1978 California Angels season

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.

Offseason

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

Regular season

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

Season standings

v
t
e
AL West
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	92	70	.568	—	56‍–‍25	36‍–‍45
Texas Rangers	87	75	.537	5	52‍–‍30	35‍–‍45
California Angels	87	75	.537	5	50‍–‍31	37‍–‍44
Minnesota Twins	73	89	.451	19	38‍–‍43	35‍–‍46
Chicago White Sox	71	90	.441	20½	38‍–‍42	33‍–‍48
Oakland Athletics	69	93	.426	23	38‍–‍42	31‍–‍51
Seattle Mariners	56	104	.350	35	32‍–‍49	24‍–‍55

Record vs. opponents

1978 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	7–8	4–6	8–1	9–6	7–8	2–8	7–8	5–5	6–9	11–0	9–1	7–4	8–7
Boston	8–7	—	9–2	7–3	7–8	12–3	4–6	10–5	9–2	7–9	5–5	7–3	3–7	11–4
California	6–4	2–9	—	8–7	6–4	4–7	9–6	5–5	12–3	5–5	9–6	9–6	5–10	7–3
Chicago	1–8	3–7	7–8	—	8–2	2–9	8–7	4–7	8–7	1–9	7–8	7–8	11–4	4–6
Cleveland	6–9	8–7	4–6	2–8	—	5–10	5–6	5–10	5–5	6–9	4–6	8–1	1–9	10–4
Detroit	8–7	3–12	7–4	9–2	10–5	—	4–6	7–8	4–6	4–11	6–4	8–2	7–3	9–6
Kansas City	8–2	6–4	6–9	7–8	6–5	6–4	—	6–4	7–8	6–5	10–5	12–3	7–8	5–5
Milwaukee	8–7	5–10	5–5	7–4	10–5	8–7	4–6	—	4–7	10–5	9–1	5–5	6–4	12–3
Minnesota	5–5	2–9	3–12	7–8	5–5	6–4	8–7	7–4	—	3–7	9–6	6–9	6–9	6–4
New York	9–6	9–7	5–5	9–1	9–6	11–4	5–6	5–10	7–3	—	8–2	6–5	6–4	11–4
Oakland	0–11	5–5	6–9	8–7	6–4	4–6	5–10	1–9	6–9	2–8	—	13–2	6–9	7–4
Seattle	1–9	3–7	6–9	8–7	1–8	2–8	3–12	5–5	9–6	5–6	2–13	—	3–12	8–2
Texas	4–7	7–3	10–5	4–11	9–1	3–7	8–7	4–6	9–6	4–6	9–6	12–3	—	4–7
Toronto	7–8	4–11	3–7	6–4	4–10	6–9	5–5	3–12	4–6	4–11	4–7	2–8	7–4	—

Notable transactions

June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball draft
- Dave Engle was drafted by the Angels in the 3rd round.
- Dan Whitmer was drafted by the Angels in the 14th round.

Roster

1978 California Angels
Roster
Pitchers 46 Don Aase 33 Mike Barlow 34 Ken Brett 39 John Caneira 36 Al Fitzmorris 37 Dave Frost 38 Tom Griffin 45 Paul Hartzell 42 Chris Knapp 17 Dave LaRoche 41 Dyar Miller 30 Nolan Ryan 40 Frank Tanana		Catchers 5 Brian Downing 15 Ike Hampton 9 Terry Humphrey Infielders 14 Jim Anderson 7 Dave Chalk 6 Ron Fairly 4 Bobby Grich 16 Ron Jackson 12 Carney Lansford 35 Dave Machemer 18 Rance Mulliniks 27 Tony Solaita		Outfielders 25 Don Baylor 10 Lyman Bostock 19 Ken Landreaux 3 Rick Miller 8 Merv Rettenmund 26 Joe Rudi Other batters 20 Danny Goodwin		Manager 11 Jim Fregosi 1 Dave Garcia Coaches 49 Bob Clear 24 Marv Grissom 2 John McNamara 50 Jimmie Reese 48 Bob Skinner

