The 1981 California Angels
March 8, 2012 by Derek Bain · Leave a Comment
The clouds that swirled over the 1980 Angels threatened the skies in the subsequent season. When the storms finally relented, the Angels had fired manager Jim Fregosi and gutted their roster, turning over half of their lineup, and only two pitchers remained from the 1979 American League Western division championship squad.
Wheelin’ and Dealin’
California general manager Buzzie Bavasi embarked on several major transactions after enduring a dreadful 1980 campaign. In two separate deals with the Red Sox, the Angels received CF Fred Lynn, SS Rick Burleson, 3B Butch Hobson, and SP Steve Renko. Heading east to Boston were 3B Carney Lansford, OF Rick Miller, OF Joe Rudi, SP Frank Tanana, and RP Mark Clear. Right before the 1981 season began, he acquired C Ed Ott and RP Mickey Mahler from the Pirates in exchange for 1B Jason Thompson, and SP Ken Forsch from the Astros for SS Dickie Thon. Using Bill James’ “Win Shares”, let’s see how Bavasi performed.
27
34
19
80
5
21
16
42
6
11
9
26
6
8
5
19
16
19
18
53
17
1
3
21
11
11
2
24
6
0
–
6
13
12
13
38
10
13
12
35
12
13
10
35
3
INJ
INJ
3
17
14
11
42
4
16
14
34
–
–
–
0
1
9
9
19
9
3
2
14
1
4
7
12
9
3
3
15
3
–
–
3
7
13
8
28
0
–
0
0
11
2
5
18
0
0
–
0
373
194
22
13
19
54
11
27
17
55
–
2
3
5
3
22
30
55
17
22
15
54
18
16
12
46
13
14
11
38
10
7
6
23
–
10
9
19
6
14
1
21
14
5
9
28
6
9
10
25
14
6
7
27
1
3
–
4
8
9
1
18
–
8
4
12
14
2
7
23
4
4
0
8
0
5
2
7
–
–
–
0
273
249
Note: WSb = Win Shares before transaction; WSa = Win Shares after transaction
Based on Win Shares, Bavasi’s free agent acquisitions were solid. Geoff Zahn rebounded from a mediocre season in 1981, winning 40 games with a 3.41 from 1982 to 1984. Luis Sanchez, purchased from Veracruz of the Mexican League, saved 27 games with a 3.75 earned run average in 5 seasons. After 2 sub-par seasons in a reserve role, Juan Beniquez eclipsed .300 from 1983 to 1985, peaking at .336 in 1984. Bavasi’s trades did not fare as well. Ken Forsch is the only acquisition whose Angels performance was consistent with his career numbers. Rick Burleson was injury-plagued after the ’81 season. Fred Lynn averaged 22 home runs and 80 RBI after a miserable ’81 campaign (.219/5/31). Butch Hobson’s abysmal effort (.235/4/36 batting, .929 fielding average) paved the way for Bavasi to make a deal for 3B Doug DeCinces in January 1982. Ed Ott’s offensive contribution in ’81 was minimal (.217/2/22), and he missed the next two seasons due to a shoulder injury. Regarding the talent that Bavasi traded away, Dickie Thon stole 30+ bases in back-to-back seasons, and made the National League All-Star team in 1983 (.286/20/79). In April 1984, a pitch from Mike Torrez of the Mets struck Thon in the eye. He missed the rest of the season, and never regained his all-star status. Jason Thompson gradually declined after an all-star season in 1982 (.284/31/101), playing his final game in 1986. Carney Lansford played two seasons for the Red Sox, leading the American League in batting average in 1981 with a .336 average. He handled the hot corner for the Oakland Athletics for 10 seasons (1983-1992), including .336 for the 1989 World Champions. Frank Tanana amassed 138 victories for several teams over the course of the next 12 years.
Batting Eighth, Bobby Grich
Bobby Grich began the 1981 season in the same manner as April 1980. His .785 OPS placed him third on the ’80 Angels squad, and he led the team with 84 walks. Fregosi penciled Grich into the 8 th spot in the lineup, behind rookie LF Tom Brunansky. Brunansky cracked 3 homers in early April, but a .152 batting average in 11 games punched his ticket back to Salt Lake (AAA). Fregosi divided the left field duties between Juan Beniquez, John Harris, and Bobby Clark for the next three weeks, before deciding to move Brian Downing out from behind the plate. California reeled off a 5 game winning streak from May 9 – May 14, and crept over the .500 mark (18-16). The Halos were only able to manage 4 victories in the next 13 games, and Jim Fregosi was fired as a result. He was replaced by Gene Mauch, a veteran of 21 seasons and 1523 victories prior to his appointment as manager of the Angels. The team quickly went on the offensive for their new skipper, winning 9 of 13 before the season screeched to a halt due to the player’s strike. Play resumed on August 10, after two summer months without major league baseball. Grich moved up in the lineup, batting in the fifth or sixth slot. By the end of the year, Grich had tied for the American League lead in home runs (22) and batted .304 with a .921 OPS. California finished third in the A.L. in runs, home runs, and bases on balls. Yet, scant contributions from newcomers Fred Lynn (.639 OPS in 1981, .845 career), Butch Hobson, and Ed Ott caused the Angels to limp home with an overall record of 51-59.
