1985 California Angels season

The 1985 California Angels season involved the Angels taking second place in the American League West with a 90–72 record, finishing one game behind the eventual World Series champions, the Kansas City Royals.

Offseason

November 7, 1984: Ellis Valentine was released by the Angels.
January 11, 1985: Rob Picciolo was released by the California Angels.
January 30, 1985: Ruppert Jones was signed as a free agent with the California Angels.
March 31, 1985: Bill Mooneyham was released by the Angels.

Regular season

October 6, 1985: Rufino Linares hit a home run in the last at-bat of his career.

Season standings

v
t
e
AL West
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Kansas City Royals	91	71	.562	—	50‍–‍32	41‍–‍39
California Angels	90	72	.556	1	49‍–‍30	41‍–‍42
Chicago White Sox	85	77	.525	6	45‍–‍36	40‍–‍41
Minnesota Twins	77	85	.475	14	49‍–‍35	28‍–‍50
Oakland Athletics	77	85	.475	14	43‍–‍36	34‍–‍49
Seattle Mariners	74	88	.457	17	42‍–‍41	32‍–‍47
Texas Rangers	62	99	.385	28½	37‍–‍43	25‍–‍56

Record vs. opponents

1985 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	5–8	7–5	8–4	8–5	6–7	6–6	9–4	6–6	1–12	7–5	6–6	10–2	4–8
Boston	8–5	—	5–7	4–8–1	8–5	6–7	5–7	5–8	7–5	5–8	8–4	6–6	5–7	9–4
California	5–7	7–5	—	8–5	8–4	8–4	4–9	9–3	9–4	3–9	6–7	9–4	9–4	5–7
Chicago	4–8	8–4–1	5–8	—	10–2	6–6	5–8	5–7	6–7	6–6	8–5	9–4	10–3	3–9
Cleveland	5–8	5–8	4–8	2–10	—	5–8	2–10	7–6	4–8	6–7	3–9	6–6	7–5	4–9
Detroit	7–6	7–6	4–8	6–6	8–5	—	5–7	9–4	3–9	9–3	8–4	5–7	7–5	6–7
Kansas City	6–6	7–5	9–4	8–5	10–2	7–5	—	8–4	7–6	5–7	8–5	3–10	6–7	7–5
Milwaukee	4–9	8–5	3–9	7–5	6–7	4–9	4–8	—	9–3	7–6	3–9	4–8	8–3	4–9
Minnesota	6–6	5–7	4–9	7–6	8–4	9–3	6–7	3–9	—	3–9	8–5	6–7	8–5	4–8
New York	12–1	8–5	9–3	6–6	7–6	3–9	7–5	6–7	9–3	—	7–5	9–3	8–4	6–7
Oakland	5–7	4–8	7–6	5–8	9–3	4–8	5–8	9–3	5–8	5–7	—	8–5	6–7	5–7
Seattle	6–6	6–6	4–9	4–9	6–6	7–5	10–3	8–4	7–6	3–9	5–8	—	6–7	2–10
Texas	2–10	7–5	4–9	3–10	5–7	5–7	7–6	3–8	5–8	4–8	7–6	7–6	—	3–9
Toronto	8–4	4–9	7–5	9–3	9–4	7–6	5–7	9–4	8–4	7–6	7–5	10–2	9–3	—

Notable transactions

June 3, 1985: Bo Jackson was drafted by the Angels in the 20th round of the 1985 amateur draft, but did not sign.
June 19, 1985: Tommy John was released by the Angels.
August 2, 1985: Pat Clements, Mike Brown and a player to be named later were traded by the Angels to the Pittsburgh Pirates for John Candelaria, George Hendrick and Al Holland. The Angels completed the deal by sending Bob Kipper to the Pirates on August 16.
September 10, 1985: The Angels traded players to be named later to the Oakland Athletics for Don Sutton. The Angels completed the deal by sending Robert Sharpnack (minors) and Jerome Nelson (minors) to the Athletics on September 25.

