#9 Troy Glaus, 3B, DH

Career Stats

Since the departure of Troy Glaus seems to still be somewhat controversial for some Angels fans, here are the records set by the only World Series MVP  in Angels history...

In 827 Games (15th All time Angels) and 2,962 At Bats (16th All time Angels), Troy Glaus reached many Angel franchise and single season Top Ten milestones:

Slug%
.497 Angels Career, ranked 3rd in franchise history
.604 in 2000, ranked 1st as an Angel Single Season

OPS
.854 Angels Career, ranked 3rd in franchise history
1.008 in 2000, ranked 2nd as an Angel Single Season

Runs
523 Angels Career, ranked 7th in franchise history
120 in 2000, ranked 3rd (tie) as an Angel Single Season

Total Bases
1473 Angels Career 9th
340 in 2000 5th Single Season

Doubles
165 Angels Career 10th

HR
182 Angels Career 4th
47 in 2000 1st Single Season
41 in 2001 2nd Single Season

RBI
515 Angels Career 10th

BB
470 Angels Career 6th
112 in 2000 2nd Single Season
107 in 2001 3rd Single Season

Adjusted OPS+
119 Angels Career (t) 6th
150 in 2000 8th Single Season

Runs Created
529 Angels Career 9th
137 in 2000 3rd Single Season

XBH
354 Angels Career 7th
85 in 2000 2nd
81 in 2001 4th Single Season

Times on Base
1242 Angels Career 10th
274 in 2000 (t) 4th Single Season

Power/Speed Number
77.2 Angels Career 7th
21.6 in 2000 8th Single Season

AB/HR
16.3 Angels Career 1st
12.0 in 2000 1st Single Season
14.3 in 2001 3rd Single Season

#10 Darin Erstad, OF, 1B

Career Stats

A few years back, columnist/sub-literate Rob Neyer couldn't let Angel fans enjoy the World Series victory, so he twisted the knife into Darin Erstad's back. Erstad was making $8 million a year and was not performing up to the level of his monster 2000 season. I guess the glare from Darin's World Championship ring was blinding Rob to reality: If Darin Erstad were a Yankee, they would have renamed Central Park after him by now.

Before you yammer on with your stats and disbelief in the intangibles, the poetry and unquantifiable foggy grit that make great team players, look at your Rosetta Stone of sabermetric stats - Win Shares. Guess what Stat-Ass? Darin Erstad has the 8th most Win Shares in Angel history. So he is not overrated. He's Top Ten material all around.

Angel Lifer Brent Carter had a few thoughts on Erstad...

Darin's the only player in MLB history to win gold gloves in both the outfield and infield. His monster season in 2000 aside, his numbers don't begin to tell the story of his importance to the Angels. With Erstad you either get it or you don't, and if you don't it's just too bad for you.

Thanks Brent.

For more perspective on the role of Darin in Angel lore, retired Angel blogger Sean Smith revives the spirit and intelligence of his dearly departed Purgatory Online Blog for a look at the first player selected in the1995 amateur draft...

Take that 2000 season. Erstad was 26 that year, coming off a sub-par 1999, and no one was sure what to expect. What we got was the seemingly limitless stack of hits - singles, doubles, homers, even six triples. 240 of them in all, and 100 RBI and 121 runs scored thrown in for good measure. He destroyed the franchise single-season record for hits, previously 202 by Alex Johnson, and set new franchise records in runs, total bases, runs created, and times on base, and cracked the top ten in doubles, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. He was phenomenal; he seemed to get hits by sheer force of will while at the same time winning his first Gold Glove in an outfield that was missing the defensive genius of Jim Edmonds, who had been traded two years prior. He made the All-Star Team, and finished eighth in the Most Valuable Player voting despite being on a .500 club that finished third in a four-team division - just barely behind Edgar Martinez and Manny Ramirez, and ahead of Nomar Garciaparra and Derek Jeter. It was a good year.

