Angels End Season but Not Losing Streak

The Angels ended their dismal 1988 season Sunday with a most appropriate record.

By losing to the Minnesota Twins, 3-2, in the Metrodome, the Angels finished with 12 straight losses, breaking the previous club record set in 1974.

“I’m not proud of the record, but we went down with our guns blazing,” said Moose Stubing, who lost all 8 games he directed as the Angels’ interim manager after the release of Cookie Rojas.

The Angels, who finished with a 75-87 record, had runners at first and third with two outs in the ninth against reliever Jeff Reardon. But Bob Boone, who had two singles, grounded to second to end the season.

“We went against their best and had the men on but we came up just short,” Stubing said.

“That’s the way it’s been during this streak,” said second baseman Johnny Ray, who had his 42nd double of the season in the sixth inning. “It’s tough on the whole team. The main objective is winning the division, and you can’t be happy with less.”

The Twins also set a major league record for fewest errors in a season with 84. The previous record of 95 was set by Baltimore in 1964 and equaled by the Orioles in 1980 and Cincinnati in 1977. The Boston Red Sox committed just 93 errors this season.

“We wanted to go out and put on a good show for the fans,” said Minnesota left fielder Dan Gladden, who made a leaping catch at the fence to rob Boone of an extra-base hit in the fifth inning. “This club never relaxes. I think the people got their money’s worth.”

So did Minnesota owner Carl Pohlad. Sunday’s crowd of 35,952 boosted the Twins’ home attendance to 3,030,672, making Minnesota the first American League club to draw more than 3 million fans.

The victory, keyed by Greg Gagne’s 2-run homer and Reardon’s 42nd save, was the Twins’ 91st of the season, their most since 1970. Minnesota finished 91-71, the fourth-best record in the major leagues.

Gagne’s home run, his 14th of the season, came off Willie Fraser (12-13) and gave the Twins a 3-0 lead in the second inning. The homer drove in Al Newman, who had doubled with one out.

Devon White had 2 hits and 2 RBIs for the Angels. He hit a single in the third inning to score Boone and also had a single in the sixth to score Ray.