1972 California Angels season explained

California Angels
Season:	1972
League:	American League
Division:	West
Ballpark:	Anaheim Stadium
City:	Anaheim, California
Owners:	Gene Autry
General Managers:	Harry Dalton
Managers:	Del Rice
Television:	KTLA
Radio:	KMPC (Dick Enberg, Don Wells, Dave Niehaus)

The 1972 California Angels season involved the Angels finishing fifth 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 Sr.
• Leo Cárdenas
• Ken McMullen
• Andy Messersmith
• Vada Pinson
• Mickey Rivers
• Jim Spencer
• Leroy Stanton
• Jeff Torborg^[5]

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		CatchersInfielders		OutfieldersOther batters		ManagerCoaches

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		64	179	37	.207	2	13
1B		134	509	137	.269	19	70
2B		155	610	146	.239	1	25
3B		137	472	127	.269	9	34
SS		150	551	123	.223	6	42
LF		136	484	133	.275	7	49
CF		119	409	118	.289	5	39
RF		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
	82	212	47	.222	1	14
	58	159	34	.214	0	7
	59	153	32	.209	0	8
	66	146	40	.274	2	17
	49	142	34	.239	6	13
	36	80	17	.213	2	8
	44	64	17	.266	0	7
	22	45	13	.289	1	5
	36	39	7	.179	1	1
	42	39	6	.154	0	1
	11	38	10	.263	0	2
	14	30	9	.300	1	7
	13	12	2	.167	0	0
	3	3	1	.333	0	0
	3	3	0	.000	0	0
	3	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
	39	284.0	19	16	2.28	329
	35	251.0	18	11	2.98	87
	35	205.1	12	11	2.94	169
	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
	26	109.2	4	9	4.51	61
	16	42.2	1	4	4.22	39
	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
	42	3	7	5	3.48	53
	43	4	5	4	3.76	32
	34	4	4	2	2.02	34
	17	0	0	0	4.35	19
	10	2	0	0	2.81	2
	8	0	1	0	4.97	11
	7	0	1	1	1.64	8
	6	0	0	0	5.40	2
	2	0	0	0	0.00	4

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

References

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

Notes and References

1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gonzato01.shtml Tony González page at Baseball Reference
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/ryanno01.shtml Nolan Ryan page at Baseball Reference
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/k/koscoan01.shtml Andy Kosco page at Baseball Reference
4. Web site: The Nolan Ryan Express The Strikeout King smackbomb.com/nolanryan . July 28, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110716092407/http://www.smackbomb.com/nolanryan/strikeouts.html . July 16, 2011 . dead . mdy-all .
5. Web site: 1972 California Angels Roster by Baseball Almanac.
6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cowanbi01.shtml Billy Cowan page at Baseball-Reference
7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/barbest01.shtml Steve Barber page at Baseball Reference
8. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mottocu01.shtml Curt Motton page at Baseball Reference
9. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/azcuejo01.shtml Joe Azcue page at Baseball-Reference
10. https://www.baseball-reference.com/k/kuhaufr01.shtml Fred Kuhaulua page at Baseball Reference
11. Web site: Eddie Fisher Stats.