Like I said, take it. Take it, and put it away, because it's irrelevant. Worse, it's a distraction: it gives anyone who sees ballplayers as a collection of Microsoft Excel columns something to point at while they say, "that Darin Erstad - he just never lived up to that 2000 season." As if somhow failing to hit .355 every year was a personal insult to them. As if there was no value in defense, or in character, or in bringing a no-nonsense temperament to a franchise that had managed to fumble away every chance at glory they'd every possessed.

When Darin Erstad is long retired, I certainly won't remember him for that season. Those numbers - 240, .355 - they mean something, but they don't get anywhere near the heart of the matter. They don't capture Erstad, and they sure as hell don't capture what being a fan is about. What I'll remember most about him is that, when the Angels finally broke through to glory, finally drove a blade deep and fatally into the heart of their reputation, he was the guy holding the knife.

Scott Spiezio is rightly remembered for his three-run shot off of Felix Rodriguez to put the Angels back into Game 6 of the 2002 World Series. But the Giants escaped that inning - the seventh - without further damage. The Angels were still down 5-3, and had six outs left in their season. The real question was whether they could keep any momentum going, especially since the Giants had managed to get a couple of outs after the Spiezio homer the previous inning.

And it was Erstad who answered that question. What I will remember first about him is that he took that grim focus into the maelstrom and laid off a ball outside and a strike on the outside corner, then hammered a Tim Worrell changeup into right field and kept the Angels from slipping back into the role of prey. I'll remember Joe Buck shouting "smoked into right! It's a one-run ball game!" I'll remember that Erstad didn't strut down to first, he ran, and when he saw the ball was gone he put his head down and finished running around the bases without cracking a smile. In Game 7, he'd make a sensational diving catch and, later, catch Kenny Lofton's fly ball to center to end it all, but for my money that Game 6 home run, that bridge between Spiezio and the tying run, was the greatest single play in Angels history. From that moment on, the Angels weren't that cursed and forgotten club living in the shadows of the Dodgers and Donnie Moore, they were a team that could shoulder the pressure and not buckle. They were champions.

Thanks Sean, good luck in Law School. In the ballotting, Shredder Seitz ranked Darin 5th all-time Angel, I ranked him 7th and Brent ranked him 9th. I have to add that, with season seats directly behind the Centerfielder, I am looking forward to Erstad's return to the turf. And so will every pitcher.

#11 Don Baylor, OF, DH

Career Stats

So that was me, 14 years old, and a friend or my younger brother, carrying the sheet with the magic-marker slogan YES DON CAN blocking your site-lines on the concourse of the view section during his every at-bat at the dozen home games I attended during that exciting Summer of '79. I added his RBI total to the sheet before each game and X'd out the number to replae it with the RBI just witnessed if and when he performed his duties that evening - and in 1979, he did it quite a bit.

Like a lot of Angel Fans, Don Baylor was my favorite Angel up until October of 1986, if ya know what I mean. If you don't, Rob'll explain it to you in a minute. It was classy of the Anels to have Don throw out the first pitch before the 2005 ALDS Game 5 - which we then won!. He looked great in red.

And now here's Rob McMillin of the 6-4-2 Angels/Dodgers Double Play Blog for a complete story on the Angels First MVP. Take it away, Rob...

Like Frank Robinson before him, Don Baylor came to the Angels after a long stint with the Orioles. A precocious hitter, he was named The Sporting News' Minor League Player of the Year in 1970, coming up to the big club for good in 1972. Traded to Oakland for Reggie Jackson just days before the season started in 1976, the Angels won a bidding war for Baylor's services, acquiring him to the tune of the then-extravagant sum of $1 million. Ironically, Angel pitcher Dick Drago had hit Baylor on the wrist in the second game of the season that year; Baylor played with a broken hand for six weeks.

