# 1976 California Angels season

The 1976 California Angels season involved the Angels finishing fourth in the American League West with a record of 76 wins and 86 losses.
After a concert by The Who in March, groundskeepers reported that more than 100 marijuana plants sprouted on the playing field of Anaheim Stadium.

## Offseason

* January 7, 1976: Ernie Camacho was drafted by the Angels in the 4th round of the secondary phase of the January 1976 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.
* March 3, 1976: John Balaz, Dick Sharon, and Dave Machemer were traded by the Angels to the Boston Red Sox for Dick Drago.

## Regular season

* July 20, 1976: Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Brewers hit the 755th and final home run of his career off Angels pitcher Dick Drago.
* August 31, 1976: Angels pitcher Nolan Ryan struck out Ron LeFlore of the Detroit Tigers for the 2000th strikeout of his career.
* September 10, 1976: Nolan Ryan had 18 strikeouts in one game.

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Kansas City Royals | 90 | 72 | .556 | — | 49‍–‍32 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Oakland Athletics | 87 | 74 | .540 | 2½ | 51‍–‍30 | 36‍–‍44 |
| Minnesota Twins | 85 | 77 | .525 | 5 | 44‍–‍37 | 41‍–‍40 |
| Texas Rangers | 76 | 86 | .469 | 14 | 39‍–‍42 | 37‍–‍44 |
| California Angels | 76 | 86 | .469 | 14 | 38‍–‍43 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Chicago White Sox | 64 | 97 | .398 | 25½ | 35‍–‍45 | 29‍–‍52 |

### Record vs. opponents

1976 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | TEX |
| Baltimore | — | 7–11 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 12–6 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 13–5 | 4–8 | 8–4 |
| Boston | 11–7 | — | 7–5 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 14–4 | 3–9 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 3–9 |
| California | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 11–7 | 7–5 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 5–7 | 6–12 | 12–6 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 | — | 3–9 | 6–6 | 8–10 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 1–11 | 8–9 | 7–11 |
| Cleveland | 11–7 | 9–9 | 5–7 | 9–3 | — | 6–12 | 6–6 | 11–6 | 9–3 | 4–12 | 4–8 | 7–5 |
| Detroit | 6–12 | 4–14 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 12–6 | — | 4–8 | 12–6 | 4–8 | 9–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 9–3 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 6–6 | 8–4 | — | 8–4 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 9–9 | 7–11 |
| Milwaukee | 7–11 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 6–11 | 6–12 | 4–8 | — | 4–8 | 5–13 | 5–7 | 10–2 |
| Minnesota | 8–4 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 11–7 | 3–9 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 8–4 | — | 2–10 | 11–7 | 11–7 |
| New York | 5–13 | 11–7 | 7–5 | 11–1 | 12–4 | 8–9 | 5–7 | 13–5 | 10–2 | — | 6–6 | 9–3 |
| Oakland | 8–4 | 8–4 | 12–6 | 9–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 6–6 | — | 7–11 |
| Texas | 4–8 | 9–3 | 6–12 | 11–7 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 11–7 | 2–10 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 11–7 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 17, 1976: Bobby Jones was selected off waivers by the Angels from the Texas Rangers.
* June 6, 1976: Ed Herrmann was traded by the Angels to the Houston Astros for Terry Humphrey and Mike Barlow.

#### Draft picks

* June 8, 1976: 1976 Major League Baseball draft
** Ken Landreaux was drafted by the Angels in the 1st round (6th pick).
** Danny Boone was drafted by the Angels in the 2nd round of the secondary phase, but did not sign.

### 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 | Andy Etchebarren | 103 | 247 | 56 | .227 | 0 | 21 |
| 1B | Tony Solaita | 63 | 215 | 58 | .270 | 9 | 33 |
| 2B | Jerry Remy | 143 | 502 | 132 | .263 | 0 | 28 |
| 3B | Ron Jackson | 127 | 410 | 93 | .227 | 8 | 40 |
| SS | Dave Chalk | 142 | 438 | 95 | .217 | 0 | 33 |
| LF | Bruce Bochte | 146 | 466 | 120 | .248 | 2 | 49 |
| CF | Rusty Torres | 120 | 264 | 54 | .205 | 6 | 27 |
| RF | Bobby Bonds | 99 | 378 | 100 | .265 | 10 | 54 |
| DH | Tommy Davis | 72 | 219 | 58 | .265 | 3 | 26 |

#### 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 |
| Dave Collins | 99 | 365 | 96 | .263 | 4 | 28 |
| Bill Melton | 118 | 341 | 71 | .208 | 6 | 42 |
| Mario Guerrero | 83 | 268 | 76 | .284 | 1 | 18 |
| Dan Briggs | 77 | 248 | 53 | .214 | 1 | 14 |
| Leroy Stanton | 93 | 231 | 44 | .190 | 2 | 25 |
| Terry Humphrey | 71 | 196 | 48 | .245 | 1 | 19 |
| Bobby Jones | 78 | 166 | 35 | .211 | 6 | 17 |
| Joe Lahoud | 42 | 96 | 17 | .177 | 0 | 4 |
| Orlando Ramírez | 30 | 70 | 14 | .200 | 0 | 5 |
| Mike Easler | 21 | 54 | 13 | .241 | 0 | 4 |
| Adrian Garrett | 29 | 48 | 6 | .125 | 0 | 3 |
| Ed Herrmann | 29 | 46 | 8 | .174 | 2 | 8 |
| Orlando Álvarez | 15 | 42 | 7 | .167 | 2 | 8 |
| Mike Miley | 14 | 38 | 7 | .184 | 0 | 4 |
| Carlos López | 9 | 10 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Dade | 13 | 9 | 1 | .111 | 0 | 1 |
| Tim Nordbrook | 5 | 8 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Smith | 13 | 8 | 3 | .375 | 0 | 0 |
| Ike Hampton | 3 | 2 | 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 |
| Frank Tanana | 34 | 288.1 | 19 | 10 | 2.43 | 261 |
| Nolan Ryan | 39 | 284.1 | 17 | 18 | 3.36 | 327 |
| Gary Ross | 34 | 225.0 | 8 | 16 | 3.00 | 100 |
| Don Kirkwood | 28 | 157.2 | 6 | 12 | 4.62 | 78 |

#### 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 | 37 | 166.0 | 7 | 4 | 2.77 | 51 |
| Sid Monge | 32 | 117.2 | 6 | 7 | 3.37 | 53 |
| Andy Hassler | 14 | 47.1 | 0 | 6 | 5.13 | 16 |

#### 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 |
| Dick Drago | 43 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 4.42 | 43 |
| Mickey Scott | 33 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3.23 | 10 |
| John Verhoeven | 21 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3.38 | 23 |
| Jim Brewer | 13 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3.70 | 16 |
| Mike Overy | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6.14 | 8 |
| Steve Dunning | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.50 | 4 |
| Gary Wheelock | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 2 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Salt Lake City Gulls | Pacific Coast League | Jimy Williams |
| AA | El Paso Diablos | Texas League | Bobby Knoop |
| A | Salinas Packers | California League | Del Crandall |
| A | Quad Cities Angels | Midwest League | Moose Stubing |
| Rookie | Idaho Falls Angels | Pioneer League | Larry Himes |