1979 California Angels season

The 1979 California Angels season was their 19th in Major League Baseball. The Angels reached the postseason for the first time by winning the American League West Division with a record of 88–74, three games ahead of the Kansas City Royals in Jim Fregosi's first season as manager. The Angels were defeated by the Baltimore Orioles 3–1 in the 1979 American League Championship Series. Don Baylor had an outstanding season, playing in all 162 games, scoring 120 runs (tops in the American League), hitting 36 home runs and driving in 139 runs (also leading the American League) on his way to being named the American League Most Valuable Player, gaining 20 of 28 first place votes.[1]

1979 California Angels
American League West Champions
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkAnaheim Stadium
CityAnaheim, California
OwnersGene Autry
General managersBuzzie Bavasi
ManagersJim Fregosi
TelevisionKTLA
(Don Drysdale, Ron Fairly)
RadioKMPC
(Don Drysdale, Al Wisk)
← 1978 Seasons 1980 →

Offseason

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Regular season

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Season standings

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AL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
California Angels 88 74 .543 49‍–‍32 39‍–‍42
Kansas City Royals 85 77 .525 3 46‍–‍35 39‍–‍42
Texas Rangers 83 79 .512 5 44‍–‍37 39‍–‍42
Minnesota Twins 82 80 .506 6 39‍–‍42 43‍–‍38
Chicago White Sox 73 87 .456 14 33‍–‍46 40‍–‍41
Seattle Mariners 67 95 .414 21 36‍–‍45 31‍–‍50
Oakland Athletics 54 108 .333 34 31‍–‍50 23‍–‍58

Record vs. opponents

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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 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

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Roster

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1979 California Angels
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Game log