In fact, getting plunked was one of Don Baylor's claims to fame. The Baseball Library incorrectly claims that he holds the major league record for hit-by-pitches with 267, when in fact he falls behind Hughie Jennings (287), Craig Biggio (273), and Tommy Tucker (272) on that list, and behind Brian Downing and David Eckstein on the Angels. Nonetheless, he was a proficient plate-crowder, and paid the price for it repeatedly. After his 1976 season with Oakland, where his hand injury clearly hurt his power (he hit only 15 home runs, and had a stretch of 19 consecutive games where he failed to homer), he signed with the Angels, saying "I'm looking forward to playing in Southern California. One factor in my decision was the tremendous potential of the ballclub. It's only two or three players away from being a solid contender... and right now (the Angels) are one less player away."

Baylor came back strong, stronger, and strongest for the Angels, increasing his slugging percentage each of his first three years with California, though he wasn't always happy with the team's choice to make him a part-time DH. It was a trend that started in Oakland, where he wore a first baseman's glove almost as often as he did an outfielder's, but it was clear that his days in the outfield were numbered. In 1978, he asked for a trade to the Rangers, where he could be a full-time fielder, but the deal fell through when Texas demanded Nolan Ryan as well. "Jimmy [Fregosi] told me I could live with that or ask for a trade again," Baylor said later. "I told him I could live with it as long as I felt I was given a fair shot."

His 36 homers in 1979 helped propel the Angels to a division title, their first, also winning an MVP award. In that, Times columnist Jim Murray considered Baylor as "a guy who was asked to lead a charge, and, when he gets up the hill, and looks around, he wonders, 'Where is everybody?!'" The best power hitter on a powerful offensive Angels team that year, Baylor played in every game, was first in runs scored and RBIs in the majors (his 139 RBIs still stands as a club record), and fourth in home runs. The offensive highlight of his season was a 24-2 laugher against Toronto on August 25, in which he tied a club record by collecting eight RBIs; the 24 runs still stand as a club record. His postseason record, though, was simply awful, as the Orioles stormed on, 3-1, to win the ALCS but lose the World Series in seven.

Baylor requested a no-trade clause, a multi-year extension, and a signing bonus on his six-year, $1.6 million contract after his MVP season. He got the $100,000 bonus. Suffering from a wrist sprain incurred during a slide into second base the previous year, and a dislocated toe, he also shouldered the burden of being the player's union representative in a season in which an out-and-out strike was narrowly averted, though spring training and the first few regular season games were delayed.

Baylor limped through 1980 and 1981, but recovered in 1982, his last full season with the Angels, to hit 24 homers and drive in 93. In his last appearances in a California uniform, he had an exceptional postseason against the "Harvey's Wallbangers" brewers, hitting .294/.350/.647 in 17 at bats during the ALCS, but the Angels bullpen couldn't hold up in game 5, and once more the Halos went home before making it to the Fall Classic.

Despite his excellent performance in the postseason, Baylor would also be 34 the next year. The Angels and Baylor tried to reach an agreement before the free-agent draft started in November, but failed; Baylor wanted a five-year, $6 million contract, while the Angels, all too cognizant of the problems of signing older players to long-term deals, declined.

Continue reading this post »

#12 Rod Carew, 1B

Career Stats

When it comes to Angels 1Bmen, Wally Joyner has only one rival in Angel lore, and it is not gold-glover Darin Erstad.

First Baseman Rod Carew was an integral piece of the Angels first golden era. One, it could be argued, that Waly Joyner inherited after Carew and company had done the heavy lifting.

When the Angels traded for Carew in February of 1979, it was classic Autry saddlebagging - grab the player, grab the headline, cut the check, sell the tickets. One thing lost in the history of the franchise is the role that pre-cable over-the-air subscription television channel ON-TV played in the team's fortunes. ON-TV broadcast Dodger and Angel home games to its subscribers - at the time this was a radical concept - conventional wisdom asserted that ticket sales suffered from too many telecasts. So ON-TV charged viewers for premium sports games and films just recently departing theaters (this was back when only rich people had VCRs and there were no movies to be rented anyway) and in turn, the Angels and Dodgers grew richer. This revenue stream coincided nicely with the Angels picking up Rod Carew in a trade with the Minnesota Twins for some promising prospects.

