1973 California Angels season

1973  California Angels
Night game in 1973
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Anaheim Stadium
City	Anaheim, California
Owners	Gene Autry
General managers	Harry Dalton
Managers	Bobby Winkles
Television	KTLA
Radio	KMPC (Dick Enberg, Dave Niehaus, Don Drysdale)
←  1972 Seasons 1974  →

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. ^[1]

Regular season

1973 was an eventful season for Angels pitcher Nolan Ryan. On May 15, Ryan threw the first no-hitter of his career. ^[2] On July 3, he struck out Sal Bando of the Oakland Athletics for the 1000th strikeout in his career. ^[3] 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. ^[4]

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. ^[5] (The all-time record belongs to Matt Kilroy, who struck out 513 batters in 1886). ^[5] In the process, he struck out at least 10 batters in 23 different games. ^[6]

Season standings

v t e AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	94	68	0.580	—	50–31	44–37
Kansas City Royals	88	74	0.543	6	48–33	40–41
Minnesota Twins	81	81	0.500	13	37–44	44–37
California Angels	79	83	0.488	15	43–38	36–45
Chicago White Sox	77	85	0.475	17	40–41	37–44
Texas Rangers	57	105	0.352	37	35–46	22–59

Record vs. opponents

1973 American League record v t e 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. ^[7]
• 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. ^[8]
• July 16, 1973: Curt Motton was released by the Angels. ^[9]

Roster

1973 California Angels
Roster
Pitchers 40 Lloyd Allen 31 Steve Barber 25 Rich Hand 42 Andy Hassler 35 Dick Lange 34 Rudy May 41 Aurelio Monteagudo 45 Ron Perranoski 30 Nolan Ryan 29 Dave Sells 48 Bill Singer 40 Frank Tanana 47 Terry Wilshusen 38 Clyde Wright		Catchers 15 Art Kusnyer 19 Charlie Sands  8 Rick Stelmaszek 11 John Stephenson 10 Jeff Torborg Infielders 24 Sandy Alomar Sr.  7 Dave Chalk 19 Jerry DaVanon  5 Mike Epstein  6 Al Gallagher  7 Billy Grabarkewitz 12 Winston Llenas  3 Rudy Meoli 33 Bob Oliver 18 Billy Parker  9 Jim Spencer 13 Bobby Valentine		Outfielders 16 Ken Berry 17 Bobby Brooks  4 Doug Howard 22 Tommy McCraw 28 Vada Pinson 5,17 Mickey Rivers 20 Frank Robinson  9 Richie Scheinblum 36 Leroy Stanton		Manager  1 Bobby Winkles Coaches 27 Tom Morgan 21 Salty Parker 23 Jimmie Reese  2 John Roseboro

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

See also: Minor League Baseball

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

Notes

1. Frank Robinson at Baseball-Reference
2. Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 12, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, ISBN   978-1-55365-507-7
3. "The Nolan Ryan Express | The Strikeout King". smackbomb.com/nolanryan. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved July 28, 2008.
4. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 139, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN   978-0-451-22363-0
5. Single-Season Leaders & Records for Strikeouts
6. Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 32, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, ISBN   978-1-55365-507-7
7. Mike Epstein at Baseball-Reference
8. Brian Kingman at Baseball-Reference
9. Curt Motton at Baseball-Reference

References

• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN   978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1973 California Angels team at Baseball-Reference
• 1973 California Angels team page at www.baseball-almanac.com