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1979 Game Log: 88–74 (Home: 49–32; Away: 39–42)
April: 15–8 (Home: 7–6; Away: 8–2)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak
1 April 4 @ Mariners 4–5 37,748 0–1 L1
2 April 6 @ Mariners 6–14 8,831 0–2 L2
3 April 7 @ Mariners 5–4 18,010 1–2 W1
4 April 8 @ Mariners 7–5 9,183 2–2 W2
5 April 10 Twins 1–8 33,171 2–3 L1
6 April 11 Twins 11–2 21,633 3–3 W1
7 April 12 Twins 7–1 22,211 4–3 W2
8 April 13 @ Athletics 10–1 2,985 5–3 W3
9 April 14 @ Athletics 9–3 2,649 6–3 W4
10 April 15 @ Athletics 8–1 2,243 7–3 W5
11 April 17 @ Twins 6–0 37,529 8–3 W6
12 April 18 @ Twins 11–6 3,776 9–3 W7
13 April 19 @ Twins 6–4 3,537 10–3 W8
14 April 20 Athletics 7–4 27,417 11–3 W9
15 April 21 Athletics 13–1 34,728 12–3 W10
16 April 22 Athletics 6–7 36,130 12–4 L1
17 April 24 Orioles 2–7 22,343 12–5 L2
18 April 25 Orioles 2–5 19,939 12–6 L3
19 April 26 Orioles 2–4 21,598 12–7 L4
20 April 27 Red Sox 8–6 29,408 13–7 W1
21 April 28 Red Sox 5–0 41,954 14–7 W2
22 April 29 Red Sox 0–2 35,206 14–8 L1
23 April 30 Yankees 2–1 37,180 15–8 W1
May: 15–12 (Home: 7–1; Away: 8–11)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak
24 May 1 Yankees 8–12 (11) 38,858 15–9 L1
25 May 2 Yankees 1–0 40,648 16–9 W1
May 4 @ Orioles Postponed (rain). Makeup: July 19
26 May 5 @ Orioles 1–9 20,455 16–10 L1
27 May 6 @ Orioles 0–6 25,630 16–11 L2
28 May 7 @ Red Sox 4–9 23,319 16–12 L3
29 May 8 @ Red Sox 10–2 21,160 17–12 W1
30 May 9 @ Red Sox 8–9 24,815 17–12 L1
31 May 10 @ Red Sox 5–3 24,990 18–13 W1
32 May 11 @ Yankees 4–1 37,988 19–13 W1
33 May 12 @ Yankees 5–6 28,783 19–14 L1
34 May 13 @ Yankees 10–12 30,083 19–15 L2
35 May 15 Brewers 2–1 21,235 20–15 W1
36 May 16 Brewers 4–3 (11) 21,533 21–15 W2
37 May 17 Brewers 8–5 22,060 22–15 W3
38 May 18 White Sox 7–3 25,598 23–15 W4
39 May 19 White Sox 10–6 41,941 24–15 W5
40 May 20 White Sox 4–0 27,189 25–15 W6
41 May 22 @ Brewers 1–7 9,857 25–16 L1
42 May 23 @ Brewers 0–1 8,408 25–17 L2
43 May 24 @ Brewers 6–7 16,314 25–18 L3
44 May 25 @ White Sox 1–6 20,554 25–19 L4
45 May 26 @ White Sox 8–4 31,576 26–19 W1
46 May 27 @ White Sox 4–2 25,025 27–19 W2
47 May 27 @ White Sox 9–1 25,025 28–19 W3
48 May 29 @ Mariners 6–4 4,068 29–19 W4
49 May 30 @ Mariners 3–2 5,206 30–19 W5
50 May 31 @ Mariners 10–12 5,266 30–20 L1
June: 14–15 (Home: 7–9; Away: 7–6)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak
51 June 1 Indians 4–7 20,070 30–21 L2
52 June 2 Indians 5–2 41,969 31–21 W1
53 June 3 Indians 3–5 24,409 31–22 L1
54 June 4 Blue Jays 4–2 16,979 32–22 W1
55 June 5 Blue Jays 3–0 18,862 33–22 W2
56 June 6 Blue Jays 4–5 18,835 33–23 L1
57 June 8 Tigers 6–4 28,298 34–23 W1
58 June 9 Tigers 9–1 36,499 35–23 W2
59 June 10 Tigers 7–10 30,229 35–24 L1
60 June 11 @ Indians 9–4 10,674 36–24 W1
61 June 12 @ Indians 10–11 9,945 36–25 L1
62 June 13 @ Blue Jays 8–9 28,577 36–26 L2
63 June 13 @ Blue Jays 10–2 28,577 37–26 W1
64 June 14 @ Blue Jays 10–2 15,097 38–26 W2
65 June 15 @ Tigers 8–7 41,151 39–26 W3
66 June 16 @ Tigers 4–2 39,240 40–26 W4
67 June 17 @ Tigers 4–8 32,744 40–27 L1
68 June 18 Rangers 5–0 37,096 41–27 W1
69 June 19 Rangers 1–2 26,553 41–28 L1
70 June 20 Rangers 5–4 26,895 42–28 W1
71 June 21 Rangers 2–3 (11) 26,422 42–29 L1
72 June 22 Royals 5–9 30,737 42–30 L2
73 June 23 Royals 4–13 41,002 42–31 L3
74 June 24 Royals 2–5 32,210 42–32 L4
75 June 26 @ Rangers 1–2 28,695 42–33 L5
76 June 27 @ Rangers 2–4 28,899 42–34 L6
77 June 28 @ Rangers 4–14 29,101 42–35 L7
78 June 29 @ Royals 6–5 (11) 36,705 43–35 W1
79 June 30 @ Royals 8–5 41,451 44–35 W2
July: 17–11 (Home: 13–5; Away: 4–6)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak
80 July 1 @ Royals 14–2 32,636 45–35 W3
81 July 2 Athletics 8–3 27,639 46–35 W4
82 July 3 Athletics 3–0 22,498 47–35 W5
