History was made in 1961 and '62, when baseball expanded for the first time. One of those new teams were the Angels. None of the expansion teams were very good, but the journey to relevance in baseball must always start with mediocrity. While the Mets would shock the baseball world with a miracle in 1969, the other expansion teams needed a bit more time to get their acts together to make a proper postseason run. A decade after the Mets, the Angels were ready to make a run of their own.
For 1979, the Angels had an ensemble of all stars to compliment their HoF pitcher Nolan Ryan, but the offseason trade for Rod Carew put them over the top in the AL West. Jim Fregosi was in his first full season as Manager for the team he used to star for, and it seemed that at last all the stars had aligned for the Angels as they put up an 88-74 record to claim the West by 3 games over the Kansas City Royals.
Playoff baseball had finally come to Anaheim, but unfortunately their opponent wasn't going to be an easy one. The 102 win Baltimore Orioles were ready to meet them while trying to reestablish their AL domination from a decade prior. The series was tight from Game 1 as things went to extra innings where the Orioles would walk it off with a homer. Game 2 saw the Angels fall behind 9-1 before mounting a furious late inning comeback to come to 9-8, but would heartbreakingly fall short with the tying run stranded on 3rd base.
Game 3 had the Angels finally return the favor. Trailing 3-2 in the 9th and facing a sweep, they put the pressure on Baltimore and took advantage of a defensive mistake to tie and then walk it off to steal their first home playoff game and force another game. Game 4 saw the Orioles flex their muscle as Scott McGregor pitched a shutout over the helpless Angels hitters and Baltimore clinched the pennant with an 8-0 beating.
The Angels would lose Nolan Ryan before next season, but they still had some life in them as they managed a couple more division titles during the 1980's, but it wouldn't be until 2002 that they'd finally reach (and win) a World Series.
Don Baylor headlined the division winners where he led baseball with 120 Runs and 139 RBI. The all star also led the Angels with 36 Home Runs and 22 Stolen Bases as he took home American League MVP honors. He added a homer in the thrilling ALCS Game 3 victory at home.
The Hall of Famer wasn't winning any more batting titles with the Angels, but Carew still batted a respectable .318 as well as kept up his streak of all star selections that started way back in 1967.
While the Orioles jumped out to a 2-0 series lead in the playoffs, but Dan Ford made sure they earned it. He managed 1st inning homers in both Games 1 and 2 to kickstart the scoring right away for the Halos. In Game 3 he continued his magic by singling home the games first run, this time in what would ultimately be a victory.
The rest of the regulars for the AL West champions. Lansford would lead the Angels with 188 Hits. Downing would lead the team with a .326 BA and join Carew, Grich and Baylor as hitting all stars.
Onto the bench where I'm reminded in that era of baseball that if you aren't playing a lot then picture quality for cards will take a big hit. The feather in Larry Harlow's hat will always be the walk off double he hit in Game 3 to walk it off for California's lone victory against Baltimore.
It was a bit of a down year for the Hall of Famer and all star, as Ryan led the league with *only* 223 Strikeouts. He also led baseball with 5 Shutouts. He was still trying to break the tie with Sandy Koufax for the most No Hitters in history, in July he took a no-no into the 9th inning against the New York Yankees before surrendering a hit to, of all people, Reggie Jackson. Yes indeed, a No Hitter on the line for baseballs all time strikeout king vs the all time strikeout victim...and not only did Jackson not strike out, but he got a hit.
The only full season as a Starter for Frost came at the best time for the Angels. Frost tied with Ryan for a team high 16 Wins, as well as leading with his 239.1 Innings and 3.57 ERA.
The rest of the rotation guys picking up the starts. Don Aase was left out of the ALCS rotation, but he came on in relief in Game 3 to benefit with the victory when the Angels walked it off.
The rookie Closer made a big splash in his first year. Clear was named to the all star team and finished 3rd in RoY voting as he racked up 14 Saves.
The men in the bullpen and late season callups. LaRoche picked up 10 Saves of his own, but not enough to get the Closer label.
The Angels were hoping that Tanana would continue his string of dominating seasons to support Ryan and Frost, but injury shut him down in the middle of the year. He came back in time to start Game 3 where he'd keep the mighty Orioles at bay enough for the Angels to rally and win it in the 9th.