By 1986, ON-TV had merged with Selec-TV, was focused much more on the Kings and Lakers as video rental stores were populating the earth, and Rod Carew had retired. But after two division championships and finishing on the high note of a 90-win 1985 campaign that concluded days after his 40th birthday, Rodney Cline Carew knew Cooperstown was his next stop and he made a classy, gracious exit.

While his name among the annual league-leader board lists noticeably falls off coincident with his arrival in Anaheim, the buzz he created among the Angel faithful and the victories to which he contributed - not needing to carry a team alone when Baylor and Reggie were along for the ride - it all makes for a great Angel legacy.

Statistically, Carew was an All-Time Angel leader in some of the bigger categories:
Batting Average: 1st (.314)
On Base %: 1st (.393)
Hits: 8th  (968), 9 more than Joyner in 204 fewer Plate Apperances.
With a 6th place Angel Career OPS+ of 119, Carew sits tied with Jim Edmonds and Troy Glaus, and just behind Joyner's 120.

Carew's consistency at the plate and in the field during the ON-TV years built up and solidified the Angels fan base. It is neck and neck with Wally until Carew's one considers the built-in appeal of the veteran All-Star personifying your team. Rod Carew was the gold standard - the Angels could not be questioned with the certainty of excellence his presence on the roster provided.

And then there is the little matter of the voting for the Top 40 being skewed just a bit with yeswecan selecting Carew as his #2 All-time Angel. Quite the compliment! Sorry, Wally, that's democracy.

#13 Mike Scioscia, MGR

Managerial Career

For tonight's installment in our countdown, Josh Mandir, co-proprietor of the Pearly Gates Blog looks at the best manager in Angels' team history. Take it away Josh...

How ironic in this recent LA-Anaheim struggle that the Angels' best manager ever was previously on pace for the same position with the Dodgers. From all accounts, he was run out of the system and the Angels swiped him up.

The Angels, meanwhile, made a common managerial change, dumping firebrand Terry Collins, for the laid back Mike Scioscia. In addition, they grabbed a former catcher and two-time World Series champion.

Scioscia has been, by a wide margin, the Angels' most successful manager. He took a team that had been an also-ran contender since the Great Collapse of 1995 and turned it into a champion and perennial contender. He has also managed widely different teams, showing that he is willing to change styles depending on what he has (the mark of a great coach). In 2000, when the comeback kids party started, the team was heavy on relief pitching and slugging. In 2001, costly injuries and a tough division (two 100 win teams; the Angels went 17-41 against division opponents and 58-46 against everyone else) led to a losing record. By 2002, the Angels were a well-balanced singles and doubles offense (only two starters had OPS+ below 100, and both of those guys were phenomenal fielders), fantastic defense, and solid pitching. Scioscia's attitude was instrumental in pulling the team up from its 6-14 start to its first World Series championship.

After another injury plagued year in 2003 (plus a major regression of starting pitchers), Scioscia led the team to their first division title since 1986. This was done almost entirely on the back of one man, Vlad the Impaler, with sluggers Tim Salmon, Troy Glaus, and Garret Anderson all going down for significant time and Jose Guillen going crazy. The way the team reacted to the Guillen situation tells a lot about their trust in Scioscia and that they know he is the guy calling the shots, not any players, by coming back from three games down with a week left in the season and winning the division.

The 2005 team held the distinction of being Scioscia's worst managing job. Granted, there were significant injuries, but he seemed to make several in-game mistakes, plus he gave too much rope to Steve Finley before finally benching him. It's pretty phenomenal that the Angels have a manager who can lead his team to 95 wins, second most in franchise history in a mistake-riddled year. And that shows what he means to this team more than any other numbers: despite his worst managerial season, Scioscia's 2005 Angels got within 7 wins from a championship, something bested by only 4 Angel teams in 46.

