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.

1979 California Angels
American League West Champions
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Anaheim Stadium
City	Anaheim, California
Owners	Gene Autry
General managers	Buzzie Bavasi
Managers	Jim Fregosi
Television	KTLA (Don Drysdale, Ron Fairly)
Radio	KMPC (Don Drysdale, Al Wisk)
Seasons

Offseason

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

Regular season

Season standings

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

1979 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	—	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.
• May 4, 1979: Dave Chalk was traded by the Angels to the Texas Rangers for Bert Campaneris.
• July 31, 1979: Terry Humphrey was released by the Angels.

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

Game log

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

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	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

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

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
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

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

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
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

Main article: 1979 American League Championship Series

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

1979 Postseason Game Log (1–3)
American League Championship Series vs. Baltimore Orioles # 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

• Don Baylor, American League MVP

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

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

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