Mario Guerrero signed with the San Francisco Giants as a free agent in December 1977. But Mario never played for the Giants during the regular season. On April 7 he was sent to the Oakland A's as a player to be named later in the Vida Blue trade.
Guerrero had career highs in most categories in 1978. He was the starting shortstop for the A's for most of the season.
Mario was replaced as the starting shortstop by Rob Picciolo in 1979 and he split time with Picciolo in 1980.
1978 Stats: .275, 3 HR, 38 RBI in 143 games
1978 Highlights:
April 19 - Had four hits in Oakland's 6-5 win over the Minnesota Twins.
April 29 - Knocked in four of Oakland's five runs as the A's beat the Cleveland Indians 5-1.
This was Jim Fregosi's last year as a player. Jim's career was winding down and in late May California Angels owner Gene Autry wanted him to manage his ballclub. Autry got the Pirates to release Fregosi on June 1 and Jim was managing the Angels a couple of days later. Jim had a 62-54 record as manager in 1978 as the Angels finished second in the AL West.
1978 Stats: .200 (4 for 20) in 20 games
1978 Highlights:
May 24 - Singled in a pinch hitting appearance in the bottom of the 10th inning. Jim eventually came around to score the winning run in Pittsburgh's 6-5 win over the New York Mets.
Andy Etchebarren was sold to the Milwaukee Brewers before the 1978 season. Etchebarren was expected to compete with Larry Haney for a position as a backup catcher. There was speculation that whoever didn't make the team would end up as a bullpen coach or have another job in the organization. Etchebarren won the job and Haney was released at the end of spring training. But Haney was activated in September and appeared in four games.
Andy played in four games in April, was placed on the disabled list with elbow chips in May, had elbow surgery in June and retired after the season.
This is a surprising card in the 1978 set. Gary Ross pitched his last major league game on July 8, 1977. There is no transaction record on baseball reference for Ross in 1978 and he didn't pitch in the minors. It appears that he had an injury in 1977 and wasn't able to come back.
Gil Flores was signed by the Baltimore out of Puerto Rico in 1970. Flores was released by the Orioles in April 1971 and resigned in June. He played well in Rookie League in 1971, but Gil didn't show much in Class A Miami in 1972.
Flores was drafted out of the Baltimore system after the 1972 season. Gil put up good stats as a speedy outfielder in various minor league stops from 1973-1977.
Gil got off to a good start in AAA Salt Lake City in 1977 and was called up in early May. Gil batted .278 in 104 games for the Angels in 1977.
Flores started the 1978 season in Salt Lake City. On July 28 he was traded to the New York Mets for Pepe Mangual. He played for AAA Tidewater until the end of August and then was called up to the Mets. Gil batted .276 (8 for 29) in 11 games for the Mets.
Gil spent the entire 1979 season with the Mets, but he batted only .194 in 93 at bats. Gil played in 70 games, mostly as a defensive replacement and pinch runner. That was the last major league action Flores would see.
Flores played in Tidewater from 1980-1984. He played in the Mexican League in 1985. Gil ended up with a .298 lifetime average in 14 minor league seasons.
1978 Stats:
Salt Lake City Gulls: .279, 2 HR, 33 RBI in 76 games
Tidewater Tides: .270, 0 HR, 6 RBI in 26 games
New York Mets: .276 (8 for 29) in 11 games
1978 Highlights:
Sept 15 - Had two hits and two runs scored to help the Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-4.
Dyar Miller had his best season in 1978. Miller was the oldest pitcher on the California staff. It was a young staff -- Miller was 32 years old.
1978 Stats: 6-2, 1 save, 2.66 ERA in 41 games
1978 Highlights:
July 2 - Pitched three scoreless innings and earned the win in California's 4-3 victory over the Texas Rangers.
July 23 - Entered the game with 2 out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th inning. The Angels lost the game on a passed ball by Brian Downing. Miller must have been injured on the play -- he didn't pitch another game until August 22.
In a hitter's year like 1977 it was rare to see low ERAs (especially in the American League).
John Candelaria led the NL in ERA for the only time in his career in 1977. He had some nice years in his long career, but none of them was as good as his 1977 season.
Frank Tanana also had his only ERA title in 1977. He had three really nice years in a row (1975-1977) during the fastball phase of his career. After an arm injury in 1979, Frank reinvented himself as an off-speed pitcher and enjoyed a long career.