THANKS MISTER MANDIR

Of our Top 40 Balloters, Long suffering Angel fans LIKE MIKE! cupie and yeswecan, along with Shredder were kindest to Mike. The Cupe named him #3 all-time, YWC had him 6th with Shredder Seitz close behind, naming Mike #8. Chicks may dig the longball, but dudes prefer the ring!

#14 Frank Tanana, LH SP

Careeer Stats

What does this mean for Frank Tanana?

Allow Rich Lederer of the Baseball Analysts Website to offer a thorough assessment of the career of a great Angel. Welcome Rich...

Frank Daryl Tanana pitched for six teams--California Angels (1973-1980), Boston Red Sox (1981), Texas Rangers (1982-1985), Detroit Tigers (1985-1992), New York Mets (1993), and New York Yankees (1993)--over the course of his 21-year major league career.

Since 1900, Tanana ranks 14th in games started (616), 22nd in innings pitched (4188.1), 18th in strikeouts (2733), and 37th in wins (240). Among left-handers, Tanana places 5th in GS, 7th in IP, 4th in K, and 11th in W. He has started more games than any other southpaw in the history of the American League.

Tanana enjoyed his best years when he pitched for the Angels. Drafted in the first round (13th pick) of the 1971 amateur draft, Tanana blew through the minor leagues in less than two years, compiling a 24-8 record with a 2.71 ERA. In 1973, at El Paso ("AA"), he led the Texas League in CG (15), IP (206), and K (197), pitched two games for Salt Lake City ("AAA"), and made his major league debut on September 9 at Kansas City. Tanana started four games that month, going 2-2 with a 3.08 ERA. All told, the lefty pitched 246 innings in a year in which he turned 20 halfway through the season.

Replacing Clyde Wright, who was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers after the previous season, in the rotation in 1974, Tanana started 35 games and was named The Sporting News AL Rookie Pitcher of the Year when he went 14-19 with a 3.12 ERA. He won his last two decisions to keep from losing 20 games for the last place Halos (68-94).

Frank Tanana "Daquiri," as he was known by ESPN sportscaster Chris Berman, notched the first of three straight 200-strikeout seasons in 1975, while leading the league in K (269), K/9 (9.41), and K/BB (3.68). It was the only year from 1972-1979 in which teammate Nolan Ryan did not lead the AL in whiffs. The co-number-1 starter in the Tanana and Ryan and two days of cryin' rotation fashioned a remarkable 16-9 (.640) record for a team that once again finished dead last (72-89, .447). He was recognized for his outstanding accomplishments by finishing fourth in the AL Cy Young balloting that year.

On June 21, 1975, in the first game of a twi-nite doubleheader against the Rangers in Anaheim, Tanana struck out a career-high 17 batters without recording a single K in the 9th in a 4-2 victory. He whiffed 15 Minnesota Twins nine days later. Tanana also punched out 14 batters in a game and had two 13s and a 12 that same year.

The young, brash strikeout artist returned more confident than ever in 1976 and earned the first of three consecutive All-Star appearances. Tanana had career bests of 19 wins and a 2.43 ERA. He led the league in WHIP (0.99) and K/BB (3.58) and placed 3rd for the CYA and 15th for MVP.

Firmly entrenched as the best left-hander in the league, Tanana led the AL in ERA (2.54), ERA+ (154), and shutouts (7) in 1977. He was 10-2 on June 10th and on pace to win 30 games. Two starts later, Tanana recorded his sixth shutout of the young season to win his 11th game to along with his 1.81 ERA. From April 29th through July 3rd (his 24th birthday), the 6-foot-3, 195-pounder completed 14 straight games, an all-time Angels record.

