List of Los Angeles Angels Opening Day starting pitchers

John Lackey was the Angels' Opening Day starting pitcher in 2003 and 2007.

The Los Angeles Angels are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Anaheim, California. They play in the American League West division. The franchise has also gone by the names "Los Angeles Angels", "California Angels" and "Anaheim Angels" at various points in its history.[1] The first game of the new baseball season for a team is played on Opening Day, and being named the Opening Day starter is an honor, which is often given to the player who is expected to lead the pitching staff that season,[2] though there are various strategic reasons why a team's best pitcher might not start on Opening Day.[3] The Angels have used 25 different Opening Day starting pitchers in their 51 seasons. The 25 starters have a combined Opening Day record of 26 wins, 18 losses and 7 no decisions. No decisions are awarded to the starting pitcher if the game is won or lost after the starting pitcher has left the game. It can also result if a starting pitcher does not pitch five full innings, even if his team retains the lead and wins.[4][5][6]

Jered Weaver has the most Opening Day starts for the Angels, with seven, and had 6 consecutive opening day starts from 2010 to 2015.[4] He has a record of three wins and two losses, with one no decision in those starts that resulted in a win. Mike Witt has the second most starts, with five, with one win, three losses, and one no decision that resulted in a loss. Frank Tanana, Mark Langston and Chuck Finley have all made four Opening Day starts for the Angels.[4] Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, Bartolo Colón and Jered Weaver have each made three such starts for the Angels.[4]

Nolan Ryan has the Angels record for most wins in Opening Day starts with three.[7][8][9] He also has the best win–loss record in Opening Day starts for the Angels, which is 3–0. The other Angels pitchers with multiple wins in Opening Day starts without a loss are Ken McBride and Andy Messersmith. Mike Witt has the record for most losses in Opening Day starts for the Angels with three. Frank Tanana and Chuck Finley each had two such losses.[4]

The Angels have played in three home ball parks. They played their first season in Wrigley Field, which was designed to look like Wrigley Field in Chicago, but never played an Opening Day home game there. In 1962, they moved to Dodger Stadium, but only stayed there through 1965. They played two Opening Day games at Dodger Stadium, winning once and losing once. The Angels finally moved to Angel Stadium of Anaheim in 1966, which was first called Anaheim Stadium, then subsequently renamed Edison International Field of Anaheim later.[10] They have played 29 Opening Day games there, and their starting pitchers have 15 wins and 12 losses with 2 no decisions. This makes their record at home in Opening Day games 15 wins and 13 losses with 2 no decisions. In Opening Day games on the road, their starting pitchers have a record of 10 wins and 5 losses with 5 no decisions.[4][5][6]

The Angels have played in one World Series championship in their history, which they won in 2002. Jarrod Washburn was the Angels Opening Day starting pitcher that season. The Angels lost that Opening Day game to the Cleveland Indians. The winning pitcher for the Indians in that game was Bartolo Colón, who would make three Opening Day starts for the Angels later in his career.[4][11]

Key

Angel Stadium of Anaheim, the Angels' home ball park under various names since 1966
Season Each year is linked to an article about that particular Angels season.
W Win
L Loss
ND (W) No decision by starting pitcher; Angels won game
ND (L) No decision by starting pitcher; Angels lost game
Final score Game score with Angels runs listed first
Location Stadium in italics for home game
Pitcher (#) Number of appearances as Opening Day starter with the Angels
* Advanced to the post-season
** Won American League Championship Series
† Won World Series

