Angels History Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bo Belinsky

Bo Belinsky did the trick against the Orioles in 1962. Clyde Wright blanked the A's in 1970, and Nolan Ryan tossed no-hitters in an Angel uniform, starting in 1973. Dean Chance threw his no hitter after he was traded to the Twins.

Answer: Alex Johnson

Alex Johnson went 2 for 3 on the last day of the 1970 season, to beat out Carl Yastrzemski for the title, .3290 to .3286. The moody and enigmatic Johnson was traded one year later.

Answer: Dean Chance

Dean Chance won the award in 1964, going 20-9 with a miniscule 1.65 ERA. He also threw 11 shutouts that year, winning six of them 1-0. Before 1967, only one Cy Young award was given for both leagues. Surprisingly, Nolan Ryan never won the Cy Young award.

Answer: Don Baylor

Don Baylor won the award in 1979, helping the Angels win the A.L. West with a .296 batting average, 36 home runs, a league leading 139 RBIs, and a league leading 120 runs scored. He also stole 22 bases and played in all 162 games.

Answer: Mike Witt

Mike Witt tossed a perfecto against the Texas Rangers on the last day of the 1984 season, winning 1-0. Singer threw a no-hitter for the Dodgers in 1970, but it was not a perfect game. None of Nolan Ryan's no-hitters were perfect games.

Answer: Tim Salmon

Despite missing most of September due to injury, Salmon won the award in 1993 with a .283 batting average, 31 home runs, and 93 RBIs.

Answer: Jim Fregosi

Fregosi was an all-star shortstop who was in the twilight of his career.

Answer: Mickey Rivers

Rivers led the league with 70 stolen bases in 1975. Campaneris, who played with the Angels from 1979-81, led the league in steals 6 times, all while playing for the Athletics.

Answer: Troy Glaus

Glaus' clutch hitting earned him the award as the Angels beat the Giants in a thrilling 7 games series.

Answer: Bobby Grich

Grich tied for the A.L. home run lead in the strike shortened 1981 seaon with 22 homers (Eddie Murray, Tony Armas, and Dwight Evans also hit 22). The following year, Reggie Jackson tied with Gorman Thomas to lead the league with 39. Bonds hit 37 for the Angels in 1977, which was good for 2nd behind Jim Rice's 39.

Answer: Frank Robinson

Robinson was nearing the end of his Hall of Fame career. In 127 games as DH (and 17 in the outfield), he hit .266 with 30 homers and 97 RBIs.

Answer: Baltimore Orioles in 4

The Orioles won the series 3 games to 1, and then went on the lose to the Pirates in a seven game World Series.

Answer: Willie Davis

Davis was traded by the Dodgers to the Expos for relief pitcher Mike Marshall in 1974, although he later played for the Angels in 1979. The trade was Andy Messersmith and Ken McMullen to the Dodgers for Frank Robinson, Bobby Valentine, Bill Grabarkewitz, Bill Singer, and Mike Strahler. Messersmith and Singer had the distinction of each being 20 game winners for the Angels and Dodgers.

Answer: Bill Rigney

Rigney was the fiery manager of the Giants from 1958-60 before taking over the Angels in 1961. He managed the Angels until Lefty Phillips replaced him during the 1969 season.

Answer: Wrigley Field

Wrigley field was the home of the Pacific Coast League's Los Angeles Angels. It was owned by the same family that owned the Cubs and was modeled after Wrigley Field in Chicago. They played there during the 1961 season, before moving to Dodger Stadium from 1962-65. Anaheim Stadium opened in 1966. The Dodgers played in the Coliseum from 1958-61 before Dodger Stadium opened in 1962.

Answer: Seattle Mariners

The Angels blew a big lead, only to rally back in the last week of the season to catch the Mariners. Randy Johnson beat them in the playoff in Seattle. The Mariners went on to beat the Yankees in 5 games in the ALDS before losing to the Indians in 6 games in the ALCS.

Answer: 3rd

They shocked the baseball world by being in 1st place on July 4th, and challenging the mighty Yankees into September. They ultimately finished 3rd with an 86-76 record, 10 games back of the eventual world champs. They wouldn't win that many games in a season again until 16 years later when they won 87 games in 1978.

Answer: Rick Reichardt

Reichardt was supposed to be the next Mickey Mantle but never lived up to the hype. He had a kidney removed in 1966, recovered to hit 17 homers in 1967 and 21 in 1968, but his career went downhill after that.

Answer: Washington Senators

This was actually the second team known as the Washington Senators. The original Senators moved to Minnesota and became the Twins. The Royals and Pilots (who became the Milwaukee Brewers) came into the league in 1969. The second Washington Senators later moved to Arlington, TX, and became the Rangers.

Answer: Yankees and Twins

They beat the Yankees in the ALDS 3 games to 1, and they beat the Twins in the ALCS 4 games to 1.