1978 California Angels

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

20 Danny Goodwin

Manager

11 Jim Fregosi
1 Dave Garcia

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

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Brian Downing	133	412	105	.255	7	46
1B	Ron Jackson	105	387	115	.297	6	57
2B	Bobby Grich	144	487	122	.251	6	42
SS	Dave Chalk	135	470	119	.253	1	34
3B	Carney Lansford	121	453	133	.294	8	52
LF	Joe Rudi	133	497	127	.256	17	79
CF	Rick Miller	132	475	125	.263	1	37
RF	Lyman Bostock	147	568	168	.296	5	71
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

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Ken Landreaux	93	260	58	.223	5	23
Ron Fairly	91	235	51	.217	10	40
Rance Mulliniks	50	119	22	.185	1	6
Terry Humphrey	53	114	25	.219	1	9
Jim Anderson	48	108	21	.194	0	7
Merv Rettenmund	50	108	29	.269	1	14
Tony Solaita	60	94	21	.223	1	14
Danny Goodwin	24	58	16	.276	2	10
Dave Machemer	10	22	6	.273	1	2
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

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Frank Tanana	33	239.0	18	12	3.65	137
Nolan Ryan	31	234.2	10	13	3.72	260
Chris Knapp	30	188.1	14	8	4.21	126
Don Aase	29	178.2	11	8	4.03	93
Dave Frost	11	80.1	5	4	2.58	30
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

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

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Dave LaRoche	59	10	9	25	2.82	70
Dyar Miller	41	6	2	1	2.66	34
Mike Barlow	1	0	0	0	4.50	1

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Salt Lake City Gulls	Pacific Coast League	Deron Johnson
AA	El Paso Diablos	Texas League	Moose Stubing
A	Salinas Packers	California League	Chuck Cottier
A	Quad Cities Angels	Midwest League	Cotton Nash
Rookie	Idaho Falls Angels	Pioneer League	Reuben Rodriguez

Notes

"Archives". Los Angeles Times.
Lyman Bostock at Baseball-Reference
Richard Dotson at Baseball-Reference
Don Aase at Baseball-Reference
Gary Nolan at Baseball-Reference
Fred Kuhaulua at Baseball-Reference
Merv Rettenmund at Baseball-Reference
"The Nolan Ryan Express | The Strikeout King". smackbomb.com/nolanryan. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
Dave Engle at Baseball-Reference
Dan Whitmer at Baseball-Reference

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

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

1978 MLB season by team

AL East	Baltimore Boston Cleveland Detroit Milwaukee New York Toronto
AL West	California Chicago Kansas City Minnesota Oakland Seattle Texas

NL East	Chicago Montréal New York Philadelphia Pittsburgh St. Louis
NL West	Atlanta Cincinnati Houston Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco

Los Angeles Angels

Established in 1961
Formerly the California Angels and the Anaheim Angels
Based in Anaheim, California (Greater Los Angeles)

Franchise

Ballparks

Spring training: Angels Stadium; Tempe Diablo Stadium

Culture

Big A Sign
Continental League
Gene Autry
Rally Monkey
Thundersticks
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
Talent for the Game
Angels in the Outfield
Angels in the Infield
Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch
Los Angels en Acción
"Build Me Up Buttercup"
City of Anaheim v. Angels Baseball LP
"Calling All Angels"
Shohei Ohtani: Beyond the Dream

Lore

Rivalries

Minor league
affiliates

Triple-A: Salt Lake Bees
Double-A: Rocket City Trash Pandas
High-A: Tri-City Dust Devils
Single-A: Inland Empire 66ers
Rookie: ACL Angels; DSL Angels

Key personnel

Owner: Arte Moreno
General Manager: Perry Minasian
Manager: Ron Washington

World Series
championships (1)

2002

American League
pennants (1)

2002

AL West division titles

West: 1979; 1982; 1986; 2004; 2005; 2007; 2008; 2009; 2014

Wild Card berths

2002

Broadcasting

Seasons (65)
1960s	1960 · 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970s	1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
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1990s	1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000s	2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010s	2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020s	2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

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