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We Gonna Rock Down To Howie Kendrick Avenue

Howie Kendrick has signed a four year (2012-15), $33.5 Million contract with the Angels, buying out one year of arbitration and three years of free agency.

Here are 47 Facts about #47:

  1. Born July 12, 1983
  2. Signed: June 19, 2002
  3. Major League Debut: April 26, 2006
  4. Drafted 10th round of the June, 2002 draft (aka the infamous "Moneyball" draft)
  5. 294th Pick Overall
  6. Career 13.8 Wins Above Replacement
  7. 8 Players chosen in the first round of the 2002 draft have more career WAR than Howie.
  8. 5 Players taken in rounds 2,3 and 4 have more career WAR
  9. 4th Round: Josh Johnson 18.5 WAR
  10. 2nd Round: Joey Votto 19.4 WAR
  11. 2nd Round: Brian McCann 20 WAR
  12. 2nd Round: Jon Lester 22.7 WAR
  13. 3rd Round: Curtis Granderson, 3rd Round, 27 WAR
  14. 5th-10th Round 2002 draftees with more career WAR: None
  15. Next Pick in 2002 with higher WAR: 17th Round: Russell Martin (0.2 more, big whoop)
  16. Of Angels with more than 2,000 PA, his .292 Batting Average ranks 5th in club history behind:
  17. Luis Polonia (.294)
  18. Garret Anderson (.296)
  19. Rod Carew (.314 ...yes, Rod Carew batted Pi)
  20. Vladimir Guerrero (.319)
  21. Howie has played 2B in 552 Games, ranking 5th in Angels history, behind:
  22. Sandy Alomar Sr (703 Games)
  23. Bobby Knoop (801)
  24. Adam Kennedy (969)
  25. Bobby Grich (1,099)
  26. If Howie averages 105 games a year at 2B over this contract and he surpasses Kennedy
  27. To pass Grich, he will need to average 137 games at 2B per season over the next four years.
  28. Howie’s 163 Doubles ranks 13th (just ahead of Jim Edmonds’ 161 and behind Troy Glaus’s 165)
  29. 18 Triples rank 18th (tied with Buck Rodgers, who had 700+ more PA here in which to do that)
  30. 723 Hits rank 21st (he'll crack the Top 20 when he surpasses Bob Boone’s 742 early next season)
  31. 337 Runs Scored rank 22nd (tied with Devon White)
  32. 2,472 AB Rank 25th (2 behind Dave Chalk for 24th)
  33. 2,638 PA - Rank 28th (just ahead of David Eckstein and just behind Albie Pearson)
  34. 655 Games Rank 29th (Maicer Izturis is four ahead of him at 28th)
  35. In Angels franchise history, his 50 Homeruns rank 34th (just behind the 51 hit by Adam Kennedy)
  36. Every Breath You Take by The Police was the #1 Song in the USA the day Howie was born.
  37. Electric Avenue by Eddy Grant was #2 (obviously should be Howie’s walk-up song in the 2-hole)
  38. Proving that disco was hard to kill, What A Feeling (Theme from Flashdance) by Irene Cara was #3.
  39. Never Gonna Let You Go by Sergio Mendes was #4 (barf)
  40. Too Shy by Kajagoogoo was #5... so if you were born in 1984 your parents hooked up to this.
  41. Return of the Jedi was the #1 movie in the USA the week Howie was born!
  42. Trading Places, the best film for and against Capitalism ever made, ranked 2nd.
  43. Superman III (the terrible one with Richard Pryor) was 3rd.
  44. "Would you like to play a game?" War Games (Ronald Reagan claimed this movie is the reason we all didn’t nuke each other, mildly important in world affairs if not cinema history) was 4th.
  45. James Bond was still kicking ass in Octopussy at #5.
  46. He doesn't like to be called Howie as his given name is Howard.
  47. His hobby is photography but if he owns a Leica he never posts photos from it.

What a great way to start the week!