Tanana and fellow starter Nolan Ryan formed one of the toughest pairs of starting pitchers to hit against in baseball.

Injuries began to take their toll on him by the end of his tenure with the Angels, and he changed his style from relying on a hard fastball to throwing a repertoire of slower pitches, using deception to get hitters out instead.

He tied for the AL lead in losses his first year with Texas, then failed to make their starting rotation at the beginning of the 1983 season, though he returned to it in June.

He was removed from the rotation for a time in 1990, only winning nine games that year, but the next season, he became the Tigers' first pitcher besides Jack Morris to start on Opening Day since 1979.

He pitched through the injury for the rest of the year until leaving the mound after the fourth inning of the championship game, when the pain got to be too much for him.

Thinking the injury would hurt his baseball chances, he had just about decided to attend Duke University on a basketball scholarship when the California Angels made him their first-round draft pick in 1971.

[3][1] Tanana was assigned to the Idaho Falls Angels of the rookie-level Pioneer League in 1971, but tendinitis in his shoulder prevented him from pitching.

)[7] The duo were considered two of the toughest pitching teammates in history, drawing comparisons to Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

[21] With Ryan coming off a year in which he had missed time with injury, Tanana was named the Angels' Opening Day starter for 1976.

The Angels' offense did not always score a lot for him; on August 27, 1976, he and Catfish Hunter of the New York Yankees each pitched 13 scoreless innings in a game where both men received a no-decision.

[24] With a 19–10 record, he came close to winning twenty games, missing the mark because of a midseason injury and also an August 22 outing against the Yankees where, having allowed only two hits going into the ninth, he started taking it easy, gave up six runs and was removed, and received a no decision, though the Angels eventually won 11–8 in eleven.

[31] Still, Tanana finished the year with an 18–12 record, tying with Lary Sorensen and Fergie Jenkins for ninth in the AL in wins.

[15] By the end of 1978, Tanana had stopped throwing as hard, relying on changing speeds of his pitches to get hitters out instead of a devastating fastball.

Though he had recovered from the tendinitis that had plagued him in 1977, fear of the pain coming back caused him to alter his delivery and go with a slower approach.

[33] After giving up six runs in two innings on June 10, 1979, against the Detroit Tigers, Tanana was shut down for a couple months with shoulder tendinitis.

[35][36] Tanana started Game 3 of the AL Championship Series (ALCS) against the Baltimore Orioles, limiting them to one run through five innings.

Don Aase came in and got three straight outs, but the first was a sacrifice fly off the bat of Doug DeCinces that scored a run, tying the game for the Orioles and making Tanana ineligible for the win.

[15] However, the Rangers lost 98 games, and Tanana was responsible for 18 of those, tying with Matt Keough for the AL lead in losses while only earning seven wins.

[45] For the first time in his career in 1983, Tanana was not a part of his team's starting rotation, opening the season as a long reliever for the Rangers.

[15] Back in the rotation for good in 1984, Tanana had his best season since 1978 for a Rangers team that finished in last place in its division.

"[49] Tanana threw seven shutout innings in his debut with the Tigers June 23, 1985, helping Detroit beat the Yankees 3–1.

[52] Twice that year, he had ten-strikeout games—the first in a 14–0 shutout of the Seattle Mariners on August 23, and the second in only seven innings on September 25, though Tanana allowed four runs and took the loss to the Toronto Blue Jays that day.

[57] On the final day of the 1987 season, Tanana pitched a 1–0 complete-game shutout over second-place Toronto to clinch the American League East title for the Tigers.

Seeking a two-year contract initially, Tanana ultimately received a one-year, $1.1 million deal, $300,000 more than the Tigers had wanted to pay him.

[67] The season saw him struggle, though—he had a 6.47 ERA through July 28, prompting the Tigers to re-sign Walt Terrell to replace him in the rotation.

[68][69][70] It was during this time that Tanana got the only save of his career, inducing Oscar Azócar to hit a foul pop-up and stranding a runner on second in the 14th inning of a 6–5 triumph over the Yankees August 2.

[74] Also, June 18, he came within one out of throwing another shutout but left after giving up two straight singles in the ninth; Mike Henneman finished a 2–0 victory over Oakland.

[75] On September 27, he became the last player to throw a pitch in the history of Memorial Stadium, allowing one run in a complete game, 7–1 victory over the Orioles.

[83][84] In his last start of the season (and ultimately, his final major league appearance) on October 1, he held the Tigers to four runs (three earned) over 6+1⁄3 innings and left with the Yankees leading 5–4.

The couple now reside in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and he is an Elder at Highland Park Baptist Church in Southfield.