Roster

1985 California Angels
Roster
Pitchers 45 John Candelaria 27 Pat Clements 33 Stew Cliburn 23 Doug Corbett 46 Alan Fowlkes 19 Al Holland 25 Tommy John 36 Bob Kipper 18 Urbano Lugo 17 Tony Mack 15 Kirk McCaskill 37 Donnie Moore 10 Ron Romanick 40 Luis Sánchez 41 Jim Slaton 35 Dave Smith 27 Don Sutton 39 Mike Witt 38 Geoff Zahn		Catchers 8 Bob Boone 34 Jerry Narron Infielders 29 Rod Carew 11 Doug DeCinces 2 Craig Gerber 4 Bobby Grich 16 Jack Howell 36 Pat Keedy 56 Gus Polidor 22 Dick Schofield 9 Rob Wilfong		Outfielders 12 Juan Beníquez 21 Mike Brown 5 Brian Downing 25 George Hendrick 44 Reggie Jackson 13 Ruppert Jones 32 Darrell Miller 20 Gary Pettis 30 Devon White Other batters 24 Rufino Linares 6 Daryl Sconiers		Manager 3 Gene Mauch Coaches 49 Bob Clear 1 Bobby Knoop 51 Marcel Lachemann 50 Jimmie Reese 47 Moose Stubing

1985 California Angels

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

8 Bob Boone
34 Jerry Narron

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

24 Rufino Linares
6 Daryl Sconiers

Manager

3 Gene Mauch

Coaches

Game log

Regular season

1985 regular season game log: 90–72 (Home: 49–30; Away: 41–42)

April: 14–7 (Home: 6–5; Away: 8–2)

#	Date	Time (PT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak

May: 12–13 (Home: 8–7; Away: 4–6)

#	Date	Time (PT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
22	May 1	7:30 p.m. PDT	Blue Jays	L 3–6	Key (1–2)	McCaskill (0–1)	–	2:34	24,112	14–8	L1
23	May 2	7:30 p.m. PDT	Blue Jays	W 3–2	Clements (2–0)	Stieb (1–3)	–	2:45	23,824	15–8	W1
32	May 14	4:35 p.m. PDT	@ Blue Jays	L 3–6	Alexander (5–1)	Slaton (3–2)	Caudill (7)	2:42	22,445	19–13	L2
33	May 15	4:35 p.m. PDT	@ Blue Jays	W 9–6	Moore (2–1)	Caudill (4–3)	–	3:00	18,119	20–13	LW1
34	May 17	7:30 p.m. PDT	Yankees	L 0–6	Niekro (5–2)	Witt (2–4)	–	2:40	61,066	20–14	L1
35	May 18	12:20 p.m. PDT	Yankees	L 1–6	Cowley (2–2)	John (2–3)	Fisher (1)	2:48	32,936	20–15	L2
36	May 19	1:00 p.m. PDT	Yankees	W 4–1	Slaton (4–2)	Whitson (1–5)	Moore (9)	2:29	39,724	21–15	W1
37	May 20		Tigers
38	May 21		Tigers
39	May 22		Tigers
44	May 29	5:00 p.m. PDT	@ Yankees	L 2–7	Niekro (6–3)	Slaton (4–3)	–	2:30	25,049	25–19	L2
45	May 30	5:00 p.m. PDT	@ Yankees	L 1–3	Cowley (4–2)	Romanick (6–2)	Righetti (10)	2:09	17,226	25–20	L3
46	May 31		@ Tigers

June: 15–12 (Home: 7–6; Away: 8–6)

#	Date	Time (PT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
47	June 1		@ Tigers
48	June 2		@ Tigers
52	June 7	7:30 p.m. PDT	Royals	L 0–6	Saberhagen (6–3)	Witt (3–6)	–	2:26	29,414	28–24	L2
53	June 8	7:00 p.m. PDT	Royals	L 1–4	Gubicza (2–4)	Slaton (4–4)	Quisenberry (11)	2:19	46,393	28–25	L3
54	June 9	1:00 p.m. PDT	Royals	W 1–0	Romanick (7–2)	Jackson (4–3)	Moore (12)	2:04	41,973	29–25	W1
58	June 13		White Sox
59	June 14		White Sox
60	June 15		White Sox
61	June 16		White Sox
65	June 21		@ White Sox
66	June 22		@ White Sox
67	June 23		@ White Sox
71	June 28	5:35 p.m. PDT	@ Royals	L 4–5 (14)	Quisenberry (4–4)	Corbett (2–1)	–	4:50	32,651	40–31	L1
72	June 29	5:35 p.m. PDT	@ Royals	W 7–1	Lugo (3–1)	Black (5–8)	–	2:46	39,451	41–31	W1
73	June 30	11:35 a.m. PDT	@ Royals	L 1–3	Gubicza (6–4)	Romanick (8–4)	Quisenberry (14)	2:23	33,173	41–32	L1

