Heathcliff Hammers Halos

Oakland, CA - The defending AL West champions lost half their pitching staff in Free Agency, but they do return Don Sutton and 31-home run backstop Cliff Johnson and that pair led them to an opening day romp in Oakland of the visiting Angels. Angels starter Wayne Simpson couldn't find the strike zone and the bullpen wasn't much more accurate for the visitors. California finished last in the AL West with a 72-90 record a year ago but are considered a dark horse to contend with the likes of Don Baylor, Fred Lynn and Reggie Jackson in the outfield. This was not a promising start however.





Oakland 12, California 3

4/5/1976, CAL76-OAK76, Oakland Coliseum
 
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
1976 California        0  0  0  0  0  0  1  1  1     3  4  2     7  0
1976 Oakland           0  0  0  1  6  2  2  1  x    12 11  0    11  0
 
California           AB  R  H BI   AVG    Oakland              AB  R  H BI   AVG
Ramirez           ss  5  0  0  0  .000    North             cf  3  1  0  0  .000
Doyle             3b  4  0  0  0  .000    Stanley           2b  4  1  0  0  .000
Lynn              cf  4  0  1  1  .250    Washington        rf  5  2  3  2  .600
Boone             c   2  0  0  0  .000    Johnson           c   4  2  2  5  .500
 Sudakis          ph  1  0  0  0  .000    Bando             3b  4  0  0  0  .000
Jackson,Re        rf  3  1  1  0  .333    Williams,B        1b  4  2  1  0  .250
Baylor            lf  2  0  0  0  .000     Thomasson        pr  0  1  0  0  .000
 Lange            p   0  0  0  0  .000    Rudi              lf  4  1  3  1  .750
 Kirkwood         p   0  0  0  0  .000    McKay             ss  4  0  1  2  .250
 Egan             ph  1  0  0  0  .000    Sutton            p   2  2  1  0  .500
Thompson          1b  2  1  1  1  .500     Dunning          p   0  0  0  0  .000
Chalk             2b  2  0  0  0  .000                         34 12 11 10
 Forster          p   0  0  0  0  .000
 Knapp            p   0  0  0  0  .000
 Nettles          ph  1  0  0  0  .000
Simpson           p   1  0  0  0  .000
 Jackson,Ron      2b  3  1  1  1  .333
                     31  3  4  3
 
California                       INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Simpson          L 0-1           4.0  3  4  4  5  1  93  48  9.00
Forster                          0.1  2  3  3  2  0  19   8 81.00
Knapp                            1.2  3  2  2  0  0  29  19 10.80
Lange                            1.1  3  3  1  3  1  50  29  6.75
Kirkwood                         0.2  0  0  0  0  1   5   4  0.00
                                 8.0 11 12 10 10  3 196 108 
 
Oakland                          INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Sutton           W 1-0           7.2  4  2  2  3  6 109  66  2.35
Dunning                          1.1  0  1  0  2  0  20   8  0.00
                                 9.0  4  3  2  5  6 129  74 
 
CAL: Jackson,Ron inserted at 2b in the 5th
     Sudakis batted for Boone in the 7th
     Nettles batted for Knapp in the 7th
     Sudakis moved to c in the 7th
     Nettles moved to lf in the 7th
     Egan batted for Kirkwood in the 9th
OAK: Thomasson ran for Williams,B in the 8th
     Thomasson moved to 1b in the 9th
 
E-Ramirez, Sudakis. 2B-Jackson,Re, Jackson,Ron, Washington, Rudi. 
HR-Johnson(1). SB-Rudi(1). K-Ramirez, Doyle, Lynn, Boone, Simpson, 
Jackson,Ron, Stanley, Bando 2. BB-Jackson,Re, Thompson 2, Sudakis, Nettles, 
North 3, Stanley 2, Johnson, Bando, Williams,B, Rudi, Sutton. SH-Sutton, 
Dunning. HBP-Baylor, McKay. PB-Sudakis, Johnson. HB-Lange, Sutton. 
WP-Simpson. 
GWRBI: Rudi