# 1978 California Angels season

The 1978 California Angels season involved the Angels finishing tied for second in the American League West with a record of 87 wins and 75 losses.
Late in the season, the Angels suffered the loss of outfielder Lyman Bostock when Bostock was murdered on September 23 in Gary, Indiana.

## Offseason

* November 21, 1977: Lyman Bostock was signed as a free agent by the Angels.
* December 5, 1977: Bobby Bonds, Richard Dotson and Thad Bosley were traded by the Angels to the Chicago White Sox for Brian Downing, Chris Knapp, and Dave Frost.
* December 8, 1977: Jerry Remy was traded by the Angels to the Boston Red Sox for Don Aase and cash.
* January 15, 1978: Gary Nolan was released by the Angels.
* March 20, 1978: Fred Kuhaulua was released by the Angels.
* March 25, 1978: Merv Rettenmund was signed as a free agent by the Angels.

## Regular season

On May 12, Angels pitcher Nolan Ryan struck out Buddy Bell for the 2500th strikeout of his career.

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Kansas City Royals | 92 | 70 | .568 | — | 56‍–‍25 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Texas Rangers | 87 | 75 | .537 | 5 | 52‍–‍30 | 35‍–‍45 |
| California Angels | 87 | 75 | .537 | 5 | 50‍–‍31 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Minnesota Twins | 73 | 89 | .451 | 19 | 38‍–‍43 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Chicago White Sox | 71 | 90 | .441 | 20½ | 38‍–‍42 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Oakland Athletics | 69 | 93 | .426 | 23 | 38‍–‍42 | 31‍–‍51 |
| Seattle Mariners | 56 | 104 | .350 | 35 | 32‍–‍49 | 24‍–‍55 |

### Record vs. opponents

1978 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 7–8 | 4–6 | 8–1 | 9–6 | 7–8 | 2–8 | 7–8 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 11–0 | 9–1 | 7–4 | 8–7 |
| Boston | 8–7 | — | 9–2 | 7–3 | 7–8 | 12–3 | 4–6 | 10–5 | 9–2 | 7–9 | 5–5 | 7–3 | 3–7 | 11–4 |
| California | 6–4 | 2–9 | — | 8–7 | 6–4 | 4–7 | 9–6 | 5–5 | 12–3 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 9–6 | 5–10 | 7–3 |
| Chicago | 1–8 | 3–7 | 7–8 | — | 8–2 | 2–9 | 8–7 | 4–7 | 8–7 | 1–9 | 7–8 | 7–8 | 11–4 | 4–6 |
| Cleveland | 6–9 | 8–7 | 4–6 | 2–8 | — | 5–10 | 5–6 | 5–10 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 4–6 | 8–1 | 1–9 | 10–4 |
| Detroit | 8–7 | 3–12 | 7–4 | 9–2 | 10–5 | — | 4–6 | 7–8 | 4–6 | 4–11 | 6–4 | 8–2 | 7–3 | 9–6 |
| Kansas City | 8–2 | 6–4 | 6–9 | 7–8 | 6–5 | 6–4 | — | 6–4 | 7–8 | 6–5 | 10–5 | 12–3 | 7–8 | 5–5 |
| Milwaukee | 8–7 | 5–10 | 5–5 | 7–4 | 10–5 | 8–7 | 4–6 | — | 4–7 | 10–5 | 9–1 | 5–5 | 6–4 | 12–3 |
| Minnesota | 5–5 | 2–9 | 3–12 | 7–8 | 5–5 | 6–4 | 8–7 | 7–4 | — | 3–7 | 9–6 | 6–9 | 6–9 | 6–4 |
| New York | 9–6 | 9–7 | 5–5 | 9–1 | 9–6 | 11–4 | 5–6 | 5–10 | 7–3 | — | 8–2 | 6–5 | 6–4 | 11–4 |
| Oakland | 0–11 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 8–7 | 6–4 | 4–6 | 5–10 | 1–9 | 6–9 | 2–8 | — | 13–2 | 6–9 | 7–4 |
| Seattle | 1–9 | 3–7 | 6–9 | 8–7 | 1–8 | 2–8 | 3–12 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 5–6 | 2–13 | — | 3–12 | 8–2 |
| Texas | 4–7 | 7–3 | 10–5 | 4–11 | 9–1 | 3–7 | 8–7 | 4–6 | 9–6 | 4–6 | 9–6 | 12–3 | — | 4–7 |
| Toronto | 7–8 | 4–11 | 3–7 | 6–4 | 4–10 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 3–12 | 4–6 | 4–11 | 4–7 | 2–8 | 7–4 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball draft
** Dave Engle was drafted by the Angels in the 3rd round.
** Dan Whitmer was drafted by the Angels in the 14th round.

