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1981 California Angels season
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Major League Baseball season
March 2026
November 2013
California Angels 1981 American League West Anaheim Stadium Anaheim, California Gene Autry Buzzie Bavasi Jim Fregosi, Gene Mauch KTLA KMPC(Don Drysdale, Ron Fairly, Bob Starr)
The 1981 California Angels season was the 21st season of the California Angels franchise in the American League, the 16th in Anaheim, and their 16th season playing their home games at Anaheim Stadium. The Angels finished with the fifth best overall record in the American League West with 51 wins and 59 losses. The season was suspended for 50 days due to the infamous 1981 players' strike and the league chose as its playoff teams the division winners from the first and second halves of the season.
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Offseason
December 2, 1980: Geoff Zahn was signed as a free agent by the Angels.Geoff Zahn at Baseball Reference
December 8, 1980: Dan Whitmer was drafted from the Angels by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1980 rule 5 draft.Dan Whitmer at Baseball Reference
January 13, 1981: Ron Romanick was drafted by the California Angels in the 1st round (4th pick) of the 1981 amateur draft (secondary phase).https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/romanro01.shtml Ron Romanick Stats
January 23, 1981: Joe Rudi, Frank Tanana and Jim Dorsey were traded by the Angels to the Boston Red Sox for Fred Lynn and Steve Renko.Joe Rudi at Baseball Reference
February 2, 1981: Dave Rader was signed as a free agent by the Angels.Dave Rader at Baseball Reference
February 2, 1981: Dave Skaggs was released by the Angels.Dave Skaggs at Baseball Reference
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
CAL
Notable transactions
April 20, 1981: Dave Rader was released by the Angels.
June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball draft
Dick Schofield was drafted by the Angels in the 1st round (3rd pick).Dick Schofield at Baseball Reference
Devon White was drafted by the Angels in the 6th round. Player signed June 13, 1981.Devon White at Baseball Reference
Roster
1981 California Angels Roster Pitchers
46 Don Aase
28 John D'Acquisto
43 Ken Forsch
37 Dave Frost
41 Andy Hassler
34 Jesse Jefferson
24 Bruce Kison
22 Mickey Mahler
27 Alfredo Martínez
21 Ángel Moreno
31 Doug Rau
45 Steve Renko
40 Luis Sánchez
26 Bill Travers
39 Mike Witt
38 Geoff Zahn Catchers
16 Bob Davis
11 Joe Ferguson
14 Ed Ott
Infielders
7 Rick Burleson
19 Bert Campaneris
29 Rod Carew
4 Bobby Grich
13 John Harris
10 Butch Hobson
23 Steve Lubratich
2 Freddie Patek
6 Daryl Sconiers Outfielders
12 Juan Beníquez
3,30 Tom Brunansky
32 Bobby Clark
9 Brian Downing
15 Dan Ford
20 Larry Harlow
9 Brian Harper
8 Fred Lynn
Other batters
25 Don Baylor Manager
11 Jim Fregosi
44 Gene Mauch
Coaches
49 Bob Clear
51 Preston Gómez
1 Bobby Knoop
47 Tom Morgan
50 Jimmie Reese
14 Merv Rettenmund
Player stats
= Indicates team leader
= Indicates league leader
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 Ed Ott 75 258 56 .217 2 22 1B Rod Carew 93 364 111 .305 2 21 2B Bobby Grich 100 352 107 .304 22* 61 SS Rick Burleson 109 430 126 .293 5 33 3B Butch Hobson 85 268 63 .235 4 36 LF Brian Downing 93 317 79 .249 9 41 CF Fred Lynn 76 256 56 .219 5 31 RF Dan Ford 97 375 104 .277 15 48 DH Don Baylor 103 377 90 .239 17 66
Tied with Tony Armas (Oakland), Dwight Evans (Boston) and Eddie Murray (Baltimore)
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 58 166 30 .181 3 13 Bobby Clark 34 88 22 .250 4 19 Larry Harlow 43 82 17 .207 0 4 Bert Campaneris 55 82 21 .256 1 10 John Harris 36 77 19 .247 3 9 Daryl Sconiers 15 52 14 .269 1 7 Freddie Patek 27 47 11 .234 0 5 Tom Brunansky 11 33 5 .152 3 6 Joe Ferguson 12 30 7 .233 1 5 Steve Lubratich 7 21 3 .143 0 1 Brian Harper 4 11 3 .273 0 1 Bob Davis 1 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 Geoff Zahn 25 161.1 10 11 4.41 52 Ken Forsch 20 153.0 11 7 2.88 55 Mike Witt 22 129.0 8 9 3.28 75 Steve Renko 22 102.0 8 4 3.44 50 Dave Frost 12 47.1 1 8 5.51 16 Doug Rau 3 10.1 1 2 8.71 3 Bill Travers 4 9.2 0 1 8.38 5
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 Jesse Jefferson 26 77.0 2 4 3.62 27 Bruce Kison 11 44.0 1 1 3.48 19 Ángel Moreno 8 31.1 1 3 2.87 12
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 Don Aase 39 4 4 11 2.34 38 Andy Hassler 42 4 3 5 3.21 44 Luis Sánchez 17 0 2 2 2.94 13 John D'Acquisto 6 0 0 0 10.71 8 Mickey Mahler 6 0 0 0 0.00 5 Alfredo Martínez 2 0 0 0 3.00 4
Farm system
Minor League Baseball
AAA Salt Lake City Gulls Pacific Coast League Moose Stubing AA Holyoke Millers Eastern League Jim Saul A Redwood Pioneers California League Chris Cannizzaro A-Short Season Salem Senators Northwest League Rick Ingalls Rookie Idaho Falls Angels Pioneer League Joe Maddon
Notes
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References
Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 2nd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3
External links
1981 California Angels at Baseball Reference
1981 California Angels at Baseball Almanac
California Angels seasons
1981
1980
1982
Category:Los Angeles Angels seasons
Category:1980s in Anaheim, California
California Angels season
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