# 1972 California Angels season

The 1972 California Angels season involved the Angels finishing fifth in the American League West with a record of 75 wins and 80 losses.

## Offseason

* October 27, 1971: Tony González was released by the Angels.
* December 10, 1971: Jim Fregosi was traded by the Angels to the New York Mets for Nolan Ryan, Don Rose, Leroy Stanton, and Frank Estrada.
* January 26, 1972: Tommie Reynolds was traded by the Angels to the Milwaukee Brewers for Andy Kosco.

## Regular season

* April 18, 1972: Nolan Ryan struck out Charlie Manuel for the 500th strikeout of his career.

### Opening Day starters

* Sandy Alomar Sr.
* Leo Cárdenas
* Ken McMullen
* Andy Messersmith
* Vada Pinson
* Mickey Rivers
* Jim Spencer
* Leroy Stanton
* Jeff Torborg

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Oakland Athletics | 93 | 62 | .600 | — | 48‍–‍29 | 45‍–‍33 |
| Chicago White Sox | 87 | 67 | .565 | 5½ | 55‍–‍23 | 32‍–‍44 |
| Minnesota Twins | 77 | 77 | .500 | 15½ | 42‍–‍32 | 35‍–‍45 |
| Kansas City Royals | 76 | 78 | .494 | 16½ | 44‍–‍33 | 32‍–‍45 |
| California Angels | 75 | 80 | .484 | 18 | 44‍–‍36 | 31‍–‍44 |
| Texas Rangers | 54 | 100 | .351 | 38½ | 31‍–‍46 | 23‍–‍54 |

### Record vs. opponents

1972 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | TEX |
| Baltimore | — | 7–11 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 6–6 | 10–5 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 6–6 |
| Boston | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 6–6 | 8–7 | 5–9 | 6–6 | 11–7 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 9–3 | 8–4 |
| California | 6–6 | 4–8 | — | 7–11 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 9–6 | 7–5 | 7–8 | 4–8 | 8–10 | 10–7 |
| Chicago | 4–8 | 6–6 | 11–7 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 8–9 | 9–3 | 8–6 | 7–5 | 7–8 | 14–4 |
| Cleveland | 10–8 | 7–8 | 4–8 | 4–8 | — | 10–8 | 6–6 | 5–10 | 8–4 | 7–11 | 2–10 | 9–3 |
| Detroit | 8–10 | 9–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 8–10 | — | 7–5 | 10–8 | 9–3 | 7–9 | 4–8 | 10–2 |
| Kansas City | 6–6 | 6–6 | 6–9 | 9–8 | 6–6 | 5–7 | — | 7–5 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 8–6 |
| Milwaukee | 5–10 | 7–11 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 10–5 | 8–10 | 5–7 | — | 4–8 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 5–7 |
| Minnesota | 6–6 | 8–4 | 8–7 | 6–8 | 4–8 | 3–9 | 9–9 | 8–4 | — | 6–6 | 8–9 | 11–7 |
| New York | 6–7 | 9–9 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 11–7 | 9–7 | 5–7 | 9–9 | 6–6 | — | 3–9 | 8–4 |
| Oakland | 6–6 | 3–9 | 10–8 | 8–7 | 10–2 | 8–4 | 11–7 | 8–4 | 9–8 | 9–3 | — | 11–4 |
| Texas | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–10 | 4–14 | 3–9 | 2–10 | 6–8 | 7–5 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 4–11 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 2, 1972: Billy Cowan was released by the Angels.
* May 16, 1972: Steve Barber was signed as a free agent by the Angels.
* May 26, 1972: Archie Reynolds was traded by the Angels to the Milwaukee Brewers for Curt Motton.
* July 28, 1972: Joe Azcue and Syd O'Brien were traded by the Angels to the Milwaukee Brewers for Ron Clark and Paul Ratliff.
* August 1, 1972: Fred Kuhaulua was signed as an amateur free agent by the Angels.
* August 15, 1972: Andy Kosco was traded by the Angels to the Boston Red Sox for Chris Coletta.
* August 17, 1972: Eddie Fisher was traded by the California Angels to the Chicago White Sox for a player to be named later and Bruce Miller. The Chicago White Sox sent Bruce Kimm (September 1, 1972) to the California Angels to complete the trade.

### 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 | Art Kusnyer | 64 | 179 | 37 | .207 | 2 | 13 |
| 1B | Bob Oliver | 134 | 509 | 137 | .269 | 19 | 70 |
| 2B | Sandy Alomar Sr. | 155 | 610 | 146 | .239 | 1 | 25 |
| 3B | Ken McMullen | 137 | 472 | 127 | .269 | 9 | 34 |
| SS | Leo Cárdenas | 150 | 551 | 123 | .223 | 6 | 42 |
| LF | Vada Pinson | 136 | 484 | 133 | .275 | 7 | 49 |
| CF | Ken Berry | 119 | 409 | 118 | .289 | 5 | 39 |
| RF | Leroy Stanton | 127 | 402 | 101 | .251 | 12 | 39 |

#### 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 |
| Jim Spencer | 82 | 212 | 47 | .222 | 1 | 14 |
| Mickey Rivers | 58 | 159 | 34 | .214 | 0 | 7 |
| Jeff Torborg | 59 | 153 | 32 | .209 | 0 | 8 |
| John Stephenson | 66 | 146 | 40 | .274 | 2 | 17 |
| Andy Kosco | 49 | 142 | 34 | .239 | 6 | 13 |
| Billy Parker | 36 | 80 | 17 | .213 | 2 | 8 |
| Winston Llenas | 44 | 64 | 17 | .266 | 0 | 7 |
| Jack Hiatt | 22 | 45 | 13 | .289 | 1 | 5 |
| Syd O'Brien | 36 | 39 | 7 | .179 | 1 | 1 |
| Curt Motton | 42 | 39 | 6 | .154 | 0 | 1 |
| Doug Howard | 11 | 38 | 10 | .263 | 0 | 2 |
| Chris Coletta | 14 | 30 | 9 | .300 | 1 | 7 |
| Tom Silverio | 13 | 12 | 2 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
| Roger Repoz | 3 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0 |
| Billy Cowan | 3 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Azcue | 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 |
| Nolan Ryan | 39 | 284.0 | 19 | 16 | 2.28 | 329 |
| Clyde Wright | 35 | 251.0 | 18 | 11 | 2.98 | 87 |
| Rudy May | 35 | 205.1 | 12 | 11 | 2.94 | 169 |
| Andy Messersmith | 25 | 169.2 | 8 | 11 | 2.81 | 142 |

#### 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 |
| Rickey Clark | 26 | 109.2 | 4 | 9 | 4.51 | 61 |
| Don Rose | 16 | 42.2 | 1 | 4 | 4.22 | 39 |
| Dick Lange | 2 | 7.2 | 0 | 0 | 4.70 | 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 |
| Lloyd Allen | 42 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 3.48 | 53 |
| Eddie Fisher | 43 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3.76 | 32 |
| Steve Barber | 34 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2.02 | 34 |
| Mel Queen | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.35 | 19 |
| Dave Sells | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2.81 | 2 |
| Alan Foster | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.97 | 11 |
| Tom Dukes | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.64 | 8 |
| Tom Murphy | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 2 |
| Paul Doyle | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Salt Lake City Angels | Pacific Coast League | Les Moss |
| AA | Shreveport Captains | Texas League | Norm Sherry |
| A | Stockton Ports | California League | Mike Stubbins |
| A | Quad Cities Angels | Midwest League | Dick Kinaman |
| Rookie | Idaho Falls Angels | Pioneer League | Bob Clear |