July: 16–11 (Home: 9–2; Away: 7–9)

#	Date	Time (PT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
84	July 11	7:30 p.m. PDT	Blue Jays	L 3–5	Alexander (8–6)	Slaton (4–8)	Lavelle (4)	2:49	31,672	49–35	L1
85	July 12	7:30 p.m. PDT	Blue Jays	W 5–3	McCaskill (5–5)	Key (7–4)	Moore (17)	2:43	35,870	50–35	W1
86	July 13	7:00 p.m. PDT	Blue Jays	W 4–3	Witt (7–6)	Lavelle (3–3)	–	2:55	42,054	51–35	W2
87	July 14	1:00 p.m. PDT	Blue Jays	W 5–3	Cliburn (4–2)	Lavelle (3–4)	–	2:53	35,306	52–35	W3
56th All-Star Game in Minneapolis, MN
95	July 25	4:35 p.m. PDT	@ Blue Jays	L 0–7	Stieb (10–6)	Witt (8–7)	–	2:28	32,083	56–39	L1
96	July 26	4:35 p.m. PDT	@ Blue Jays	L 3–8	Clancy (7–4)	Lugo (3–3)	–	2:36	31,294	56–40	L2
97	July 27	10:35 a.m. PDT	@ Blue Jays	L 3–8	Filer (2–0)	Mack (0–1)	Acker (10)	2:38	44,116	56–41	L3
98	July 28	10:35 a.m. PDT	@ Blue Jays	L 1–5	Alexander (10–6)	McCaskill (6–7)	–	2:28	36,190	56–42	L4

August: 16–13 (Home: 11–5; Away: 5–8)

#	Date	Time (PT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
119	August 20	7:30 p.m. PDT	Yankees	L 5–8	Bordi (4–4)	Slaton (5–10)	Righetti (23)	3:04	38,791	68–51	L1
120	August 21	7:30 p.m. PDT	Yankees	L 10–13 (10)	Righetti (10–7)	Moore (7–7)	–	4:01	40,363	68–52	L2
121	August 22	7:30 p.m. PDT	Yankees	W 3–2	Witt (11–7)	Bordi (4–5)	–	3:23	44,796	69–52	W1
122	August 23		Tigers
123	August 24		Tigers
124	August 25		Tigers
127	August 29	5:00 p.m. PDT	@ Yankees	L 0–4	Niekro (13–9)	McCaskill (9–9)	–	2:43	32,169	72–55	L1
128	August 30	5:00 p.m. PDT	@ Yankees	W 4–1	Candelaria (3–1)	Bystrom (3–2)	Moore (24)	3:09	22,256	73–55	W1
129	August 31	10:20 a.m. PDT	@ Yankees	L 4–10	Righetti (11–7)	Corbett (2–2)	–	3:04	26,991	73–56	L1

September: 14–13 (Home: 8–5; Away: 6–8)

#	Date	Time (PT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
130	September 1	11:00 a.m. EDT	@ Yankees	L 3–5	Shirley (4–4)	Holland (0–1)	Fisher (10)	3:06	33,080	73–57	L2
131	September 2		@ Tigers
132	September 3		@ Tigers
133	September 4		@ Tigers
137	September 9	7:30 p.m. PDT	Royals	W 7–1	Candelaria (5–1)	Saberhagen (17–6)	–	1:57	29,688	77–60	W2
138	September 10	7:30 p.m. PDT	Royals	L 0–6	Leibrandt (15–7)	McCaskill (9–11)	–	2:12	37,813	77–61	L1
139	September 11	7:30 p.m. PDT	Royals	L 1–2	Jackson (13–9)	Romanick (13–8)	Quisenberry (33)	2:41	32,906	77–62	L2
144	September 17		@ White Sox
145	September 18		@ White Sox
146	September 19		@ White Sox
150	September 23		White Sox
151	September 24		White Sox
152	September 25		White Sox
156	September 30	5:35 p.m. PDT	@ Royals	L 1–3	Saberhagen (20–6)	Candelaria (6–3)	–	2:09	34,200	87–69	L1