Use The Forsch
Ken Forsch completed 10 of 20 starts, with an 11-7 record. His 4 shutouts tied for the American League lead, and he made the all-star team, ending the year with a 2.88 earned run average. Geoff Zahn was also an American League leader, in two negative categories – home runs allowed (18) earned runs allowed (79), though he did complete 9 of his 25 starts. Steve Renko sported his best ERA (3.44) since 1973. Dave Frost didn’t pitch until June, and lost all 7 decisions after the strike. Mike Witt enjoyed a fine rookie season after splitting 1980 between A and AA ball, going 8-9 with a 3.28 ERA. Witt finished 5 th in the Rookie of the Year voting. Don Aase moved to the bullpen and replaced Mark Clear as the stopper, picking up 11 saves with a 2.34 ERA.
Down on the Farm
OF-1B-C Mike Bishop tore up the Texas League in 1980 (.325/33/104) and followed with a .277/15/91 season in triple-A, but he only received a cup of coffee with the 1983 Mets. OF Tom Brunansky pummeled Texas League pitching to the tune of .323/24/97, earning him the starting left field job on the Angels in 1981. After struggling in a brief trial with the big league team, Brunansky proceeded to tear it up in AAA, batting .332/22/81. Bavasi ultimately traded the slugging prospect to the Twins in May 1982. 1B Daryl Sconiers performance in El Paso (.370/15/87) earned him a promotion to Salt Lake in 1981, where he proceeded to bat .354/13/74.
Silver Lining
Bobby Grich’s hitting clinic ranks as one of the few highlights of the 1981 season. The development of Mike Witt into a key member of the starting rotation was a nice change of pace, considering some of the minor league talent that was traded during this period.
On Deck
The Angels set out to win the West in 1982, led by a pair of sluggers acquired in the off-season. Will Gene Mauch lead the Halos to the promised land?
References and Resources
Baseball America – Executive Database
Win Shares statistics are from Bill James and Jim Henzler, Win Shares, Stats Publishing, 2002, p. 412-428.
About the Author
I am a New Jersey native with a passion for baseball, statistics, computers and video games who enjoys spending quality time with his family.
“Hardball Retrospective”is available in paperback and digital ( Kindle ) format at Amazon.com. Supplemental Statistics, Charts and Graphs along with a discussion forum are offered at TuataraSoftware.com .
Don Daglow (Intellivision World Series Major League Baseball, Earl Weaver Baseball, Tony LaRussa Baseball) contributed the foreword for Hardball Retrospective. The foreword and preview of my book are accessible here .
“Hardball Retrospective – Addendum 2014 to 2016”supplements my research for Hardball Retrospective, providing retroactive standings based on Wins Above Replacement (WAR) and Win Shares (WS) for each “original” team over the past three seasons (2014-2016). Team totals from 2010 – 2013 are included for reference purposes. “Addendum” is available in paperback and digital ( Kindle ) format at Amazon.com.
“ Hardball Retroactive”,published in June 2018, is available in paperback and digital ( Kindle ) format at Amazon.com. A cross-section of essays that I penned for Seamheads.com along with my Baseball Analytics blog spanning nearly a decade touching on subjects including “Taking the Extra Base”, “General Manager Scorecard”, “Worst Trades”, “BABIP By Location” and “Baseball Birthplaces and the Retro World Baseball Classic”. Rediscover your favorite hardball arcade and simulations in “Play Retro Baseball Video Games In Your Browser” or take a deep dive into every franchise’s minor league successes and failures in relation to their major league operations in “Minors vs. Majors”.
“Hardball Architects”examines the trades, free agent acquisitions, draft picks and other transactions for the 30 Major League Baseball franchises, divided into a 2-volume set (American League and National League). All key moves are scrutinized for every team and Sabermetric principles are applied to the roster construction throughout the lifetime of the organization to encapsulate the hits and misses by front office executives. “Volume 1 – American League Teams” is available in paperback and digital ( Kindle ) format at Amazon.com. “Volume 2 – National League Teams” is tentatively scheduled for publication in the spring of 2022.
