# 1986 California Angels season

The 1986 California Angels season was the franchise's 26th season and ended with the Angels losing the American League Championship Series in dramatic fashion.
The regular season ended with the Angels finishing first in the American League West with a record of 92–70, earning the franchise's third division title. After jumping to a 3–1 series lead over the Boston Red Sox in the best-of-seven ALCS, the Angels blew a 3-run lead in the ninth inning of Game 5 that included giving up a two-out, two-strike home run to Boston's Dave Henderson (in other words, the Angels were 1 strike away from the World Series). The Angels went on to lose Game 5 in extra innings, and eventually lost the next two games and the series.
After 1986, the Angels went into a lengthy playoff drought, not returning to the postseason until their championship season of 2002 (though they did come close in 1995). They would not win a division title again until 2004.

## Offseason

* November 19, 1985: DeWayne Buice was signed as a free agent with the California Angels.
* December 5, 1985: Don Sutton was signed as a free agent by the Angels.
* December 20, 1985: Daryl Sconiers was released by the Angels.
* December 20, 1985: Geoff Zahn was released by the California Angels.

## Regular season

* May 4, 1986: Reggie Jackson hit the 537th home run of his career off Boston Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens, passing Mickey Mantle on the all-time home run list.
* June 18, 1986: Don Sutton won the 300th game of his career. Sutton became the 19th pitcher in MLB history to win 300 games.
* September 18, 1986: Reggie Jackson had 3 home runs and 7 RBIs in one game.

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| California Angels | 92 | 70 | .568 | — | 50‍–‍32 | 42‍–‍38 |
| Texas Rangers | 87 | 75 | .537 | 5 | 51‍–‍30 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Kansas City Royals | 76 | 86 | .469 | 16 | 45‍–‍36 | 31‍–‍50 |
| Oakland Athletics | 76 | 86 | .469 | 16 | 47‍–‍36 | 29‍–‍50 |
| Chicago White Sox | 72 | 90 | .444 | 20 | 41‍–‍40 | 31‍–‍50 |
| Minnesota Twins | 71 | 91 | .438 | 21 | 43‍–‍38 | 28‍–‍53 |
| Seattle Mariners | 67 | 95 | .414 | 25 | 41‍–‍41 | 26‍–‍54 |

### Record vs. opponents

1986 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 4–9 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 4–9 | 1–12 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–5 |
| Boston | 9–4 | — | 5–7 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–2 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–6 |
| California | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 10–3 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 3–9 | 5–7 | 6–7 | — | 5–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 2–11 | 6–6 |
| Cleveland | 9–4 | 3–10 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — | 4–9 | 8–4 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 10–2 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 3–10–1 |
| Detroit | 12–1 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 9–4 | — | 5–7 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 4–9 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 7–5 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–8 | 8–5 | 5–7 |
| Milwaukee | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 6–6 | — | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 |
| Minnesota | 4–8 | 2–10 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 8–4 | — | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 |
| New York | 8–5 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 8–4 | — | 5–7 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 7–6 |
| Oakland | 7–5 | 5–7 | 3–10 | 6–7 | 2–10 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 7–5 | — | 10–3 | 3–10 | 8–4 |
| Seattle | 6–6 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 3–10 | — | 4–9 | 6–6 |
| Texas | 7–5 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 11–2 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 10–3 | 9–4 | — | 5–7 |
| Toronto | 5–8 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 10–3–1 | 9–4 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 7–5 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 2, 1986: Alan Mills was drafted by the California Angels in the 1st round (8th pick) of the 1986 amateur draft (secondary phase). Player signed June 10, 1986.

