	.223	5	23
align=center \| Ron Fairly	91	235	51	.217	10	40
align=center \| Rance Mulliniks	50	119	22	.185	1	6
align=center \| Terry Humphrey	53	114	25	.219	1	9
align=center \| {{sortname\|Jim\|Anderson\|Jim Anderson (baseball)}}	48	108	21	.194	0	7
align="center" \| Merv Rettenmund	50	108	29	.269	1	14
align=center \| Tony Solaita	60	94	21	.223	1	14
align=center \| Danny Goodwin	24	58	16	.276	2	10
align=center \| Dave Machemer	10	22	6	.273	1	2
align=center \| 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

bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="16%" \| Player ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| G ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| IP ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| W ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| L ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| ERA ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| SO
class="wikitable sortable"
align="center" \| Frank Tanana	33	239.0	18	12	3.65	137
align=center \| Nolan Ryan	31	234.2	10	13	3.72	260
align=center \| Chris Knapp	30	188.1	14	8	4.21	126
align=center \| {{sortname\|Don\|Aase}}	29	178.2	11	8	4.03	93
align="center" \| Dave Frost	11	80.1	5	4	2.58	30
align=center \| 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

bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="16%" \| Player ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| G ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| IP ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| W ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| L ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| ERA ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| SO
class="wikitable sortable"
align="center" \| Paul Hartzell	54	157.0	6	10	3.44	55
align=center \| Ken Brett	31	100.0	3	5	4.95	43
align=center \| Tom Griffin	24	56.0	3	4	4.02	35
align=center \| 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

bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="16%" \| Player ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| G ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| W ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| L ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| SV ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| ERA ! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="9%" \| SO
class="wikitable sortable"
align="center" \| Dave LaRoche	59	10	9	25	2.82	70
align=center \| Dyar Miller	41	6	2	1	2.66	34
align=center \| Mike Barlow	1	0	0	0	4.50	1

Farm system

{{MLB Farm System|level16=AAA|team16=Salt Lake City Gulls|league16=Pacific Coast League|manager16=Deron Johnson

|level17=AA |team17=El Paso Diablos|league17=Texas League|manager17=Moose Stubing

|level18=A |team18=Salinas Packers|league18=California League|manager18=Chuck Cottier

|level19=A |team19=Quad Cities Angels|league19=Midwest League|manager19=Cotton Nash

|level20=Rookie|team20=Idaho Falls Angels|league20=Pioneer League|manager20=[https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=rodrig001reu Reuben Rodriguez]

}}

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: El Paso

Notes

References

{{Cite book| editor1-last=Johnson| editor1-first=Lloyd| editor2-last=Wolff| editor2-first=Miles| title=The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball| edition=2nd| location=Durham, North Carolina| publisher=Baseball America| year=1997| isbn=978-0-9637189-8-3}}

External links

[https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CAL/1978.shtml 1978 California Angels team] at Baseball-Reference
[http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1978&t=CAL 1978 California Angels] at Baseball Almanac

Category:Los Angeles Angels seasons

Category:1970s in Anaheim, California

California Angels season

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