A. L. CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES : California vs. Boston : Ex-General Manager Recalls ‘79, ’82 Teams, Likes Angels’ Chances

Buzzie Bavasi came to the Angels as general manager in October, 1977, replacing the much-criticized Harry Dalton. By the time he retired shortly after the 1984 season, Bavasi had seen the Angels advance to two American League Championship Series--in 1979 and 1982. Both times the Angels lost. Bavasi, who began his career with the Brooklyn Dodgers, inherited an Angel organization that depended on its farm system. Bavasi countered with a philosophy that included active trading and the pursuit of free agents. Among his acquisitions: Reggie Jackson, Doug DeCinces, Tommy John, Andy Hassler, Brian Downing, Don Aase, Rod Carew, Bob Boone, Bruce Kison and Geoff Zahn. Asked to reminisce about the Angels’ playoff past, Bavasi offered these comments:

Question: What kind of chance did you give the Angels to win the 1979 league championship against the Orioles?

Answer: First of all, at that time, the Angels had never participated in the playoffs. But Jimmy (Fregosi, the Angels manager) did a good job getting us there. We felt like we had a club that could win it all.

Q: Does any one play stick out from that series?

A: The day I’ll never forget is when (Nolan) Ryan walked off with a twinge in his leg and Bobby Grich dropped a pop fly. That hurt because we knew, well, at least I thought, for a fact that we had a better team than Baltimore. Inexperience might have had something to do with it. You have to keep in mind that in ’79 we didn’t have the greatest club in the world. . . . This club today is a better club. They’ve got more pitching.

Q: But didn’t Ryan make up for some of the weaknesses on the 1979 staff?

A: The only thing about Ryan was that you knew he was going to be ready. (Frank) Tanana, he was not the pitcher he was three years prior to that. I don’t know for sure, I wasn’t around then. But he was more of a power pitcher then, wasn’t he? We didn’t have the pitching depth at all that this club has.

Q: What hurt more to watch: the loss in the 1979 or 1982 playoff series?

A: In ‘82, when we lost, that was to me more painful than the 1951 Bobby Thompson home run (which enabled the New York Giants to beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in the deciding game of three-game playoff for the National League pennant). We had it right in our grasps. We had it right there and we just let it go.

Q: Still think about it, do you?

A: Every night. For only one reason: It’s something Gene Autry deserved and wanted and we had it right there. Maybe the players didn’t want it as bad as the two Genes (Autry and Mauch) and I wanted it. We might have been overconfident. We just went in there and thought that we had it, that all we had to do was win one more game. It was just that Milwaukee wanted it more.

Q: In Game 5 of the 1982 ALCS, Charlie Moore hit a one-out bloop single that Grich just missed. The Brewers went on to load the bases and score two runs and win the game. In Game 4 of the 1979 ALCS, Doug DeCinces, who was playing for the Orioles, saved two runs with a great defensive play. Did those plays ruin the Angels?

A: Those are part of a baseball game. You can’t pick out one thing in baseball and say, ‘This is it.’ One hit does not make a baseball game.

Q: Who were the characters from the 1979 team?

A: (Don) Baylor and Nolan, of course. (Brian) Downing, he made a great impact. Grich, Baylor, Ryan, Downing; Joe Rudi was with the club. Teams have personality--the 1955 Dodgers. I don’t think the ’79 team had a personality because it was the first time (to the playoffs) for most of them. They didn’t realize this was a big thing in the baseball world.

It was a team made up of a lot of different personalities, but the team itself did not have a personality. It didn’t realize what it had done.

Q: What about the 1982 Angels?

A: The ’82 club knew what it had to do. It was a little older, players had been through it before. (Reggie) Jackson went through it with other clubs. There were others. Maybe that’s one reason I felt that we should have won.

Q: Maybe an unfair question, but who would you take to win it all: the 1982 or 1986 Angels?

A: The ’82 club had Baylor and Carew. If Baylor were on this club here, they would win. This club has better pitching, no doubt in my mind. Here you have potentially four 20-game winners, and I’m including Candelaria. The best pitcher on that (‘82) club was (Geoff) Zahn, I guess. We had (Mike) Witt, but he was young. He was the Kirk McCaskill of that club.

Q: Your thoughts about the 1986 Angels and their chances of making it to the World Series?

A: I like this club. . . . I think this club has a great chance, with or without (Roger) Clemens. I think this is the kind of club that Gene (Mauch) can take all the way through.