Working every fourth day, the complete-game streak finally took its toll. Tanana pitched just 10 innings over his next three starts, yielding 17 hits and 11 runs. Pitching with an inflamed triceps tendon in his left arm, Tanana started only nine more games that year, making his last appearance on September 5th.

Manager Norm Sherry had overworked his young star and the more than 1300 innings compiled from 1973-1977 reduced the hard-throwing southpaw to a pitcher who relied on a looping curveball and finesse the rest of his career. Nonetheless, Frank remained one of the most effective hurlers in the game through the All-Star break in 1978 when he was 12-5 with a 3.09 ERA. Despite tiring down the stretch once again (6-7, 4.41 in the second half), Tanana still managed to win 18 games. However, his strikeout rate plunged from a career average 7.79 per 9 IP to 5.16/9 IP in 1978.

Tanana was never the same pitcher. He spent almost three months on the disabled list the following season but returned in time to throw a complete-game in a 4 - 1 victory over the Royals to clinch the first-ever American League West title for the Angels. The image of Tanana completing the 3-1 (first base to pitcher) play for the final out and jumping into the air with his hands held high remains one of the greatest memories for any Angels fan.

The 26-year-old veteran of six-plus seasons started one game in the AL Championship series against the Baltimore Orioles. He pitched five rather undistinguished innings, allowing six hits, two walks, and two runs while striking out three batters in a no decision. It was the first of two postseason outings for Tanana and the only one with the Angels.

After pitching his final season as a Halo in 1980, Tanana was traded to the Boston Red Sox along with Joe Rudi for Fred Lynn and Steve Renko the following January. At the time of the trade, Tanana was second to Ryan among the team's all-time leaders in starts, complete games, innings, shutouts, strikeouts, and wins. Twenty-five years later, the man who wore #40 on the back of his jersey ranks in the top four in every important pitching statistic: GS 4th (218), CG 2nd (92), IP 4th (1615.1), SHO 2nd (24), K 4th (1233), W 4th (102), and ERA 4th (3.08).

Although Tanana was at his best with the Angels, he went on to pitch 13 more years in the big leagues, including 7 1/2 seasons with his hometown Detroit Tigers. The highlight of Tanana's post-Angels tenure occurred in 1987 when the native son shut out the Toronto Blue Jays on the last day of the season to win the AL East title.

During his career, Tanana threw a one-hitter and five two-hitters, including four with the Angels--three of which were shutouts. As an indication of his lack of run support with the Angels, Tanana had two 13-inning outings in which he allowed no runs, yet failed to get a decision in either game. The hardluck pitcher set a major-league record for the most victories without racking up a 20-win season.

Tanana's success was a function of his great stuff in the early years and outstanding command throughout his career. "My best pitch has always been control. I lost some velocity, but at the same time, thank God, I didn't lose my control. That's 90% of pitching, keeping the hitter off balance."

Whitey Herzog, manager of the Kansas City Royals during Tanana's heyday with the Angels, is quoted in the Angels' 1978 media guide, "I haven't seen Tom Seaver in a few years, but Tanana has to be the best pitcher in baseball."

Milwaukee Brewers manager Alex Grammas concurred. "Tanana is the best pitcher, not only in the American League, but in the National League, too."

The brash Tanana didn't disagree with his admirers. "When people talk about the number one pitcher in baseball, I want Frank Tanana's name to come to mind first."

After signing a five-year, multi-million dollar contract in 1977, the always quotable Tanana emphasized, "I play the game because I love it and want to be the best at it. Sure, I make a lot of money, but that's only because they are passing it around."

A resident of Corona del Mar during his stay with the Angels, Tanana was voted Southern California's most eligible bachelor one year. He was known as a playboy until he got married in January 1978. With age and maturity, Tanana settled down and became a family man. Frank and his wife, Cathy, and their four children, Lauren, Jill, Kari and Erin, now reside in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Tanana serve on the Pro Athletes Outreach Board of Directors and are also involved in the Home Plate and Career Impact ministries.

THANKS RICH !

