The 100 Greatest Angels - #68, Leroy Stanton

#68 - Leroy Stanton, - OF

Career Stats

There are 32 Angels with over 2,000 plate appearances. Leroy Stanton is one of them. In 2,009 Plate Appearances he hit 47 regular season homeruns as an Angel, tied with Adam Kennedy (in 3185 PAs) Dave Winfield (in only 1103 PAs) and Bobby Bonds (nearly identical to Winfield at 1106 PAs). In other words, Stanton saw a lot of action as an Angel, never truly excelling into greatness, never swooning into uselessness. That is why he and his 594 games under the Halo stand at #68.

Rob McMillin of The 6-4-2 L.A. Baseball Blog looks back:

Leroy Stanton was a top prospect from the Mets system who came to the Angels in the best trade the club ever made (for Nolan Ryan). He still holds the franchise record for most home runs in a single game -- three, in a July 10, 1973 game, his third being a two-run game winner (His 3 in a game are tied with Garret Anderson, Troy Glaus, Dave Winfield, Wally Joyner, Reggie Jackson, Doug DeCinces, Fred Patek, Carney Lansford, and Lee Thomas for that record). The right-handed outfielder previously hit .303 with 19 homers with 94 RBIs at AAA Tidewater in 1971.

The Angels' principle right fielder 1972-1975, he spent significant time at center in 1976. Mostly batting fifth and sixth his first two years with the club, he slipped as low as seventh in 1974 -- the year with three managers -- but in 1975 found himself batting cleanup in a significant number of at bats for the first time in his major league career.

The coming of Bobby Bonds and Bruce Bochte to the outfield demoted him to fourth outfielder status in 1976, and once more he was batting at the bottom half of the order -- when he was in the game. He left the Angels as an unprotected player in the 1976 expansion draft, when he became a Mariner; he spent two more years in the majors, and retired after the 1978 season.