Top 100 Angels: Jim EDMONDS #22

The problem was never Edmonds…his teammates as a rule understood his anomalies, but appreciated his balls to the walls hustle and play.

The problem was Bowa and Collins…2 guys who between them coudn’t hit worth scrap. It was them, and essentially them only that started this whole nonsense of Jimmy being a malingerer, and selfish, and..and…and. Edmonds, always trying to hit the ball outta the yard, a la McGwire, Bonds, Ruth and about a 1000 other guys was being selfish…see..he should have tried to make outs and hit soft grounders to 2nd…to move runners along…like no talent a-holes like Bowa and Collins used to.

Those 2 bozos were jealous of Jimmy, of his talent, his looks, his lifestyle…his everything, and rather than let him play, and reap the benefits..they let their own petty jealousies and insecurities manifest themselves into the clubhouse.

Jimmy was not perfect, and certainly not loved….but he played hard, and he played hurt..and his teammates understood it and appreciated it.

These are not just my thoughts, but a close friend of mine at the time worked at the OCR’s sports desk…and that was his insiders view of things.

And by the way..there are hundreds of players who tried to rehab through an injury and avoid surgery, I’m sure even Collins and Bowa did it. Why is it that Edmonds is the only one who was a malingerer? Because Bowa and Collins pointed a finger at him…and would’nt let it go.

Would you rather of had him in center the last 10 years, or the ‘budding superstar’ we kept. Darin Erstad.

Probably Erstad…after all he hit a lot more grounders behind the runners…and probably ran a little harder down the line too.

who wouldn’t slug either Collins or Bowa in the face..given half a chance..

Also, name 5 people who ever stuck up for AROD, Bonds, Junior, Big Mac, Sosa..etc…the list is endless.

It is not about being liked. These are pros…doing a job. Liking someone ain’t worth squat. No one, ever, liked Bowa, that I can remember. Respecting someone who has ability and plays balls out..is. That’s the point I was making…it’s not that Edmonds was liked..it’s that he was not thought of, by and large, by his teammates as being a lazy, malingering, porcelain doll. There’s a huge gap there between the 2.

Modern players, to a man, will put off surgery as long as possible…Escobar did it last year. No modern player will go under the knife, and risk ending a career worth millions, maybe hundreds of millions, until they absolutely have to. Old style players, like Bowa and Collins, lived by a different rule…and it was this difference in thinking that caused Bowa and Collins to go ape shit.

Lastly, I can’t stand the freakin’ Dodgers…frankly, I lubs da’ Cubs…but my mistress has always been the Angels.

BTW The guy I referred to, actually had a byline in the paper…not some late night desk jockey.