After a heartbreaking ALCS loss in 1986, the Angels had slipped to irrelevance over the next two seasons, going 75-87 each time. The 1989 California Angels turned into a surprise contender and only the high quality of the AL West and the more stringent postseason standards of the era kept them out of the playoffs. […]
After winning the AL West in 1982, the Angels suffered a heartbreaking loss in the ALCS and parted ways with manager Gene Mauch. The 1983 season was a 92-loss disaster. The 1984 California Angels responded by bringing back Mauch and starting a course correction that would last for three years. The everyday lineup had aging […]
The 1982 baseball season has some hidden gems in MLB history. The final day of the regular season produced an epic head-to-head battle. Game 5 of the American League Championship Series—then the decisive game, in this era of best-of-five LCS play—produced a similar dramatic ending. A future Hall of Fame manager made his first appearance on the October stage. And none of the teams involved in any of the above ultimately won the World Series. Here’s the rundown…
One team was one of baseball’s history-laden franchises, the other an expansion team. But they were united a shared heritage of heartbreak. The Boston Red Sox and California Angels met at the 1986 ALCS and it was inevitable that somebody’s fan base would be crushed when it was over. In a rare turnabout for the […]
Gene Mauch and the California Angels parted ways after a heartbreaking loss in the 1982 American League Championship Series. The Angels promptly fell apart and by 1985 Mauch was back in the fold. He put the Angels back into contention that year and even though the 1986 California Angels again suffered October heartbreak, they first […]
The Baltimore Orioles had made the American League Championship Series a regular part of their schedule in the early 1970s with five appearances from 1969-74. After a three-year hiatus, the Orioles returned to the 1979 ALCS. The California Angels were novices at this postseason baseball thing, having won their first AL West title. It was […]
The 1985 California Angels weren’t in a position to be thinking about next year. Their everyday lineup had six players 34-years-old or older. The franchise had come off two non-winning seasons, going 70-92 in 1983 and 81-81 in 1984. They decided to bring back an old hand to manage their older lineup. Gene Mauch, who led the Angels to the 1982 AL West title, returned in 1985 and the result was instant success.
The 1982 California Angels did a lot of wheeling and dealing to get ready for the season. After winning the AL West in 1979, the team fell off the radar the next two years. Owner Gene Autry was hungry to get to his first World Series, so his front office went all-in, and it paid off with another division title.
No team had ever lost the first two games of a League Championship Series and then rallied to win what was then a best-of-five round. The Milwaukee Brewers dug just such a hole against the California Angels in the 1982 ALCS. The Brewers made history, with three consecutive wins at home.
Over the period of 1976-78, the club had six managers, all of whom managed a substantial number of games. In the second half of ’78, the team finally got the right guy with Jim Fregosi and the 1979 California Angels rewarded the fans and owner Gene Autry with their first AL West title.