Baylor, Carew, Figgins or Witt?

by Rev Halofan on Mar 9, 2009 3:58 PM PDT in Angels News

Poll

Greatest Angels Career of These Four Angels

Don Baylor

99 votes

Rod Carew

227 votes

Chone Figgins

41 votes

Mike Witt

42 votes

409 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 34 comments | 0 recs |

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Rod Carew appears to be the runaway winner of these 4...

I voted for the man who currently has the least number of votes, Don Baylor.
Baylor’s ‘79 season was the best offensive performance by an Angel up to that time, and still among the top 3 by an Angel player ever;
- 36 Home runs
- 139 RBI’s (still a franchise record).
- .296 BA. .530 slugging %, OPS of .901.
- Also stole 22 bases, and was HBP 11 times.
- League MVP (first ever for an Angel, and one of only 2 in franchise history).

Baylor was the offensive cog in the “Yes We Can” team that earned the Angels their first Western Division title and taste of the post season.

by sothball on Mar 8, 2009 9:38 AM PST reply actions

What, no mad love for The Groove?

Grimace WAS the California Angels, circa 1979-82.

by PieceOfAase on Mar 8, 2009 10:08 AM PDT reply actions

I voted for Carew,

With Groove a close second.

Angels fan since '67

by red floyd on Mar 8, 2009 3:55 PM PDT up reply actions

Baylor gets my vote

Angels in 09!

by tanana40 on Mar 8, 2009 5:13 PM PDT up reply actions

I should have voted for Witt

But it would have been for sentimental reasons only. He signed the only autographed baseball I own. It says something like “To (my name), best wishes, Mike Witt, 1981.” I was three.

"I've got more action than my man John Woo
And I've got mad hits like I was Rod Carew" - Shure Shot, The Beastie Boys

by Zoe Necrosis on Mar 8, 2009 10:28 AM PDT reply actions

We need to define the parameters

The greatest player of those four listed: Rod Carew, no question.

The greatest contributor to the Angels: Don Baylor, no question.

I voted for Baylor because I interpreted the question to be the latter. Carew was a great hitter, even when he was in his latter years with the Angels, but Baylor carried the team and brought backbone and grit to a team thought to be soft and Hollywood.

by George Kaplan on Mar 8, 2009 10:31 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs

Baylor was our Vlad in '79

and that is enough for me!

There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. -- Al Gallagher

by K3YEROUT on Mar 8, 2009 11:53 AM PDT up reply actions

Good point

I changed it to “Greatest ANGELS CAREER of these four Angels”

by Rev Halofan on Mar 8, 2009 12:14 PM PDT up reply actions

In that case, Figgins has an argument.

Part of the WS team, multiple playoff teams, all-time Angels Stolen Base leader.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Mar 8, 2009 1:46 PM PDT up reply actions

But there is no way for anyone to revise a vote already given, right?

I wonder who might change his vote with the change in the title?

by George Kaplan on Mar 8, 2009 8:32 PM PDT up reply actions

all you have to do

is log out and vote again. it wont take away your previous vote, but sbnation does allow you to vote anonymously if you are logged out.

Go gettem next year, what have we got to lose--Frankie?

by AnaheimHalos61 on Mar 9, 2009 6:56 PM PDT up reply actions

Why would there be changed votes?

I didn’t even read the caption and instead said to myself "which of these four should be ranked the highest on the HH top 100 Angels list.

by Downing Rules on Mar 8, 2009 8:52 PM PDT reply actions

I agree

there has been a traffic uptick among lurkers so I could see a few stragglers, but nothing to give someone an overwhelming advantage.

by Rev Halofan on Mar 8, 2009 10:26 PM PDT up reply actions

Wow, Carew over Baylor? That's crazy

by mattwelch on Mar 9, 2009 9:00 AM PDT reply actions

I'm contemplating an appeal to the Internet Supreme Court...

…haven’t found the right judge just yet.

by sothball on Mar 9, 2009 10:38 AM PDT up reply actions

Win Shares agrees:

Baylor: 94 WS
Carew: 102 WS

…plus Rodney Cline never took up arms against the Angels in the postseason…

by Rev Halofan on Mar 9, 2009 3:41 PM PDT up reply actions

Ah, the trouble with Win Shares interpretation

If you can reduce individual seasons with a single number (which I think you can, at least pretty decently, via Win Shares), then how do you measure what is valuable with these numbers?