October: 3–3 (Home: 0–0; Away: 3–3)

#	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Box/ Streak
157	October 1	5:35 p.m. PDT	@ Royals	W 4–2	Witt (14–9)	Leibrandt (17–9)	Moore (30)	2:36	26,273	88–69	W1
158	October 2	5:35 p.m. PDT	@ Royals	L 0–4	Black (10–15)	Romanick (14–9)	–	2:08	28,401	88–70	L1
159	October 3	5:35 p.m. PDT	@ Royals	L 1–4	Jackson (14–12)	Sutton (15–10)	Quisenberry (36)	2:24	40,894	88–71	L2

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	Bob Boone	150	460	114	.248	5	55
1B	Rod Carew	127	443	124	.280	2	39
2B	Bobby Grich	144	479	116	.242	13	53
SS	Dick Schofield	147	438	96	.219	8	41
3B	Doug DeCinces	120	427	104	.244	20	78
LF	Brian Downing	150	520	137	.263	20	85
CF	Gary Pettis	125	443	114	.257	1	32
RF	Reggie Jackson	143	460	116	.252	27	85
DH	Ruppert Jones	125	389	90	.231	21	67

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
Juan Beníquez	132	411	125	.304	8	42
Rob Wilfong	83	217	41	.189	4	13
Mike Brown	60	153	41	.268	4	20
Jack Howell	43	137	27	.197	5	18
Jerry Narron	67	132	29	.220	5	14
Daryl Sconiers	44	98	28	.286	2	12
Craig Stuart Gerber	65	91	24	.264	0	6
Darrell Miller	51	48	18	.375	2	7
Rufino Linares	18	43	11	.256	3	11
George Hendrick	16	41	5	.122	2	6
Devon White	21	7	1	.143	0	0
Pat Keedy	3	4	2	.500	1	1
Gus Polidor	2	1	1	1.000	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
Mike Witt	35	250.0	15	9	3.56	180
Ron Romanick	31	195.0	14	9	4.11	64
Kirk McCaskill	30	189.2	12	12	4.70	102
Jim Slaton	29	148.1	6	10	4.37	60
John Candelaria	13	71.0	7	3	3.80	53
Geoff Zahn	7	37.0	2	2	4.38	14
Don Sutton	5	31.2	2	2	3.69	16
Tony Mack	1	2.1	0	1	15.43	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
Urbano Lugo	20	83.0	3	4	3.69	42
Tommy John	12	38.1	2	4	4.70	17
Bob Kipper	2	3.1	0	1	21.60	0

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
Donnie Moore	65	8	8	31	1.92	72
Stew Cliburn	44	9	3	6	2.09	48
Pat Clements	41	5	0	1	3.34	19
Doug Corbett	30	3	3	0	4.89	24
Luis Sánchez	26	2	0	2	5.72	34
Al Holland	15	0	1	0	1.48	14
Dave Smith	4	0	0	0	7.20	3
Alan Fowlkes	2	0	0	0	9.00	5

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Edmonton Trappers	Pacific Coast League	Winston Llenas
AA	Midland Angels	Texas League	Joe Maddon
A	Redwood Pioneers	California League	Tom Kotchman
A	Quad Cities Angels	Midwest League	Bill Lachemann
A-Short Season	Salem Angels	Northwest League	Bruce Hines

References

Ellis Valentine at Baseball Reference
"Rob Picciolo Stats".
"Ruppert Jones Stats".
Bill Mooneyham at Baseball Reference
Home Run in Last At Bat by Baseball Almanac
Bo Jackson at Baseball Reference
Tommy John at Baseball Reference
John Candelaria at Baseball Reference
Don Sutton at Baseball Reference

1985 California Angels at Baseball Reference
1985 California Angels at Baseball Almanac
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.

Preceded by1984

California Angels seasons
1985

Succeeded by1986

1985 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
1980s	1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
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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