#5 09/25/79 – Anaheim Stadium - 1979 A.L. West Title

It took a convergence of stars for the Angels to finally win their first divisional title. Jim Fregosi, the star of their first decade, was back for his first full season as the team’s manager. Brian Downing was having a breakout year as the team’s catcher, batting .326. Former AL MVP Rod Carew batted .318 during his first year in Anaheim at 1B. Bobby Grich busted out for 30 HR and 101 RBI for the only time in his career at 2B. Don Baylor won the MVP for his career year in LF. Carney Lansford had a superb sophomore year at 3B. Dan Ford put up the best numbers of his career playing RF. Dave Frost won practically as many games (16) in ’79 as he did for the rest of his career combined (17). Nolan Ryan and Frank Tanana were wrapping up their Angel careers at the end of a decade in which they were the team’s face, heart, and soul.

This veteran team won 88 games, spending 119 days in first place and winning the division by three games over the Royals. Everything seemed to come together during a July sweep of the defending champion Yankees. It was during that series that the fans began chanting “Yes we can!” willing the team to victory whenever the going got tough. The slogan seemed to epitomize the spirit of this team, winning despite significant injuries to Carew, Tanana, and DH Willie Atkins.

But it was their Sept. 25 game against the Royals that will forever be remembered by the Angel faithful. Sitting one win away from clinching their first division title, the Angels’ offense got things started in the bottom of the second. Don Baylor drew a walk. Then Rod Carew singled to left. Brian Downing muscled a single to right, plating Baylor for the first run and sending Carew to third. A wild pitch to Bobby Grich allowed Carew to score the second run and put Downing in scoring position. Grich grounded out, but Larry Harlow singled to right, scoring Downing for the third run. The Angels added another run in the fifth when Dan Ford singled, advanced to second on Carew’s base hit, and then came home on Downing’s second hit of the night.

Frank Tanana, meanwhile, was pitching a gem in the biggest start of his career. Even though he’d just returned from the disabled list earlier that month, he was in top form, retiring the first ten batters he faced. He allowed one run on a pair of hits in the fourth, but settled down and cruised the rest of the way, not allowing another run in his five-hit complete game masterpiece. With a runner on first with two outs in the ninth, he induced Darrell Porter to bounce the ball to Carew, who tossed the ball over to Tanana covering the bag for the final out.

The Angels had done it! They had finally won their first divisional title after 18 years of futility and disappointment in which they’d only had five winning seasons, and one second place finish. But that was the past; and at this moment, they felt like they were on top of the world.