#94 - LUIS POLONIA, OF
Luis ranked #65 on our post-2008 Top 100 Angels list (LINK)
Luis ranked #54 on our post-2005 Top 100 Angels list (LINK)
In 2009, STIRRUPS interviewed Luis for Halos Heaven - enjoy PART ONE and PART TWO of the interview.
The numbers of Luis Polonia have an eerie similarity to those of Juan Beniquez, our #95 Angel. Polonia had a .2934 Batting average as an Angel, Beniquez batted .293. Polonia's On Base Percentage in Anaheim was .345 to Beniquez' .342... and yet Beniquez had an OPS+ of 105 while Polonia's was only 95... why would we rank Polonia higher?
Polonia had less power (.052 lower Slugging %) than Beniquez but had 174 stolen bases as an Angel - he also led the league in being caught stealing for three consecutive seasons while with the Angels.
In crunching the numbers, though, the fact that Polonia had 2300+ Plate Appearances to the 1,598 of Beniquez gives the nod to Polonia as far as ranking these. Unlike Juan he was a massacre on defense yet he played every day.
Luis Polonia was acquired from the Yankees early in the 1990 season and spent 1990 and three full seasons under the halo, day in and day out of aggravating yet often electric speed and kamikaze baserunning. His .294 batting average ranks fifth in Halo history for players with more than 1,500 PA and those 174 bags mentioned above ranks third all time in club rankings. Of course he is tied with Chad "Child Fondler" Curtis for the Angels single season record 24 Caught Stealings. He and Curtis set that mark IN THE SAME SEASON (1993)!!!!
If he had just been here a decade earlier or a decade later and ignited a postseason series or two he might even be ensconced much, much higher. As it is, he made some lousy clubs a lot more fun to watch. So while Chad Curtis is in prison for fondling two teenage girls and not on our Top 100 Angels list, Luis made headlines for banging a fifteen-year old groupie in 1989 ...but instead of waiting for twelve men to convict him, he sits at #94, waiting for six men to come displace him.