### 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 | Brian Downing | 133 | 412 | 105 | .255 | 7 | 46 |
| 1B | Ron Jackson | 105 | 387 | 115 | .297 | 6 | 57 |
| 2B | Bobby Grich | 144 | 487 | 122 | .251 | 6 | 42 |
| SS | Dave Chalk | 135 | 470 | 119 | .253 | 1 | 34 |
| 3B | Carney Lansford | 121 | 453 | 133 | .294 | 8 | 52 |
| LF | Joe Rudi | 133 | 497 | 127 | .256 | 17 | 79 |
| CF | Rick Miller | 132 | 475 | 125 | .263 | 1 | 37 |
| RF | Lyman Bostock | 147 | 568 | 168 | .296 | 5 | 71 |
| DH | Don Baylor | 158 | 591 | 151 | .255 | 34 | 99 |

#### 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 |
| Ken Landreaux | 93 | 260 | 58 | .223 | 5 | 23 |
| Ron Fairly | 91 | 235 | 51 | .217 | 10 | 40 |
| Rance Mulliniks | 50 | 119 | 22 | .185 | 1 | 6 |
| Terry Humphrey | 53 | 114 | 25 | .219 | 1 | 9 |
| Jim Anderson | 48 | 108 | 21 | .194 | 0 | 7 |
| Merv Rettenmund | 50 | 108 | 29 | .269 | 1 | 14 |
| Tony Solaita | 60 | 94 | 21 | .223 | 1 | 14 |
| Danny Goodwin | 24 | 58 | 16 | .276 | 2 | 10 |
| Dave Machemer | 10 | 22 | 6 | .273 | 1 | 2 |
| Ike Hampton | 19 | 14 | 3 | .214 | 1 | 4 |

### 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 | 33 | 239.0 | 18 | 12 | 3.65 | 137 |
| Nolan Ryan | 31 | 234.2 | 10 | 13 | 3.72 | 260 |
| Chris Knapp | 30 | 188.1 | 14 | 8 | 4.21 | 126 |
| Don Aase | 29 | 178.2 | 11 | 8 | 4.03 | 93 |
| Dave Frost | 11 | 80.1 | 5 | 4 | 2.58 | 30 |
| John Caneira | 2 | 7.2 | 0 | 0 | 7.04 | 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 |
| Paul Hartzell | 54 | 157.0 | 6 | 10 | 3.44 | 55 |
| Ken Brett | 31 | 100.0 | 3 | 5 | 4.95 | 43 |
| Tom Griffin | 24 | 56.0 | 3 | 4 | 4.02 | 35 |
| Al Fitzmorris | 9 | 31.2 | 1 | 0 | 1.71 | 8 |

#### 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 LaRoche | 59 | 10 | 9 | 25 | 2.82 | 70 |
| Dyar Miller | 41 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2.66 | 34 |
| Mike Barlow | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Salt Lake City Gulls | Pacific Coast League | Deron Johnson |
| AA | El Paso Diablos | Texas League | Moose Stubing |
| A | Salinas Packers | California League | Chuck Cottier |
| A | Quad Cities Angels | Midwest League | Cotton Nash |
| Rookie | Idaho Falls Angels | Pioneer League | Reuben Rodriguez |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: El Paso