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Record - 70-91, Finished Ninth Place in the American League
Pythagorean Record - 73-88

Starters

Hitters (BA/OBP/SLG)

C - Buck Rodgers (.233/.303/.293)
1b - Lee Thomas (.220/.301/.316)
2b - Billy Moran (.275/.310/.375)
3b - Felix Torres (.261/.307/.361)
SS - Jim Fregosi (.287/.325/.422)
LF - Leon Wagner (.291/.352/.456)
CF - Albie Pearson (.304/.402/.398)
RF - Bob Perry (.253/.300/.361)

Team Leaders

Homeruns - Leon Wagner (26)
Batting Average - Albie Pearson (.304)
OPS - Leon Wagner (.808)
Best Fielder - Lee Thomas (10 Fielding Runs Above Average)

Pitchers (IP/W/ERA)

SP - Ken McBride (251/13/3.26)
SP - Dean Chance (248/13/3.19)
SP - Don Lee (154/8/3.68)
SP - Bo Belinsky (76.7/2/5.75)
SP - Bob Turley (87.3/2/3.30)
CL - Julio Navarro (90.3/4/2.89)

Team Leaders

Wins - Ken McBride, Dean Chance (13)
ERA - Dean Chance (3.19)
Strikeouts - Dean Chance (168)
Saves - Julio Navarro (12)

While 1962 was a step in the right direction for the francshise, 1963 was pretty much two steps back. The Angels pretty much returned all of their lineup and just about all of them had a worse season in 1962. The Angels did see the emergence of Jim Fregosi as a regular at shortstop and Dean Chance once again put together a solid season.

On May 8, 1963, the Angels had a solid 15-14 record and they were a game and a half back of first place in a very tight American League race. On June 29, 1963, they were 41-38 and while they were 5 1/2 games back of a red hot Yankees team, they still had their heads above water. Then the bottom fell out from under them and the Angels lost ten straight games to start a stretch where they’d go 29-53, the worst record from that point on in the American League.

When you combine mediocre pitching with poor hitting, you get a bad combination. Leon Wagner led the team with 26 homeruns (good for ninth in the American League) but no other Angel hit more then nine homeruns. Albie Pearson contended for a batting title and he finished fourth with a .304 mark but other then that, the only above average hitter the Angels had was shortstop Jim Fregosi. Even Wagner’s numbers were a little deceiving. He finished with the 26 homeruns, but he had only eleven doubles and one triple.

The end result was the eighth best slugging percentage (.354) and the seventh best on base percentage (.307) in the American League. The team scored 597 runs, which was ninth in the AL and they were ninth in homeruns with 95. Other then Albie Pearson, the team couldn’t draw walks and the Angels were ninth in the AL with 448.

Unfortunately, while the pitching was decent, it was good enough to make up for the poor offense. Dean Chance had another nice year and he was a season away from a breakout campaign. To show for it, he went 13-18 despite sporting a team best 3.19 ERA. Ken McBride was the only starter to finish with a winning record and even that was just barely done. He finished 13-12 and he had an ERA just a touch above Chance’s.

The Angels would bounce back to a certain extent in 1964 but that’s another story (the Dean Chance story).

Record - 86-76, Finished Third Place in the American League
Pythagorean Record - 82-80

Starters

Hitters (BA/OBP/SLG)

C - Buck Rodgers (.258/.309/.372)
1b - Lee Thomas (.290/.355/.467)
2b - Billy Moran (.282/.324/.407)
3b - Felix Torres (.259/.306/.392)
SS - Joe Koppe (.227/.352/.301)
LF - Leon Wagner (.268/.326/.500)
CF - Albie Pearson (.261/.360/.352)
RF - George Thomas (.238/.320/.381)

Team Leaders

Homeruns - Leon Wagner (37)
Batting Average - Lee Thomas (.290)
OPS - Leon Wagner (.826)
Best Fielder - Billy Moran (18 Fielding Runs Above Average)

Pitchers (IP/W/ERA)

SP - Ken McBride (149.3/11/3.50)
SP - Eli Grba (176.3/8/4.54)
SP - Ted Bowsfield (139/9/4.40)
SP - Bo Belinsky (187.3/10/3.56)
SP - Don Lee (149.3/8/3.11)
SP - Dean Chance (206.7/14/2.96)
CL - Tom Morgan (58.7/5/2.91)

Team Leaders

Wins - Dean Chance (14)
ERA - Dean Chance (2.96)
Strikeouts - Bo Belinsky (145)
Saves - Tom Morgan (9)

The 1962 Angels won 16 more games then there 1961 counterparts and in only the second season of the frachchise, they had topped the .500 mark.  They finished in third place in the American League, ten games behind the first place New York Yankees and five games behind the second place Minnesota Twins.

The teams hitting was pretty mediocre.  The Angels finished in the second division in just about every offensive category and they were eighth in the league with a .380 slugging percentage.  The leaders on offense were Leon Wagner and Lee Thomas.  Wagner set a franchise record with 37 homeruns and 107 RBIs. The 37 homeruns put him at third in the American League and he was fifth in the league in RBIs.  He finished fourth in the MVP voting and even won the MVP of the All Star Game.  He finished three for four with a homerun, two RBIs and a run.