For the record, Rich Lederer chose Tanana #10 all-time Angel, while Matt Welch and Rev Halofan ranked him #9.

#15 Dean Chance, RH SP

Career Stats

The single greatest season by a pitcher in an Angels uniform was the 1964 Cy Young Award winning campaign of Dean Chance. They only awarded one Cy Young between the two leagues and L.A. Dodger Sandy Koufax had to take a back seat to L.A. Angel Dean Chance that time. The numbers of 64 do not lie - 20-9 with a 1.65 ERA. How bad an offense does a team need to allow 9 losses to pitcher with 1.65 ERA? That is the story of many an Angel hurler over the years, though.

Chance's 1.65 ERA in 1964 is the all time single season Angels record.
The 11 shutouts he threw that year are a team record for one season
His 20 wins in 1964 are tied for 5th
the .690 Win% is 7th
his 1964 WHIP of 1.006 is 2nd
his 6.27 H/9 is 6th
278.3 IP is 8th in an Angels single season
Not only is his Adjusted ERA+ of 200 in 1964 the best single season mark, it is 40 points better than Chuck Finley's 160 ERA+ of 1990, the next best mark in Halo history.

Chance's career marks in 5 full seasons (along with a cup of coffee in 1961) dot the Angel list of pitching feats:
122 ERA+ as an Angel second only to reliever Troy Percival
5,120 batters faced - 8th all time (ahead of Jarrod Washburn, behind Kirk McCaskill)
21 shutouts, 3rd all time, behind Tanana and Ryan
48 complete games, 6th all time
168 games started, 10th all time
857 Ks - 6th most by an Angel pitcher
K/9 of 6.24 stands as 10th best all-time
H/9 of 7.67 - 5th best of the franchise
WHIP of 1.226 is 7th best
.529 W/L% is 10th best in team history, just behind Nolan Ryan's .533 - you think some bats would have helped these guys?
Recently departed Jarrod Washburn's 75th and final Angel victory put him into 8th all-time, passing Dean's 74 Halo victories

Dean Chance's ERA as an Angel was 2.83 - 0.05 behind all-time team ERA champ Andy Messersmith, but Chance pitched over 250 more innings than did Andy. While our Top 40 voters did not have Messersmith from which to choose (he was #61 on our countdown, perhaps a too-harsh assessment of Andy's five seasons as an Angel) and compare to Chance, the voting varied wildly for Dean, with Matt Welch (of The Warblog) picking him #10 All-Time Angel and Halosheaven Panther cupie picking Chance #1 All-time. I know the cupe was not born until after Dean Chance was traded away to Minnesota after the 1966 season, and I think Welch was learning to pronounce "BALL" during Dean's Cy Young season (for the record, your Rev here was born the day before loss #9), but these guys read the history books, follow the team and can smell a good curveball even when it was thrown during Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign.

#16 Vladimir Guerrero, RF

Career Stats

He has only had 1,274 Plate Appearances as an Angel but Vladimir Guerrero has already had two of the best offensive seasons of any Angel player, both of which led to Division titles. He was voted the American League MVP in 2004, only the 2nd Angel to receive that honor. That season saw him as a Triple Crown threat well into August. While the low sample size of his games played as an Angel preclude him from the Franchise Top Ten, he sure seems headed that way. Many Angels have put together a great season, a few have had multiple masterstroke 162-game frames. But Vlad is the only man who carried the team to the promised land twice.

Chief among his accomplishments has to be the final week of the 2004 season, an improbably comeback over Oakland courtesy of a road trip through Texas. In the crucial 7-game stretch, Vlad belted six homeruns. Even the East-Coast centered national media had to interrupt their Yanksox circle jerk and take notice of Vlad?s accomplishment. If there is any tarnish, it is in his 2005 postseason disappearance (contrasted with his Grand Slam in the 2004 ALCS that brought he Angels back from the brink, if only for a little while) and his often ill-advised basepath aggressiveness, although seeing go from 2nd base to home on a BUNT in 2005 was a benchmark (not that the Angels? lousy broadcasts ever had a clear view of this feat).

