1968 California Angels season

1968 California Angels
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1961)
Location
Anaheim Stadium (since 1966)
Anaheim, California (since 1966)
Other information
Owner(s)	Gene Autry
General manager(s)	Fred Haney, Dick Walsh
Manager(s)	Bill Rigney
Local television	KTLA
Local radio	KMPC (Buddy Blattner, Don Wells, Steve Bailey)
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The 1968 California Angels season involved the Angels finishing 8th in the American League with a record of 67 wins and 95 losses.

Offseason

• October 9, 1967: Bill Skowron was released by the Angels.^[1]
• November 28, 1967: Elrod Hendricks was drafted from the Angels by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1967 rule 5 draft.^[2]
• November 29, 1967: Bill Kelso and Jorge Rubio were traded by the Angels to the Cincinnati Reds for Sammy Ellis.^[3]
• January 27, 1968: Paul Reuschel was drafted by the Angels in the 3rd round of the secondary phase of the 1968 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.^[4]
• Prior to 1968 season: Merritt Ranew was acquired from the Angels by the New York Yankees.^[5]

Regular season

Season standings

American League	W	L	Pct.	GB
Detroit Tigers	103	59	.636	–
Baltimore Orioles	91	71	.562	12
Cleveland Indians	86	75	.534	16½
Boston Red Sox	86	76	.531	17
New York Yankees	83	79	.512	20
Oakland Athletics	82	80	.506	21
Minnesota Twins	79	83	.488	24
California Angels	67	95	.414	36
Chicago White Sox	67	95	.414	36
Washington Senators	65	96	.404	37½

Record vs. opponents

1968 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	MIN	NYY	OAK	WSH
Baltimore	—	9–9	10–8	11–7	7–11	8–10	10–8	13–5	9–9	14–4
Boston	9–9	—	9–9	14–4	10–8	6–12	9–9	10–8	8–10	11–7
California	8–10	9–9	—	8–10	7–11	5–13	7–11	6–12	5–13	12–6
Chicago	7–11	4–14	10–8	—	5–13	5–13	10–8	6–12	10–8	10–8
Cleveland	11–7	8–10	11–7	13–5	—	6–12	14–4	10–8–1	6–12	7–10
Detroit	10–8	12–6	13–5	13–5	12–6	—	10–8	10–8–1	13–5–1	10–8
Minnesota	8–10	9–9	11–7	8–10	4–14	8–10	—	12–6	8–10	11–7
New York	5–13	8–10	12–6	12–6	8–10–1	8–10–1	6–12	—	10–8	14–4
Oakland	9–9	10–8	13–5	8–10	12–6	5–13–1	10–8	8–10	—	7–11
Washington	4–14	7–11	6–12	8–10	10–7	8–10	7–11	4–14	11–7	—

Notable transactions

• July 20, 1968: Woodie Held was traded by the Angels to the Chicago White Sox for Wayne Causey.^[6]

Roster

1968 California Angels
Roster
Pitchers 25 Dennis Bennett 43 George Brunet 39 Tom Burgmeier 31 Pete Cimino 44 Rickey Clark 32 Sammy Ellis 24 Jack Hamilton 17 Bill Harrelson 37 Bob Heffner 31 Steve Kealey 34,47 Bobby Locke 45 Jim McGlothlin 47 Andy Messersmith 41 Tom Murphy 33 Marty Pattin 19 Minnie Rojas 31 Larry Sherry 35 Jim Weaver 38 Clyde Wright		Catchers 30 Tom Egan 48 Orlando McFarlane  7 Buck Rodgers  2 Tom Satriano Infielders 15 Wayne Causey  4 Chuck Cottier 11 Jim Fregosi 15 Woodie Held 26 Chuck Hinton 29 Bobby Knoop 15 Winston Llenas  5 Don Mincher  1 Aurelio Rodríguez 42 Paul Schaal  9 Jim Spencer		Outfielders 28 Vic Davalillo  9 Jimmie Hall 10 Jay Johnstone  8 Ed Kirkpatrick 27 Bubba Morton  3 Rick Reichardt  6 Roger Repoz 55 Jarvis Tatum 12 Bobby Treviño		Manager 18 Bill Rigney Coaches 22 Rocky Bridges 23 Don Heffner 20 Bob Lemon 21 Mike Roarke

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
1B	Mincher, DonDon Mincher	120	399	94	.236	13	48
2B	Knoop, BobbyBobby Knoop	152	494	123	.249	3	39
3B	Rodríguez, AurelioAurelio Rodríguez	76	223	54	.299	1	16
SS	Fregosi, JimJim Fregosi	159	614	150	.244	9	49
LF	Reichardt, RickRick Reichardt	151	534	136	.255	21	73
CF	Davalillo, VicVic Davalillo	93	339	101	.298	1	18
RF	Repoz, RogerRoger Repoz	133	375	90	.240	13	54

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
Held, WoodieWoodie Held	33	45	5	.111	0	0
Treviño, BobbyBobby Treviño	17	40	9	.225	0	1
McFarlane, OrlandoOrlando McFarlane	18	31	9	.290	0	2
Causey, WayneWayne Causey	4	11	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
Brunet, GeorgeGeorge Brunet	39	245.1	13	17	2.86	132
McGlothlin, JimJim McGlothlin	40	208.1	10	15	3.54	135
Clark, RickeyRickey Clark	21	94.1	1	11	3.53	60

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
Ellis, SammySammy Ellis	42	164	9	10	3.95	93
Wright, ClydeClyde Wright	41	125.2	10	6	3.94	71
Messersmith, AndyAndy Messersmith	28	81.1	4	2	2.21	74
Bennett, DennisDennis Bennett	16	48.1	0	5	3.54	36
Harrelson, BillBill Harrelson	10	33.2	1	6	5.08	22

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
Rojas, MinnieMinnie Rojas	38	4	3	6	4.25	33
Burgmeier, TomTom Burgmeier	56	1	4	5	4.33	33
Locke, BobbyBobby Locke	29	2	3	2	6.44	33
Hamilton, JackJack Hamilton	21	3	1	2	3.32	18
Weaver, JimJim Weaver	14	0	1	0	2.38	8
Cimino, PetePete Cimino	4	0	0	0	2.57	2

Awards and honors

1968 All-Star Game

• Jim Fregosi, starter, shortstop

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Seattle Angels	Pacific Coast League	Joe Adcock
AA	El Paso Sun Kings	Texas League	Chuck Tanner
A	San Jose Bees	California League	Harry Dunlop and Del Rice
A	Quad Cities Angels	Midwest League	Fred Koenig and Tom Morgan
Rookie	Idaho Falls Angels	Pioneer League	Tom Sommers and Eddie Bressoud

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: El Paso, Quad Cities

Notes

1. Bill Skowron at Baseball Reference
2. Elrod Hendricks at Baseball Reference
3. Active Reds trade Sammy Ellis
4. Paul Reuschel at Baseball Reference
5. Merritt Ranew page at Baseball-Reference
6. Woodie Held at Baseball Reference

References

• 1968 California Angels team at Baseball Reference
• 1968 California Angels team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
• Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.