1978 California Angels season explained

California Angels
Season:	1978
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.^[1]

Offseason

• November 21, 1977: Lyman Bostock was signed as a free agent by the Angels.^[2]
• 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.^[3]
• December 8, 1977: Jerry Remy was traded by the Angels to the Boston Red Sox for Don Aase and cash.^[4]
• January 15, 1978: Gary Nolan was released by the Angels.^[5]
• March 20, 1978: Fred Kuhaulua was released by the Angels.^[6]
• March 25, 1978: Merv Rettenmund was signed as a free agent by the Angels.^[7]

Regular season

On May 12, Angels pitcher Nolan Ryan struck out Buddy Bell for the 2500th strikeout of his career.^[8]

Notable transactions

• June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball draft
  • Dave Engle was drafted by the Angels in the 3rd round.^[9]
  • Dan Whitmer was drafted by the Angels in the 14th round.^[10]

Roster

1978 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		133	412	105	.255	7	46
1B		105	387	115	.297	6	57
2B		144	487	122	.251	6	42
SS		135	470	119	.253	1	34
3B		121	453	133	.294	8	52
LF		133	497	127	.256	17	79
CF		132	475	125	.263	1	37
RF		147	568	168	.296	5	71
DH		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

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
	93	260	58	.223	5	23
	91	235	51	.217	10	40
	50	119	22	.185	1	6
	53	114	25	.219	1	9
	48	108	21	.194	0	7
	50	108	29	.269	1	14
	60	94	21	.223	1	14
	24	58	16	.276	2	10
	10	22	6	.273	1	2
	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

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
	33	239.0	18	12	3.65	137
	31	234.2	10	13	3.72	260
	30	188.1	14	8	4.21	126
	29	178.2	11	8	4.03	93
	11	80.1	5	4	2.58	30
	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

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
	54	157.0	6	10	3.44	55
	31	100.0	3	5	4.95	43
	24	56.0	3	4	4.02	35
	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

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
	59	10	9	25	2.82	70
	41	6	2	1	2.66	34
	1	0	0	0	4.50	1

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: El Paso

References

• Book: Johnson. Lloyd. Wolff. Miles. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. 2nd. Durham, North Carolina. Baseball America. 1997. 978-0-9637189-8-3.

External links

• 1978 California Angels team at Baseball-Reference
• 1978 California Angels at Baseball Almanac

Notes and References

1. Web site: Archives. Los Angeles Times.
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bostoly01.shtml Lyman Bostock
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/d/dotsori01.shtml Richard Dotson
4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/a/aasedo01.shtml Don Aase
5. https://www.baseball-reference.com/n/nolanga01.shtml Gary Nolan
6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/k/kuhaufr01.shtml Fred Kuhaulua
7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/r/retteme01.shtml Merv Rettenmund
8. 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 .
9. https://www.baseball-reference.com/e/engleda01.shtml Dave Engle
10. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/whitmda01.shtml Dan Whitmer