# 1985 California Angels season

The 1985 California Angels season was the 25th season of the California Angels franchise in the American League, the 20th in Anaheim, and their 20th season playing their home games at Anaheim Stadium. The Angels finished second 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

vteAL 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 recordvte 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
## 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)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak :
May: 12–13 (Home: 8–7; Away: 4–6)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak
22May 17:30 p.m. PDTBlue JaysL 3–6Key (1–2)McCaskill (0–1)–2:3424,11214–8L1
23May 27:30 p.m. PDTBlue JaysW 3–2Clements (2–0)Stieb (1–3)–2:4523,82415–8W1
32May 144:35 p.m. PDT@ Blue JaysL 3–6Alexander (5–1)Slaton (3–2)Caudill (7)2:4222,44519–13L2
33May 154:35 p.m. PDT@ Blue JaysW 9–6Moore (2–1)Caudill (4–3)–3:0018,11920–13LW1
34May 177:30 p.m. PDTYankeesL 0–6Niekro (5–2)Witt (2–4)–2:4061,06620–14L1
35May 1812:20 p.m. PDTYankeesL 1–6Cowley (2–2)John (2–3)Fisher (1)2:4832,93620–15L2
36May 191:00 p.m. PDTYankeesW 4–1Slaton (4–2)Whitson (1–5)Moore (9)2:2939,72421–15W1
37May 20Tigers
38May 21Tigers
39May 22Tigers
44May 295:00 p.m. PDT@ YankeesL 2–7Niekro (6–3)Slaton (4–3)–2:3025,04925–19L2
45May 305:00 p.m. PDT@ YankeesL 1–3Cowley (4–2)Romanick (6–2)Righetti (10)2:0917,22625–20L3
46May 31@ Tigers :
June: 15–12 (Home: 7–6; Away: 8–6)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak
47June 1@ Tigers
48June 2@ Tigers
52June 77:30 p.m. PDTRoyalsL 0–6Saberhagen (6–3)Witt (3–6)–2:2629,41428–24L2
53June 87:00 p.m. PDTRoyalsL 1–4Gubicza (2–4)Slaton (4–4)Quisenberry (11)2:1946,39328–25L3
54June 91:00 p.m. PDTRoyalsW 1–0Romanick (7–2)Jackson (4–3)Moore (12)2:0441,97329–25W1
58June 13White Sox
59June 14White Sox
60June 15White Sox
61June 16White Sox
65June 21@ White Sox
66June 22@ White Sox
67June 23@ White Sox
71June 285:35 p.m. PDT@ RoyalsL 4–5 (14)Quisenberry (4–4)Corbett (2–1)–4:5032,65140–31L1
72June 295:35 p.m. PDT@ RoyalsW 7–1Lugo (3–1)Black (5–8)–2:4639,45141–31W1
73June 3011:35 a.m. PDT@ RoyalsL 1–3Gubicza (6–4)Romanick (8–4)Quisenberry (14)2:2333,17341–32L1 :
July: 16–11 (Home: 9–2; Away: 7–9)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak
84July 117:30 p.m. PDTBlue JaysL 3–5Alexander (8–6)Slaton (4–8)Lavelle (4)2:4931,67249–35L1
85July 127:30 p.m. PDTBlue JaysW 5–3McCaskill (5–5)Key (7–4)Moore (17)2:4335,87050–35W1
86July 137:00 p.m. PDTBlue JaysW 4–3Witt (7–6)Lavelle (3–3)–2:5542,05451–35W2
87July 141:00 p.m. PDTBlue JaysW 5–3Cliburn (4–2)Lavelle (3–4)–2:5335,30652–35W3
56th All-Star Game in Minneapolis, MN
95July 254:35 p.m. PDT@ Blue JaysL 0–7Stieb (10–6)Witt (8–7)–2:2832,08356–39L1
96July 264:35 p.m. PDT@ Blue JaysL 3–8Clancy (7–4)Lugo (3–3)–2:3631,29456–40L2
97July 2710:35 a.m. PDT@ Blue JaysL 3–8Filer (2–0)Mack (0–1)Acker (10)2:3844,11656–41L3
98July 2810:35 a.m. PDT@ Blue JaysL 1–5Alexander (10–6)McCaskill (6–7)–2:2836,19056–42L4 :
August: 16–13 (Home: 11–5; Away: 5–8)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak
119August 207:30 p.m. PDTYankeesL 5–8Bordi (4–4)Slaton (5–10)Righetti (23)3:0438,79168–51L1
120August 217:30 p.m. PDTYankeesL 10–13 (10)Righetti (10–7)Moore (7–7)–4:0140,36368–52L2
121August 227:30 p.m. PDTYankeesW 3–2Witt (11–7)Bordi (4–5)–3:2344,79669–52W1
122August 23Tigers
123August 24Tigers
124August 25Tigers
127August 295:00 p.m. PDT@ YankeesL 0–4Niekro (13–9)McCaskill (9–9)–2:4332,16972–55L1
128August 305:00 p.m. PDT@ YankeesW 4–1Candelaria (3–1)Bystrom (3–2)Moore (24)3:0922,25673–55W1
129August 3110:20 a.m. PDT@ YankeesL 4–10Righetti (11–7)Corbett (2–2)–3:0426,99173–56L1 :
September: 14–13 (Home: 8–5; Away: 6–8)
#DateTime (PT)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak
130September 111:00 a.m. EDT@ YankeesL 3–5Shirley (4–4)Holland (0–1)Fisher (10)3:0633,08073–57L2
131September 2@ Tigers
132September 3@ Tigers
133September 4@ Tigers
137September 97:30 p.m. PDTRoyalsW 7–1Candelaria (5–1)Saberhagen (17–6)–1:5729,68877–60W2
138September 107:30 p.m. PDTRoyalsL 0–6Leibrandt (15–7)McCaskill (9–11)–2:1237,81377–61L1
139September 117:30 p.m. PDTRoyalsL 1–2Jackson (13–9)Romanick (13–8)Quisenberry (33)2:4132,90677–62L2
144September 17@ White Sox
145September 18@ White Sox
146September 19@ White Sox
150September 23White Sox
151September 24White Sox
152September 25White Sox
156September 305:35 p.m. PDT@ RoyalsL 1–3Saberhagen (20–6)Candelaria (6–3)–2:0934,20087–69L1 :
October: 3–3 (Home: 0–0; Away: 3–3)
#DateTime (ET)OpponentScoreWinLossSaveTime of GameAttendanceRecordBox/ Streak
157October 15:35 p.m. PDT@ RoyalsW 4–2Witt (14–9)Leibrandt (17–9)Moore (30)2:3626,27388–69W1
158October 25:35 p.m. PDT@ RoyalsL 0–4Black (10–15)Romanick (14–9)–2:0828,40188–70L1
159October 35:35 p.m. PDT@ RoyalsL 1–4Jackson (14–12)Sutton (15–10)Quisenberry (36)2:2440,89488–71L2 :
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 |