California Angels ace Nolan Ryan broke Sandy Koufax's 1965 strikeout record of 382 when he struck out 383 batters during the season.
The Oakland Athletics won their second straight World Series championship in seven games over the New York Mets.
In California on June 19, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds and Willie Davis of the Los Angeles Dodgers both collected their 2000th career hit.
Rose singled against the San Francisco Giants while Davis hit a home run against the Atlanta Braves.
[2][3] A lockout in the offseason (February 8–25) did not result in any regular season games being canceled, but the start of spring training was delayed.