Hall of Fame count
National League: 2 - Tom Seaver and Steve Carlton
American League: 5 - Bert Blyleven, Nolan Ryan, Jim Palmer, Gaylord Perry, Dennis Eckersley
Fans of the Atlanta Braves didn't have much to cheer about in 1977. Phil Niekro led the NL in strikeouts for the only time in his career. He easily outdistanced hard-throwing J.R. Richard.
Nolan Ryan led the AL in strikeouts for the fifth time in 1977. Ryan led the AL in strikeouts nine times and led the NL in strikeouts twice.
Hall of Fame count:
National League: 3 - Phil Niekro, Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver
American League: 4 - Nolan Ryan, Jim Palmer, Bert Blyleven, Gaylord Perry
Dave Chalk played all over the infield in 1978. He spent the bulk of his time (92 games) at shortstop and he also played about 20 games each at third base and at second base.
This was Dave's last season as a full-time player. He was a backup infielder from 1979-1981.
Bobby Bonds played for two teams in 1978 and neither one of them was the California Angels. After the 1977 season Bonds was traded (with Thad Bosley and Rich Dotson) to the Chicago White Sox for Brian Downing, Chris Knapp, and David Frost. Bonds played in games for the White Sox and then on May 16 was traded to the Texas Rangers for Rusty Torres and Claudell Washington.
Bobby had his last 30-30 season in 1978 -- he hit 31 home runs and stole 43 bases.
Here is a promo video that Bonds did for bat day in 1978:
1978 Stats:
Chicago White Sox: .278, 2 HR, 8 RBI in 26 games
Texas Rangers: .265, 29 HR, 82 RBI in 130 games
TOTAL: .267, 31 HR, 90 RBI in 156 games
1978 Highlights:
June 23 - Went 3 for 3 with two home runs and six RBI to lead the Rangers to a 7-0 victory over the California Angels.
July 28 - Homered twice and knocked in four runs as the Rangers beat the White Sox 9-5.
Sept 25 - Hit a home run in the bottom of the 8th inning and scored the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning in the Rangers' 3-2 win over the Minnesota Twins.
Gary Nolan had already thrown his last major league pitch by the time this card came out. Nolan struggled through injuries in 1977 and was unable to bounce back. Gary was released by the Angels in January 1978 and later signed with the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers cut Nolan during spring training and Gary retired.
Terry Humphrey lost his starting catcher job to Brian Downing in 1978. This was Humphrey's last full season -- he was released in 1979 after playing in only nine games.
1978 Stats: .219, 1 HR, 9 RBI in 53 games
1978 Highlights:
May 5 - Went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and a run scored in California's 5-0 victory over the Cleveland Indians
May 19 - Had three hits as the Angels beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-1
Don Baylor's second year with the California Angels was a lot better than his first year. Baylor signed with the Angels as a free agent before the 1977 season and many fans gave him a hard time when he and the other big money free agents (Joe Rudi, Bob Grich) didn't meet expectations. Baylor set career highs in home runs and RBI in 1978 and finished seventh in AL MVP voting. Don would do even better in 1979 when he won the MVP and led the club to the AL West title.
1978 Stats: .255, 34 HR, 99 RBI, 103 runs in 158 games
1978 Highlights:
April 16 - Scored both California runs as the Angels beat the Oakland A's 2-1 in 11 innings.
May 7 - Went 4 for 4 with three runs scored and a three-run home run in California's 16-3 hammering of the Cleveland Indians.
Bobby Grich still was hampered a bit by the back injury and surgery he had the previous year. Grich would bounce back in 1979 and have some good power years (including leading the league in HR in 1981).
1978 Stats:
.251, 6 HR, 42 RBI in 144 games
1978 Highlights:
May 24 - Hit a home run in California's 4-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox. The win put the Angels in first place in the AL West.
Sept 4 - Knocked in four runs to help the Angels beat the Texas Rangers 8-7. The win kept the Angels one game behind the division leading Kansas City Royals.
Nolan Ryan just doesn't look right with the "70s hair" look.
Ryan finished his career with 215 games of 10 or more strikeouts. He had 148 in the American League and 67 in the National League.
Randy Johnson has come the closest to breaking this record. Johnson had 114 10-strikeout games in the National League and 94 10-strikeout games in the American League (a total of 208).
Johnson struck out 10 or more in a game 23 times in 1999, 2000, and 2001. Ryan struck out 10 or more 23 times in 1973.