Lee Thomas was right behind Wagner.  He led the team in hitting (.290) and hit 26 homeruns with 104 RBIs.  Centerfielder Albie Pearson also had a solid 1962 campaign.  His 115 runs led the American League and the former rookie of the year walked 95 times.

Rookie Dean Chance was the teams leader on the mound.  He led the team in innings pitched (206.7), wins (14), ERA (2.96) and he was even second in saves with eight.  His 2.96 ERA was good for fourth in the American League and he was the only Angel to throw 200 innings. 

The Angels peaked on July 21, 1962.  After a five game winning streak, the Angels stood at 53-40 and were in second place, 3 1/2 games behind the first place Yankees.  They made one final push and on August 8, 1962, the team had finished a four game winning streak and they were 4 1/2 games back of the Yankees but after that, the Angels went 22-27 to finish the season and dropped into third place.

Things definitely appeared to be on the upswing for the Angels after this solid 1962 season.  Unfortunately, there were some holes that might explain why this team never got over the hump.  They outplayed their Pythagorean Win/Loss by four games and while their team ERA was second in the American League, they were sixth in runs against so their pitching staff looked better then it really was.

Record - 70-91, Finished Eighth Place in the American League
Pythagorean Record - 77-84

Starters

Hitters (BA/OBP/SLG)

C - Earl Averill (.266/.384/.489)
1b - Steve Bilko (.279/.395/.544)
2b - Ken Aspromonte (.223/.322/.290)
3b - Eddie Yost (.202/.358/263)
SS - Joe Koppe (.251/.339/.343)
LF - Leon Wagner (.280/.348/.517)
CF - Ken Hunt (.255/.325/.484)
RF - Albie Pearson (.288/.420/.400)

Team Leaders

Homeruns - Leon Wagner (28)
Batting Average - Albie Pearson (.288)
OPS - Steve Bilko (.939)
Best Fielder - Ken Aspermonte (11 Fielding Runs Above Average)

Pitchers (IP/W/ERA)

SP - Ken McBride (241.7/12/3.65)
SP - Eli Grba (211.7/11/4.25)
SP - Ted Bowsfield (157/11/3.73)
SP - Ron Moeller (112.7/4/5.83)
CL - Art Fowler (89/5/3.64)
CL - Tom Morgan (91.7/8/2.36)

Team Leaders

Wins - Ken McBride (12)
ERA - Tom Morgan (2.36)
Strikeouts - Ken McBride (180)
Saves - Art Fowler (11)

The Angels inaugural season wasn’t a complete failure.  While the team was on their way to an eighth place finish in the American League, there were actually two teams that finished behind them, including the expansion Washington Senators.  They did way better then the National League expansion teams that rolled out in 1962, which included the infamous 1962 New York Mets.  They also seriously underperformed their pythagorean win/loss.  The won seven fewer games then they should have based on the runs they gave up and the runs they scored and had they played to their potential, they would have moved up two spots in the standings.

The team won their season opener 7-2 against the Orioles on April 11, 1961.  They scored three runs in the first, and then four in the second, knocking Orioles starter Milt Papas out of the game in the second inning.  Ted Kluszewski hit the first and second homeruns in the franchise’s history and he drove in five RBIs.  Kluszewski would eventually yield the starting spot at first base to Steve Bilko and would be used mostly as a pinch hitter in the second half of the season.  Eli Grba won the first game in franchise history with a complete game six hitter.  He gave up two runs (one earned) on six hits and four walks with five strikeouts.

The Angels then lost their next eight games and it wasn’t until the team was over two weeks into the season when they won their first home game, which was played at Wrigley Field, where they’d play only one season.  No, not Chicago’s Wrigley Field.  William Wrigley at one time owned both the Cubs and the Pacific Coast League Los Angeles Angels and he built a stadium that was similar to Chicago’s Wrigley in Los Angeles.  For more information about the team’s stadiums through out the years, you should check out this Hardball Times column.

In mid-May, the Angels had another tough stretch and lost seven in a row.  By that time, they were 9-19.  At the All Star Break, the team was an unimpressive 35-51 and that was after a six game winning streak near the end of the first half.  They played two All-Star games in 1961 and no Angels got into either game.

The team then went into September without any real chance of winning their first pennant.  From the All-Star Break through September 16, 1961, the team actually played .500 ball before losing eight straight.  Between the second half and the team’s pythagorean win/loss, the team had something to build on.

While the team didn’t have a player who hit 30 homeruns, five different players hit 20 and the team as a whole hit 189 homeruns, good for second in the American League.  They were also one of the worst hitting teams and their .245 batting average was the second worst in the league.  They led the league in walks drawn (681) but they were also first in strikeouts (1,068)

The pitchers didn’t fare as well.  The team’s ERA (4.31) was the second worst in the American League although the team played in an extreme hitters park (park factor of 111) so their ERA+ ended up at 105, which was above average.  The team was dead last in complete games (25) and they finished eighth in the league with eight shutouts.  The team gave up both the most walks (713) and the most homeruns (180) in the league, but they were first in strikeouts with 973.

For more information on the Angels and their early years, I highly recommend you check out this Hardball Times column.