The 1981 California Angels season was the 21st season of the California Angels franchise in the American League, the 16th in Anaheim, and their 16th season playing their home games at Anaheim Stadium. The Angels finished with the fifth best overall record in the American League West with 51 wins and 59 losses. The season was suspended for 50 days due to the infamous 1981 players' strike and the league chose as its playoff teams the division winners from the first and second halves of the season.
Offseason December 2, 1980: Geoff Zahn was signed as a free agent by the Angels.Geoff Zahn at Baseball Reference December 8, 1980: Dan Whitmer was drafted from the Angels by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1980 rule 5 draft.Dan Whitmer at Baseball Reference January 13, 1981: Ron Romanick was drafted by the California Angels in the 1st round (4th pick) of the 1981 amateur draft (secondary phase). January 23, 1981: Joe Rudi, Frank Tanana and Jim Dorsey were traded by the Angels to the Boston Red Sox for Fred Lynn and Steve Renko.Joe Rudi at Baseball Reference February 2, 1981: Dave Rader was signed as a free agent by the Angels.Dave Rader at Baseball Reference February 2, 1981: Dave Skaggs was released by the Angels.Dave Skaggs at Baseball Reference
Regular season
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable transactions April 20, 1981: Dave Rader was released by the Angels. June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball draft Dick Schofield was drafted by the Angels in the 1st round (3rd pick).Dick Schofield at Baseball Reference Devon White was drafted by the Angels in the 6th round. Player signed June 13, 1981.Devon White at Baseball Reference
Roster 1981 California Angels Roster Pitchers Catchers
Infielders Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches
Player stats
= Indicates team leader
= Indicates league leader 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 Ed Ott 75 258 56 .217 2 22 1B Rod Carew 93 364 111 .305 2 21 2B Bobby Grich 100 352 107 .304 22* 61 SS Rick Burleson 109 430 126 .293 5 33 3B Butch Hobson 85 268 63 .235 4 36 LF Brian Downing 93 317 79 .249 9 41 CF 76 256 56 .219 5 31 RF Dan Ford 97 375 104 .277 15 48 DH Don Baylor 103 377 90 .239 17 66 Tied with Tony Armas (Oakland), Dwight Evans (Boston) and Eddie Murray (Baltimore)
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 Juan Beníquez 58 166 30 .181 3 13 Bobby Clark 34 88 22 .250 4 19 Larry Harlow 43 82 17 .207 0 4 Bert Campaneris 55 82 21 .256 1 10 John Harris 36 77 19 .247 3 9 15 52 14 .269 1 7 Freddie Patek 27 47 11 .234 0 5 Tom Brunansky 11 33 5 .152 3 6 Joe Ferguson 12 30 7 .233 1 5 Steve Lubratich 7 21 3 .143 0 1 Brian Harper 4 11 3 .273 0 1 Bob Davis 1 2 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 25 161.1 10 11 4.41 52 Ken Forsch 20 153.0 11 7 2.88 55 Mike Witt 22 129.0 8 9 3.28 75 Steve Renko 22 102.0 8 4 3.44 50 Dave Frost 12 47.1 1 8 5.51 16 Doug Rau 3 10.1 1 2 8.71 3 Bill Travers 4 9.2 0 1 8.38 5
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 Jesse Jefferson 26 77.0 2 4 3.62 27 Bruce Kison 11 44.0 1 1 3.48 19 Ángel Moreno 8 31.1 1 3 2.87 12
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 Don Aase 39 4 4 11 2.34 38 Andy Hassler 42 4 3 5 3.21 44 Luis Sánchez 17 0 2 2 2.94 13 John D'Acquisto 6 0 0 0 10.71 8 Mickey Mahler 6 0 0 0 0.00 5 Alfredo Martínez 2 0 0 0 3.00 4
Farm system
Notes
References
External links 1981 California Angels at Baseball Reference 1981 California Angels at Baseball Almanac