For me, it’s pretty simple: Who gave his team the best possible chance to compete for a World Series? Who had MVP-type seasons (30+ Win Shares), All Star-type seasons (23-29), solid-regular seasons (18-22), middling-regular seasons (14-17) and less? Here are the answers you get from Baylor and Carew, stacking up their Angels seasons from best to worst:

DB: 29/23/16/13/13/05
RC: 20/18/17/16/16/12/09

Carew’s career-value margin is based entirely on hanging on for a last crappy year. Baylor was an MVP in the team’s first playoff year, an All-star type a second year when the team contended to the wire. Rodney was pretty good for just one year (which happened to be the worst year in team history), and that was about it, due to various injuries, lack of power, and ultimate decrepitude. Carew was a horrifying base stealer, no great shakes at first base, and cost us two All-stars plus two other guys (as opposed to a single compensation pick).

As far as Angel careers go, Carew can’t hold Baylor’s jock. And I say that as not the world’s biggest Groove fan.

by mattwelch on Mar 9, 2009 6:26 PM PDT up reply actions

persuasive ... BUT...

Baylor must answer for Game 5, 1986.

Any questions?

by Rev Halofan on Mar 9, 2009 6:29 PM PDT up reply actions

Thank you.

by Downing Rules on Mar 9, 2009 6:36 PM PDT up reply actions

The pain...the horror…

I would vote for Baylor over Carew based on Baylor’s ’79 season alone. He was the rock upon which a dynamic offense was built.
As Stirrups pointed out above, Baylor DID hit a lot of pop-up’s…straight up. And Carew made an out 2 out of 3 AB’s.
As Downing Rules noted below, he DID start the rally for the (unmentionables) in the top of the 9th in the ’86 ALCS…which tells me the Angels gave up on him too early.
I don’t want to take anything away from Carew. But Baylor…in ’79, he struck fear into opposing pitchers. I seriously doubt we would have celebrated our first Western Division championship in ’79 without him.

by sothball on Mar 9, 2009 6:52 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeah, how'd he hit that mofo?

Seriously, that was not a home-runnable pitch.

I’ve been reading his memoir, btw. In between the inaccuracies & self-importance, there are lots of funny stories about “Grichie”…..

by mattwelch on Mar 9, 2009 6:50 PM PDT up reply actions

Man, you got me buying all sorts of books, now. Baylor has a memoir??

by Downing Rules on Mar 9, 2009 8:24 PM PDT up reply actions

The text over the voting reads, "Greatest Angel Career of these 4 players".

So what they did before or after they played for the Angels should no be factored into the voting (I sense juror nullification at work).

by sothball on Mar 9, 2009 7:45 PM PDT up reply actions

I don't like Baylor for ...

starting the 9th inning comeback for the Red Sox in 1986 ALCS G5.

by Downing Rules on Mar 9, 2009 4:06 PM PDT up reply actions

Don Baylor. One mile-high pop out to the catcher with RISP, after another.

I know. Sacrilege. But I was there.

by Stirrups on Mar 9, 2009 4:22 PM PDT reply actions

Am I the only one that thinks this is really high for Figgins?

Play Wood already. Willits sucks.

by hauldog on Mar 9, 2009 4:33 PM PDT reply actions

you know i was kinda shocked when crunching the numbers for this, but I will detail it all in the coming Figgy essay.

by Rev Halofan on Mar 9, 2009 4:43 PM PDT up reply actions

I am looking forward to.

I have a nagging suspicion that I am not taking everything into consideration. I am also aware you guys put a lot of work into these things.

I am also probably hung up on his lackluster postseason play.

Play Wood already. Willits sucks.

by hauldog on Mar 9, 2009 5:00 PM PDT up reply actions

Well, to be fair to Figgins

In 2008 he was everything we could have asked for, postseason wise.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Mar 9, 2009 5:24 PM PDT up reply actions

2002 also in his pinch-running role, causing Barry to nearly lose his shoes. In 2002, he batted 1.000 (1-for-1) and scored four runs across his six appearances in games.

by Downing Rules on Mar 9, 2009 5:32 PM PDT up reply actions

2002 he was phenomenal

Play Wood already. Willits sucks.

by hauldog on Mar 9, 2009 5:46 PM PDT up reply actions

But to back up haul…

Figgy was sub 0.150 batting in 2004 and 2005 postseasons. Woof. 2007, he was above Mendoza with a paltry 0.231 BA and he strikes out like at Adam Dunn-like rates in any postseason (30% K rate for Figgy 32% for Dunn’s career). Woof again.

by Downing Rules on Mar 9, 2009 5:36 PM PDT up reply actions