### Roster
## Game log
### Regular season

1986 regular season game log: 92–70 (home: 50–32; away: 42–38) :
April: 13–8 (home: 7–3; away: 6–6)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
May: 10–17 (home: 5–7; away: 5–10)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
June: 17–10 (home: 9–6; away: 8–4)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
July: 15–11 (home: 5–7; away: 10–4)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak
57th All-Star Game in Houston, Texas :
August: 19–10 (home: 12–2; away: 7–8)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
September: 17–10 (home: 12–7; away: 5–3)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
October: 1–4 (home: 0–0; away: 1–4)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = Postponement Bold = Angels team member :

### Postseason Game log

1986 Postseason game log: 3–4 (home: 2–1; away: 1–3) :
AL Championship Series: vs. Boston Red Sox 3–4 (home: 2–1; away: 1–3)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceSeriesBox/ Streak :
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 | 144 | 442 | 98 | .222 | 7 | 49 |
| 1B | Wally Joyner | 154 | 593 | 172 | .290 | 22 | 100 |
| 2B | Bobby Grich | 98 | 313 | 84 | .268 | 9 | 30 |
| SS | Dick Schofield | 139 | 458 | 114 | .249 | 13 | 57 |
| 3B | Doug DeCinces | 140 | 512 | 131 | .256 | 26 | 96 |
| LF | Brian Downing | 152 | 513 | 137 | .267 | 20 | 95 |
| CF | Gary Pettis | 154 | 539 | 139 | .258 | 5 | 58 |
| RF | Ruppert Jones | 126 | 393 | 90 | .229 | 17 | 49 |
| DH | Reggie Jackson | 132 | 419 | 101 | .241 | 18 | 58 |

#### 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 |
| Rob Wilfong | 92 | 288 | 63 | .219 | 3 | 33 |
| George Hendrick | 102 | 283 | 77 | .272 | 14 | 47 |
| Rick Burleson | 93 | 271 | 77 | .284 | 5 | 29 |
| Jack Howell | 63 | 151 | 41 | .272 | 4 | 21 |
| Jerry Narron | 57 | 95 | 21 | .221 | 1 | 8 |
| Darrell Miller | 33 | 57 | 13 | .228 | 0 | 4 |
| Devon White | 29 | 51 | 12 | .235 | 1 | 3 |
| Mark Ryal | 13 | 32 | 12 | .375 | 2 | 5 |
| Gus Polidor | 6 | 19 | 5 | .263 | 0 | 1 |
| Mark McLemore | 5 | 4 | 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 |
| Mike Witt | 34 | 269.0 | 18 | 10 | 2.84 | 208 |
| Kirk McCaskill | 34 | 246.1 | 17 | 10 | 3.36 | 202 |
| Don Sutton | 34 | 207.0 | 15 | 11 | 3.74 | 116 |
| Ron Romanick | 18 | 106.1 | 5 | 8 | 5.50 | 38 |
| John Candelaria | 16 | 92.0 | 10 | 2 | 2.55 | 81 |
| Jim Slaton | 14 | 73.1 | 4 | 6 | 5.65 | 31 |
| Ray Chadwick | 7 | 27.1 | 0 | 5 | 7.24 | 9 |
| Willie Fraser | 1 | 4.1 | 0 | 0 | 8.31 | 2 |

#### 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 |
| Vern Ruhle | 16 | 47.2 | 1 | 3 | 4.15 | 23 |
| Urbano Lugo | 6 | 21.1 | 1 | 1 | 3.80 | 9 |
| Mike Cook | 5 | 9.0 | 0 | 2 | 9.00 | 6 |

#### 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 | 49 | 4 | 5 | 21 | 2.97 | 53 |
| Doug Corbett | 46 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 3.66 | 36 |
| Terry Forster | 41 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3.51 | 28 |
| Gary Lucas | 27 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3.15 | 31 |
| Chuck Finley | 25 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3.30 | 37 |
| T.R. Bryden | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6.55 | 25 |
| Ken Forsch | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9.53 | 13 |
| Todd Fischer | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.24 | 7 |

## ALCS

| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| 1 | California – 8, Boston – 1 | October 7 | Fenway Park | 32,993 |
| 2 | California – 2, Boston – 9 | October 8 | Fenway Park | 32,786 |
| 3 | Boston – 3, California – 5 | October 10 | Anaheim Stadium | 64,206 |
| 4 | Boston – 3, California – 4 (11 innings) | October 11 | Anaheim Stadium | 64,223 |
| 5 | Boston – 7, California – 6 (11 innings) | October 12 | Anaheim Stadium | 64,223 |
| 6 | California – 4, Boston – 10 | October 14 | Fenway Park | 32,998 |
| 7 | California – 1, Boston – 8 | October 15 | Fenway Park | 33,001 |

## Farm system

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