83 July 4 Athletics 17–6 41,958 48–35 W6
84 July 5 Athletics 0–3 23,793 48–36 L1
85 July 6 Orioles 7–3 24,679 49–36 W1
86 July 7 Orioles 10–1 37,382 50–36 W2
87 July 8 Orioles 2–7 29,062 50–37 L1
88 July 9 Red Sox 6–0 27,692 51–37 W1
89 July 10 Red Sox 4–3 36,619 52–37 W2
90 July 11 Red Sox 3–9 39,210 52–38 L1
91 July 13 Yankees 6–1 41,805 53–38 W1
92 July 14 Yankees 8–7 (12) 41,693 54–38 W2
93 July 15 Yankees 5–4 40,739 55–38 W3
94 July 19 @ Orioles 4–3 (11) 33,603 56–38 W1
95 July 19 @ Orioles 0–3 33,603 56–39 L1
96 July 20 @ Orioles 1–2 25,682 56–40 L2
97 July 21 @ Orioles 2–10 51,381 56–41 L3
98 July 22 @ Red Sox 5–6 (10) 35,172 56–42 L4
99 July 23 @ Red Sox 9–2 35,024 57–42 W1
100 July 24 @ Yankees 5–6 33,497 57–43 L1
101 July 25 @ Yankees 9–5 47,449 58–43 W1
102 July 26 @ Yankees 0–2 43,136 58–44 L1
103 July 27 Twins 1–3 38,945 58–45 L2
104 July 28 Twins 5–0 41,891 59–45 W1
105 July 29 Twins 9–3 33,510 60–45 W2
106 July 30 Mariners 0–8 35,548 60–46 L1
107 July 31 Mariners 8–1 25,198 61–46 W1
August: 11–17 (Home: 5–8; Away: 6–9)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak
108 August 1 Mariners 6–7 29,446 61–47 L1
109 August 3 @ Twins 1–4 30,653 61–48 L2
110 August 4 @ Twins 7–1 26,084 62–48 W1
111 August 5 @ Twins 11–7 41,182 63–48 W2
112 August 5 @ Twins 1–7 41,182 63–49 L1
113 August 6 @ Athletics 5–2 8,160 64–49 W1
114 August 7 @ Athletics 5–9 2,905 64–50 L1
115 August 8 @ Athletics 8–1 3,463 65–50 W1
116 August 10 Mariners 6–8 (14) 28,969 65–51 L1
117 August 11 Mariners 8–1 41,940 66–51 W1
118 August 12 Mariners 4–3 27,345 67–51 W2
119 August 13 Tigers 3–5 34,032 67–52 L1
120 August 14 Tigers 3–6 29,465 67–53 L2
121 August 15 Tigers 1–6 31,885 67–54 L3
122 August 17 Blue Jays 5–6 25,050 67–55 L4
123 August 18 Blue Jays 7–5 30,361 68–55 W1
124 August 19 Blue Jays 4–2 23,814 69–55 W2
125 August 20 Indians 6–5 35,497 70–55 W3
126 August 21 Indians 7–12 30,902 70–56 L1
127 August 22 Indians 3–13 30,625 70–57 L2
128 August 24 @ Blue Jays 4–6 18,077 70–58 L3
129 August 25 @ Blue Jays 24–2 25,207 71–58 W1
130 August 26 @ Blue Jays 3–9 22,619 71–59 L1
131 August 27 @ Tigers 2–3 22,874 71–60 L2
132 August 28 @ Tigers 2–12 19,178 71–61 L3
133 August 29 @ Tigers 1–2 19,880 71–62 L4
134 August 30 @ Indians 1–7 8,647 71–63 L5
135 August 31 @ Indians 9–8 10,501 72–63 W1
September: 16–11 (Home: 10–3; Away: 6–8)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record Streak
136 September 1 @ Indians 7–4 22,804 73–63 W2
137 September 2 @ Indians 5–2 6,359 74–63 W3
138 September 3 White Sox 6–5 34,684 75–63 W4
139 September 4 White Sox 7–10 26,036 75–64 L1
140 September 5 White Sox 9–8 23,705 76–64 W1
141 September 6 White Sox 10–9 20,930 77–64 W2
142 September 7 Brewers 6–3 30,685 78–64 W3
143 September 8 Brewers 3–2 37,624 79–64 W4
144 September 9 Brewers 5–2 27,341 80–64 W5
145 September 11 @ White Sox 7–8 6,858 80–65 L1
146 September 12 @ White Sox 5–11 7,551 80–66 L2
147 September 14 @ Brewers 8–7 17,840 81–66 W1
148 September 15 @ Brewers 2–3 45,732 81–67 L1
149 September 16 @ Brewers 1–2 19,906 81–68 L2
150 September 17 @ Royals 4–16 38,327 81–69 L3
151 September 18 @ Royals 6–4 29,733 82–69 W1
152 September 19 @ Royals 4–6 31,412 82–70 L1
153 September 20 @ Royals 11–6 32,659 83–70 W1
154 September 21 Rangers 1–3 37,450 83–71 L1
155 September 22 Rangers 3–1 33,730 84–71 W1
156 September 23 Rangers 6–1 41,498 85–71 W2
157 September 24 Royals 4–3 40,423 86–71 W3
158 September 25 Royals 4–1 40,631 87–71 W4
159 September 26 Royals 0–4 40,565 87–72 L1
160 September 28 @ Rangers 0–5 11,965 87–73 L2
161 September 29 @ Rangers 3–6 19,167 87–74 L3
162 September 30 @ Rangers 11–5 9,086 88–74 W1
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement
Bold = Angels team member

