#88 - BOBBY BONDS, RF
Bobby was ranked #72 on our post-2008 Top 100 Angels List and was ranked #82 on our Top 100 Angels List from after the 2005 season (LINK)
Before he was ever known as Barry's dad, outfielder Bobby Bonds came to the Angels a one-time MVP, three time all star with a trio of outfield gold gloves. On December 11, 1975, the Angels traded two players to get him. The Yankees ended up with core components of their three American League pennants and two world championships from the Halos - Mickey Rivers and Ed Figueroa.
It is hard, though, to get upset about the trade. Bonds put up amazing numbers over the 250+ games he played with the Angels. But his biggest contribution to the Angels might be the man he yielded our organization in a trade after the 1977 season. On December 5, 1977 a 31-year-old Bonds was packaged with Thad Bosley and Richard Dotson and shipped to the Chicago White Sox for two pitchers - Chris Knapp and Dave Frost and a young catcher named Brian Downing.
Bobby Bonds was a marquee offensive player on pitching-rich, offense-starved 1976 and '77 clubs. He put up a whopping 7.1 WAR in two seasons - 2.1 in 98 games in an injury-marred '76 and 5.0 in his fantastic 1977 season. In 1977 he tied the club record for home runs in a season with 37 (still ranked fifth) and his 115 RBI that year were a club record (currently ranking 12th in club history). Despite Mike Trout's whopping Power/Speed # of 37.2 in 2012, the single season leader remains Bonds with a 38.9 that year.
Usually players stay too long or too short. The Angels maximized what they could get out of Bobby Bonds on the field, replaced his spot n the lineup with big free agent signings and sent him to Chicago in a trade that would benefit them for the next 13 seasons. What if you could juice an orange twice? The Angels did in the case of Bobby Bonds.