The 1973 California Angels season was the 13th season of the Angels franchise in the American League, the 8th in Anaheim, and their 8th season playing their home games at Anaheim Stadium. The Angels finished the season 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.Frank Robinson at Baseball-Reference
Regular season 1973 was an eventful season for Angels pitcher Nolan Ryan. On May 15, Ryan threw the first no-hitter of his career.Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 12, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, On July 3, he struck out Sal Bando of the Oakland Athletics for the 1000th strikeout in his career. 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.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 139, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York,
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.Single-Season Leaders & Records for Strikeouts (The all-time record belongs to Matt Kilroy, who struck out 513 batters in 1886). In the process, he struck out at least 10 batters in 23 different games.Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 32, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC,
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
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.Mike Epstein at Baseball-Reference 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.Brian Kingman at Baseball-Reference July 16, 1973: Curt Motton was released by the Angels.Curt Motton at Baseball-Reference
Roster 1973 California Angels Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders Manager
Coaches
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 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 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 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 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 61 129 21 .163 3 9 32 129 45 .349 0 16 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 41 326.0 21 16 2.87 383 40 315.2 20 14 3.22 241 37 257.0 11 19 3.68 65 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 51 7 2 10 3.71 25 50 3 2 4 3.53 58 15 2 1 3 4.20 8 Ron Perranoski 8 0 2 0 4.09 5 5 0 0 1 10.38 4 Terry Wilshusen 1 0 0 0 81.00 0
Farm system
Notes
References
1973 California Angels team at Baseball-Reference 1973 California Angels team page at www.baseball-almanac.com