Player stats

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Batting

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Starters by position

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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 148 509 166 .326 12 75
1B Rod Carew 110 409 130 .318 3 44
2B Bobby Grich 153 534 157 .294 30 101
3B Carney Lansford 157 654 188 .287 19 79
SS Bert Campaneris 85 239 56 .234 0 15
LF Don Baylor 162 628 186 .296 36 139
CF Rick Miller 120 427 125 .293 2 28
RF Dan Ford 142 569 165 .290 21 101
DH Willie Aikens 116 379 106 .280 21 81

Other batters

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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
Joe Rudi 90 330 80 .242 11 61
Jim Anderson 96 234 58 .248 3 23
Larry Harlow 62 159 37 .233 0 14
Tom Donohue 38 107 24 .224 3 14
Merv Rettenmund 35 76 20 .263 1 10
Rance Mulliniks 22 68 10 .147 1 8
Willie Davis 43 56 14 .250 0 2
Dickie Thon 35 56 19 .339 0 8
Bobby Clark 19 54 16 .296 1 5
Ralph Garr 6 24 3 .125 0 0
Terry Humphrey 9 17 1 .059 0 0
Orlando Ramírez 13 12 0 .000 0 0
Ike Hampton 4 5 2 .400 0 0
Brian Harper 1 2 0 .000 0 0
John Harris 1 2 0 .000 0 0

Pitching

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Starting pitchers

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

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Dave Frost 36 239.0 16 10 3.57 107
Nolan Ryan 34 223.0 16 14 3.60 223
Jim Barr 36 197.0 10 12 4.20 69
Don Aase 37 185.1 9 10 4.81 96
Chris Knapp 20 98.0 5 5 5.51 36
Frank Tanana 17 90.1 7 5 3.89 46

Other pitchers

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Player G IP W L ERA SO
Steve Eddy 7 32.1 1 1 4.73 7

Relief pitchers

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

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Mark Clear 52 11 5 14 3.63 98
Dave LaRoche 53 7 11 10 5.57 59
Mike Barlow 35 1 1 0 5.13 33
Dyar Miller 14 1 0 0 3.31 16
John Montague 14 2 0 6 5.09 6
Ralph Botting 12 2 0 0 8.80 22
Bob Ferris 2 0 0 0 1.50 2
Dave Schuler 1 0 0 0 10.80 0

ALCS

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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

Postseason game log

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1979 Postseason Game Log (1–3)
# Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Series
1 October 3 @ Orioles 3–6 (11) Stanhouse (1–0) Montague (0–1) 52,787 0–1
2 October 4 @ Orioles 8–9 Flanagan (1–0) Frost (0–1) 52,108 0–2
3 October 5 Orioles 4–3 Aase (1–0) Stanhouse (1–1) 43,199 1–2
4 October 6 Orioles 0–8 McGregor (1–0) Knapp (0–1) 43,199 1–3
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement
Bold = Angels team member

Awards and honors

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  • Don Baylor, American League MVP

Farm system

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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

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  1. ^ 100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die, Dan Connolly, Triumph Books, Chicago, 2015, ISBN 978-1-62937-041-5, p.126
  2. ^ Dan Ford at Baseball-Reference
  3. ^ Al Newman at Baseball-Reference
  4. ^ Otis Nixon at Baseball-Reference
  5. ^ Bobby Jones at Baseball-Reference
  6. ^ Rod Carew at Baseball-Reference
  7. ^ Willie Davis at Baseball-Reference
  8. ^ Curt Brown at Baseball-Reference
  9. ^ Bert Campaneris at Baseball-Reference
  10. ^ Terry Humphrey at Baseball-Reference

References

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  • 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.
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