The 1967

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

season involved the Angels finishing 5th in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

with a record of 84 wins and 77 losses, 7½ games behind the AL Champion

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eig ...

Offseason

* October 18, 1966:

Jimmy Piersall James Anthony Piersall (November 14, 1929 – June 3, 2017) was an American baseball center fielder who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for five teams, from 1950 through 1967. Piersall was best known for his well-publicized b ...

was released by the California Angels.Jim Piersall
at ''Baseball Reference'' * November 28, 1966:

Ramón Hernández Ramón José Hernández Marin (; born May 20, 1976) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Oakland Athletics (1999–2003), San Diego Padres (2004–2005), Baltimore Orioles ...

was drafted from the Angels by the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in B ...

in the 1966 rule 5 draft. * November 29, 1966: Mike White and Don Furnald (minors) were traded by the Angels to the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

for Chris Krug and Wayne Schurr.Chris Krug
at ''Baseball Reference'' * December 2, 1966: The Angels traded

Dean Chance Wilmer Dean Chance (June 1, 1941 – October 11, 2015) was an American professional baseball player. A right-handed pitcher,https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/chancde01.shtml Dean Chance Page at Baseball-Reference.com he played in 11 Maj ...

and a player to be named later to the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area ...

for Don Mincher,

Jimmie Hall Jimmie Randolph Hall (born March 7, 1938) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and left-handed batter who played eight seasons in the big leagues. A two-time All-Star, Hall made his debut with the Minnesota Twins (1963–66), followed ...

, and Pete Cimino. The Angels completed the deal by sending Jackie Hernández to the Twins on April 10, 1967. * December 14, 1966:

Norm Siebern Norman Leroy Siebern (July 26, 1933 – October 30, 2015) was an American professional baseball player and scout. He appeared in 1,406 games over a 12-year career in Major League Baseball as a first baseman and left fielder for the New York Yanke ...

was traded by the Angels to the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

for

Len Gabrielson Leonard Gary Gabrielson (born February 14, 1940) is a retired outfielder in Major League Baseball. He graduated from the University of Southern California and played in the majors from 1960 through 1970, initially signing with the Milwaukee Brave ...

Regular season

The 1967 Angels broke from the past, trading their ace pitcher and 1964

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Ha ...

winner

to the Twins. In exchange, they obtained power hitting first baseman Don Mincher. Mincher would be their first legitimate consistent power threat since

Leon Wagner Leon Lamar Wagner (May 13, 1934 – January 3, 2004) was an American professional baseball left fielder who played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants (–, ), St. Louis Cardinals (), Los Angeles Angels (–), Cleveland In ...

was traded after the 1963 season. The Angels also obtained outfielder

, who had averaged 25 home runs per season for the Twins from 1963–66. The Angels counted on young pitchers Jim McGlothlin and

Rickey Clark Rickey Charles Clark (born March 21, 1946) is a retired American professional baseball player and right-handed pitcher who appeared in all or parts of five seasons in Major League Baseball for the California Angels. At 21, Clark had a highly pr ...

to pick up the slack for the departed Chance. The 1967 Angels had the second best record in franchise history to date and ranked a franchise best to date 4th in the American League in attendance. Mincher chipped in 25 homers and Hall added 16 in 129 games. Former bonus baby Rick Reichardt finally started showing promise by batting .265 with 17 homers, while

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

Jim Fregosi James Louis Fregosi (April 4, 1942 – February 14, 2014) was an American professional baseball shortstop and manager, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , primarily for the Los Angeles / California Angels. He also played for th ...

had another solid season, batting .290 and earning a

Gold Glove The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

. Second baseman Bobby Knoop also won a Gold Glove, and the Angels led the league in

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

. The pitching staff was led by McGlothlin, who was named to the AL All-Star team, along with Clark and hard luck veteran

George Brunet George Stuart Brunet (June 8, 1935 – October 25, 1991) was an American professional baseball pitcher who also went on to a Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame career in Mexico. Brunet pitched for nine different Major League clubs dur ...

, who lost 19 games despite a 3.31 ERA. Relief pitcher Minnie Rojas had a remarkable season, with a league-leading 27 saves, winning 12 games in relief, and sporting a 2.52 ERA.

Season summary

The Angels, coming off an 80–82 record in 1966, started slowly. On May 31, they were 18–27 and 10 games out of first place. At that point, they began to jell, and after going 20–11 in June and 17–11 in July, they found themselves at 55–49. While this put them in fifth place, they were only 4½ games out of first in what had become a five-team race between the Angels,

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

, and the surprising

. On August 13, the Angels completed a 3-game sweep of the Red Sox. They were now only 1½ games out of first as they embarked on a crucial road trip that included stops in Minnesota and Boston. The Angels lost 3 games to the Twins, and 3 games in Boston (in one of which Boston's

Tony Conigliaro Anthony Richard Conigliaro (January 7, 1945 – February 24, 1990), nicknamed "Tony C" and "Conig", was a Major League Baseball outfielder and right-handed batter who played for the Boston Red Sox (1964–1967, 1969–1970, 1975) and California ...

was severely beaned and almost killed by the Angels' Jack Hamilton). When they returned home, the Angels lost 3 out of 4 to the Tigers, and they entered September only 1 game over .500 and 8 games out of first. They played well in September, going 17–11 to finish 84–77, but never got closer than 6 games out of first. However, they had a big influence on the tight American League pennant race as they beat the Tigers in Detroit in the last game of the season, enabling the Red Sox to win the pennant by 1 game.

Opening Day lineup

José Cardenal José Rosario Domec Cardenal (born October 7, 1943) is a Cuban American former professional baseball outfielder, who played Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants (1963–64), Los Angeles/California Angels (1965–67), Cl ...

, CF *

, SS * Rick Reichardt, LF * Don Mincher, 1B *

, RF * Bobby Knoop, 2B *

Buck Rodgers Robert Leroy "Buck" Rodgers (born August 16, 1938) is a former catcher, manager and coach in Major League Baseball. He managed three major league teams: the Milwaukee Brewers (1980–1982), Montreal Expos (1985–1991) and California Angels (19 ...

, C * Paul Schaal, 3B *

, P

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions

* April 10, 1967: Jimmy Piersall was signed as a free agent by the Angels. * May 6, 1967: Cotton Nash and cash were traded by the Angels to the

for Bill Skowron. * May 12, 1967: Jimmy Piersall was released by the Angels. * June 8, 1967: Chris Krug was released by the Angels. * June 15, 1967:

Marcelino López Marcelino Pons López (September 23, 1943 – November 29, 2001) was a Cuban professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher in and from through , most notably as a member of the Baltimore Orioles ...

and Tom Arruda (minors) were traded by the Angels to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

for Woodie Held. * August 7, 1967: The Angels sent a player to be named later to the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

for Jim Weaver. The Angels completed the deal by sending Héctor Torres to the Astros on November 21.Jim Weaver
at ''Baseball Reference''

Roster

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''

Other batters

''Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in''

Pitching

Starting pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Other pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Relief pitchers

''Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts''

Awards and honors

AL All-Stars *

* Jim McGlothlin * Don Mincher

Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

, SS * Bobby Knoop, 2B

Farm system

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: San Jose

Notes

References

1967 California Angels team
at ''Baseball Reference''
1967 California Angels team page at www.baseball-almanac.com
* {{Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Los Angeles Angels seasons California Angels season Los