# 1973 California Angels season

The 1973 California Angels season involved the Angels finishing fourth in the American League West with a record of 79 wins and 83 losses.

## Offseason

* November 28, 1972: Andy Messersmith and Ken McMullen were traded by the Angels to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Frank Robinson, Billy Grabarkewitz, Bill Singer, Mike Strahler, and Bobby Valentine.

## Regular season

1973 was an eventful season for Angels pitcher Nolan Ryan. On May 15, Ryan threw the first no-hitter of his career. On July 3, he struck out Sal Bando of the Oakland Athletics for the 1000th strikeout in his career. Twelve days later, Ryan threw a second no-hitter, becoming the fifth pitcher in major league history to throw two no-hitters in one season.
For the year, Ryan set what is, as of 2022, the post-1900 Major League Baseball record for most strikeouts in a season with 383, topping Sandy Koufax's 1965 mark by one. (The all-time record belongs to Matt Kilroy, who struck out 513 batters in 1886). In the process, he struck out at least 10 batters in 23 different games.

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Oakland Athletics | 94 | 68 | .580 | — | 50‍–‍31 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Kansas City Royals | 88 | 74 | .543 | 6 | 48‍–‍33 | 40‍–‍41 |
| Minnesota Twins | 81 | 81 | .500 | 13 | 37‍–‍44 | 44‍–‍37 |
| California Angels | 79 | 83 | .488 | 15 | 43‍–‍38 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Chicago White Sox | 77 | 85 | .475 | 17 | 40‍–‍41 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Texas Rangers | 57 | 105 | .352 | 37 | 35‍–‍46 | 22‍–‍59 |

### Record vs. opponents

1973 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | TEX |
| Baltimore | — | 7–11 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 15–3 | 8–4 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 10–2 |
| Boston | 11–7 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 3–15 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 14–4 | 4–8 | 9–3 |
| California | 6–6 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 6–6 | 6–12 | 11–7 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | 6–6 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–12 | 3–9 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 6–12 | 13–5 |
| Cleveland | 6–12 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 5–7 | — | 9–9 | 2–10 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 7–5 |
| Detroit | 9–9 | 15–3 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–9 | — | 4–8 | 12–6 | 5–7 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 5–7 |
| Kansas City | 4–8 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 10–2 | 8–4 | — | 8–4 | 9–9 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 11–7 |
| Milwaukee | 3–15 | 6–12 | 7–5 | 9–3 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 4–8 | — | 8–4 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 8–4 |
| Minnesota | 4–8 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 4–8 | — | 3–9 | 14–4 | 12–6 |
| New York | 9–9 | 4–14 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 9–3 | — | 4–8 | 8–4 |
| Oakland | 7–5 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 12–6 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 8–4 | 4–14 | 8–4 | — | 11–7 |
| Texas | 2–10 | 3–9 | 7–11 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 6–12 | 4–8 | 7–11 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 20, 1973: Jim Spencer and Lloyd Allen were traded by the Angels to the Texas Rangers for Mike Epstein, Rich Hand and Rick Stelmaszek.
* June 5, 1973: Brian Kingman was drafted by the Angels in the 12th round of the 1973 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.
* July 16, 1973: Curt Motton was released by the Angels.

### Roster
## 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 | Jeff Torborg | 102 | 255 | 56 | .220 | 1 | 18 |
| 1B | Mike Epstein | 91 | 312 | 67 | .215 | 8 | 32 |
| 2B | Sandy Alomar Sr. | 136 | 470 | 112 | .238 | 0 | 28 |
| SS | Rudy Meoli | 120 | 305 | 68 | .223 | 2 | 23 |
| 3B | Al Gallagher | 110 | 311 | 85 | .273 | 0 | 26 |
| LF | Vada Pinson | 124 | 466 | 121 | .260 | 8 | 57 |
| CF | Ken Berry | 137 | 415 | 118 | .284 | 3 | 36 |
| RF | Leroy Stanton | 119 | 306 | 72 | .235 | 8 | 34 |
| DH | Frank Robinson | 147 | 534 | 142 | .266 | 30 | 97 |

#### 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 |
| Bob Oliver | 151 | 544 | 144 | .265 | 18 | 89 |
| Tom McCraw | 99 | 264 | 70 | .265 | 3 | 24 |
| Richie Scheinblum | 77 | 229 | 75 | .328 | 3 | 21 |
| Winston Llenas | 78 | 130 | 35 | .269 | 1 | 25 |
| Billy Grabarkewitz | 61 | 129 | 21 | .163 | 3 | 9 |
| Mickey Rivers | 32 | 129 | 45 | .349 | 0 | 16 |
| Bobby Valentine | 32 | 126 | 38 | .302 | 1 | 13 |
| John Stephenson | 60 | 122 | 30 | .246 | 1 | 9 |
| Billy Parker | 38 | 102 | 23 | .225 | 0 | 7 |
| Jim Spencer | 29 | 87 | 21 | .241 | 2 | 11 |
| Dave Chalk | 24 | 69 | 16 | .232 | 0 | 6 |
| Art Kusnyer | 41 | 64 | 8 | .125 | 0 | 3 |
| Jerry DaVanon | 41 | 49 | 12 | .245 | 0 | 2 |
| Charlie Sands | 17 | 33 | 9 | .273 | 1 | 5 |
| Rick Stelmaszek | 22 | 26 | 4 | .154 | 0 | 3 |
| Doug Howard | 8 | 21 | 2 | .095 | 0 | 1 |
| Bobby Brooks | 4 | 7 | 1 | .143 | 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 |
| Nolan Ryan | 41 | 326.0 | 21 | 16 | 2.87 | 383 |
| Bill Singer | 40 | 315.2 | 20 | 14 | 3.22 | 241 |
| Clyde Wright | 37 | 257.0 | 11 | 19 | 3.68 | 65 |
| Rudy May | 34 | 185.0 | 7 | 17 | 4.38 | 134 |
| Frank Tanana | 4 | 26.1 | 2 | 2 | 3.08 | 22 |

#### 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 |
| Rich Hand | 16 | 54.2 | 4 | 3 | 3.62 | 19 |
| Dick Lange | 17 | 52.2 | 2 | 1 | 4.44 | 27 |
| Andy Hassler | 7 | 31.2 | 0 | 4 | 3.69 | 19 |

#### 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 Sells | 51 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 3.71 | 25 |
| Steve Barber | 50 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3.53 | 58 |
| Aurelio Monteagudo | 15 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4.20 | 8 |
| Ron Perranoski | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4.09 | 5 |
| Lloyd Allen | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10.38 | 4 |
| Terry Wilshusen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 81.00 | 0 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Salt Lake City Angels | Pacific Coast League | Les Moss |
| AA | El Paso Sun Kings | Texas League | Norm Sherry and Moose Stubing |
| A | Salinas Packers | California League | Jim Saul |
| A | Quad Cities Angels | Midwest League | Dick Kinaman |
| Rookie | Idaho Falls Angels | Pioneer League | Bob Clear |