While he hasn?t had the requisite 2,000 Plate Appearances to gage his team stats as an Angel, his single season accomplishments are awesome:

Batted .337 in 2004 (3rd best Angel single season)
Slugged .598 in ?04 and .565 in ?05 (2nd and 5th best Angel s/s)
OPS .989 in ?04 and .959 in ?05 (3rd, 6th)
124 Runs in 2004 (1st)
206 Hits in 2004 (2nd)
366 Total Bases in 2004 (Tied for 1st)
39 Doubles in 2004 (Tied for 8th)
39 Homeruns in 2004 (Tied for 3rd)
126 RBI in 2004 (3rd)
156 and 154 Adjusted OPS+ in ?04 and ?05 (4th and 6th, only Angel to appear twice in the Franchise Single Season Top Ten)

And talk about respect, Vlad has 40 Intentional Walks as an Angel. Reggie Jackson had 47 ? in almost 1,500 more Angel Plate Appearances.

With three years on his contract left, Vlad has a clear shot at #1 on this list, and all he would have to do in those seasons to have a shot at it is to simply, BE VLAD.

Rob McMillin of the 6-4-2 L.A. Baseball Blog has the Vladiation Files for us...

Back in the days when Hollywood had such a thing as a star system, people got "discovered" in all kinds of odd places, the most famous of which was Schwab's Drugstore, where Lana Turner supposedly turned up. Of course, it wasn't true, but when did Hollywood care more for the truth than a good story? I say this by way of introduction for today's player, Vladimir Guerrero. Vlad almost became a Dodger; the team had the chance to sign him as a youth, electing instead to sign his brother, Wilton, instead, who had a weak career as a reserve player. Instead, the Montreal Expos signed Vlad as a 17-year-old; he arrived in the big club three years later in 1996, but really came into his own in 1997, when he hit .302/.350/.483 in his first full year with the club.

He never looked back, batting .300 or better every single year, reliably hitting 30+ home runs a season, save for his 2003 season, in which back injuries limited him to 112 games. Yet thanks to playing in front of empty houses in Montreal, Vlad was still something of an unknown. Nonetheless, he appeared in all but two All Star games (2001 and 2003) since 1999, and bringing home Silver Slugger awards those same years as well. By 2003, Guerrero was by far the biggest free agent name in the offseason, but thanks to his fresh injury, the number of takers was relatively thin. His former team, Montreal, was owned by MLB and not in a position to make him a realistic offer. The Mets were chary after their experience with Mo Vaughn. The Dodgers -- a team in clear need of offense -- made a bid on the slugger, but Bud Selig warned prospective owner Frank McCourt that any attempt to sign Vlad before the sale of the team was complete would possibly threaten his purchase of the team, a debt-heavy deal that the Times reported as violating MLB's debt service rule. The Dodgers withdrew their bid, and the the Angels swooped in at the last minute in January, 2004, signing Vlad to a five-year, $70 million deal.

To say Vlad delivered is an understatement. Once in an Angels uniform, Vlad got his first league MVP award, powered by a dramatic final week of the 2004 season. With Oakland playing at Anaheim two games ahead in the AL West, Vlad poured on the power, hitting .357/.594/1.286 over the last seven games of the season, smashing six home runs in crucial road games against Texas and Oakland, helping the Angels surpass the A's in the standings, beating the A's on their home turf to win the division. His postseason that year was less than impressive, though, hitting only a meek .167 against Boston pitching.

Vlad's 2005 was in many ways similar to his 2003 season, except that he played more and his downtime was due largely to a shoulder injury rather than his back. His 2005 postseason once again was a disappointment, and it is widely speculated that he was not healthy at the time. With three years left on his contract, Vlad's place in Angels lore appears to be secure, and he figures large in the second golden era of Angels baseball.