Pitchers

Nolan Ryan, shown with the Houston Astros, won three Opening Day starts for the Angels.
Bert Blyleven was the Angels' Opening Day starting pitcher in 1990.
Scott Schoeneweis, shown with the New York Mets, was the Angels' Opening Day starting pitcher in 2001.
Two-way player Shohei Ohtani was the Angels' Opening Day starter in 2022.
Season Pitcher Decision Final
score 		Opponent Location Ref(s)
1961 Eli Grba W 7–2 Baltimore Orioles Memorial Stadium [12]
1962 Eli Grba (2) ND (L) 1–2 Chicago White Sox White Sox Park [13]
1963 Ken McBride W 4–1 Boston Red Sox Dodger Stadium [14]
1964 Ken McBride (2) W 4–0 Washington Senators District of Columbia Stadium [15]
1965 Fred Newman L 1–7 Cleveland Indians Dodger Stadium [16]
1966 Dean Chance ND (L) 2–3 Chicago White Sox White Sox Park [17]
1967 George Brunet W 4–2 Detroit Tigers Anaheim Stadium [18]
1968 George Brunet (2) L 0–1 New York Yankees Yankee Stadium [19]
1969 Jim McGlothlin L 3–4 Seattle Pilots Anaheim Stadium [20]
1970 Andy Messersmith W 12–0 Milwaukee Brewers Milwaukee County Stadium [21]
1971 Clyde Wright L 1–4 Kansas City Royals Anaheim Stadium [22]
1972 Andy Messersmith (2) W 1–0 Texas Rangers Anaheim Stadium [23]
1973 Nolan Ryan W 3–2 Kansas City Royals Anaheim Stadium [7]
1974 Nolan Ryan (2) W 8–2 Chicago White Sox White Sox Park [8]
1975 Nolan Ryan (3) W 3–2 Kansas City Royals Anaheim Stadium [9]
1976 Frank Tanana L 2–5 Oakland Athletics Anaheim Stadium [24]
1977 Frank Tanana (2) W 7–0 Seattle Mariners Kingdome [25]
1978 Frank Tanana (3) W 1–0 Oakland Athletics Anaheim Stadium [26]
1979* Frank Tanana (4) L 4–5 Seattle Mariners Kingdome [27]
1980 Dave Frost W 10–2 Cleveland Indians Anaheim Stadium [28]
1981 Geoff Zahn W 6–2 Seattle Mariners Kingdome [29]
1982* Ken Forsch ND (L) 2–3 Oakland Athletics Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum [30]
1983 Bruce Kison W 3–2 Milwaukee Brewers Anaheim Stadium [31]
1984 Ken Forsch (2) W 2–1 Boston Red Sox Anaheim Stadium [32]
1985 Mike Witt L 2–6 Minnesota Twins Anaheim Stadium [33]
1986* Mike Witt (2) ND (L) 4–8 Seattle Mariners Kingdome [34]
1987 Mike Witt (3) W 7–1 Seattle Mariners Anaheim Stadium [35]
1988 Mike Witt (4) L 5–8 Chicago White Sox Comiskey Park [36]
1989 Mike Witt (5) L 2–9 Chicago White Sox Anaheim Stadium [37]
1990 Bert Blyleven L 4–7 Seattle Mariners Anaheim Stadium [38]
1991 Chuck Finley W 3–2 Seattle Mariners Kingdome [39]
1992 Mark Langston L 4–10 Chicago White Sox Anaheim Stadium [40]
1993 Mark Langston (2) W 3–1 Milwaukee Brewers Anaheim Stadium [41]
1994 Mark Langston (3) W 8–2 Minnesota Twins Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome [42]
1995 Chuck Finley (2) L 4–5 Detroit Tigers Anaheim Stadium [43]
1996 Chuck Finley (3) L 9–15 Milwaukee Brewers Anaheim Stadium [44]
1997 Mark Langston (4) ND (L) 5–6 Boston Red Sox Anaheim Stadium [45]
1998 Chuck Finley (4) W 4–1 New York Yankees Edison International Field of Anaheim [46]
1999 Tim Belcher ND (W) 6–5 Cleveland Indians Edison International Field of Anaheim [47]
2000 Ken Hill L 2–3 New York Yankees Edison International Field of Anaheim [48][49]
2001 Scott Schoeneweis L 2–3 Texas Rangers Rangers Ballpark in Arlington [50]
2002† Jarrod Washburn L 0–6 Cleveland Indians Edison International Field of Anaheim [11][51]
2003 John Lackey L 3–6 Texas Rangers Edison International Field of Anaheim [52][53]
2004* Bartolo Colón W 10–5 Seattle Mariners Safeco Field [54][55]
2005* Bartolo Colón (2) W 3–2 Texas Rangers Angel Stadium of Anaheim [56][57]
2006 Bartolo Colón (3) ND (W) 5–4 Seattle Mariners Safeco Field [58][59]
2007* John Lackey (2) W 4–1 Texas Rangers Angel Stadium of Anaheim [60][61]
2008* Jered Weaver L 2–3 Minnesota Twins Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome [62][63]
2009* Joe Saunders W 3–0 Oakland Athletics Angel Stadium of Anaheim [5]
2010 Jered Weaver (2) W 6–3 Minnesota Twins Angel Stadium of Anaheim [6]
2011 Jered Weaver (3) W 4–2 Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium [64]
2012 Jered Weaver (4) W 5–0 Kansas City Royals Angel Stadium of Anaheim [65]
2013 Jered Weaver (5) ND (W) 3–1 Cincinnati Reds Great American Ball Park [66]
2014* Jered Weaver (6) L 3–10 Seattle Mariners Angel Stadium of Anaheim [66]
2015 Jered Weaver (7) L 1–4 Seattle Mariners Safeco Field [66]
2016 Garrett Richards L 0–9 Chicago Cubs Angel Stadium of Anaheim [66]
2017 Ricky Nolasco L 2–4 Oakland Athletics Oakland Alameda Coliseum [66]
2018 Garrett Richards (2) ND (L) 5–6 Oakland Athletics Oakland Alameda Coliseum [66]
2019 Trevor Cahill L 0–4 Oakland Athletics Oakland Alameda Coliseum [66]
2020 Andrew Heaney ND (L) 3–7 Oakland Athletics Oakland Alameda Coliseum [66]
2021 Dylan Bundy ND (W) 4–3 Chicago White Sox Angel Stadium of Anaheim [66]
2022 Shohei Ohtani L 1–3 Houston Astros Angel Stadium of Anaheim [66]
2023 Shohei Ohtani (2) ND (L) 1–2 Oakland Athletics RingCentral Coliseum [66]
2024 Patrick Sandoval L 3–11 Baltimore Orioles Oriole Park at Camden Yards [66]

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