No. 82: Greatest seasons in Angels history: Chuck Finley 1989

Chuck Finley, 1989

Stats: 16-9, 2.57 ERA, 199 ²⁄₃ IP, 156 SO, 149 ERA+, 3.31 FIP, 1.267 WHIP

Awards: All-Star

Baseball Reference WAR: 4.9

FanGraphs WAR: 3.8

Combined WAR: 4.35

Chuck Finley spent his first 14 seasons with the Angels, and I have a feeling we’ll be seeing him more often on this list.

Finley made the All-Star Game in 1989, the first of five times he’d be selected to the team. His season got off to a hot start, and it didn’t go unnoticed. He was named the AL Pitcher of the Month for the month of May. Finley made five starts, with three of them being complete games. He went 4-0, posting a 1.37 ERA while holding opponents to an average of .201.

Through his first 12 starts in 1989, Finley threw five complete games while owning an ERA of 1.88.

He wasn’t much of a strikeout pitcher, but he did still have outings in which batters had no answers for him. There were three starts in which Finley struck out at least 12 hitters, including a game on June 24 against Baltimore in which he struck out 15.

Game of the year

May 26 at Boston: 9 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 5 SO // Gamescore: 86

Get caught up on the rest of the “All-Time Angels” lists!

• 100 Greatest Angels of All-Time
• 100 Greatest Seasons in Angels History