Born Today: Dave Frost, Ben Weber

Happy Birthday to two former Angels who played roles in postseason Halo teams.

•Pitcher Dave Frost turns 62 years old today. He was born in Long Beach and came over to the Angels in the trade for Bobby Bonds that also netted us one of the five great Angels of all time, Brian Downing.

Frost pitched well in limited time in his first season in Anaheim in 1978, starting ten games and delivering a 2.58 ERA. The workload increased in '79 where he started 33 games, finished with 239 Innings pitched and was there when the nineteen-year-old franchise won its first division title.

He pitched hurt for the club in 1980 and 81, went to the Royals as a free agent in '82 and was then out of baseball. After last season we ranked him #79 on our Top 100 Angels list (LINK).

•Reliever Ben Weber turns 45 today. Ben was an integral member of the 2002 Angels bullpen. He actually had seven Saves that season, most of them after Troy Percival went on the disabled list after cutting himself on his boat during a few days off at the All Star break. Weber appeared in 63 games total with a 2.54 ERA but was relegated to mopup during in the playoffs as Mike Scioscia had tightened the defined pen roles by October.

Big Ben is probably best remembered for his herky-jerky pitching deception - as his legs began his pitching motion toward the plate, his hand holding the ball would remain in his glove and he would shake the glove from his belt to his chest, quickly, up and down, at least twice before puling his hand out, cocking his arm back and throwing 96 mph heat to an often-confused batter. Ben wore protective goggles that looked more bookworm than jock, but he was Texas-born-and-bred and, late to the bigs after years in the minors and international ball, appreciated every day in the show.

•Angels also born today include: Mitch Williams, Ray Charles Chadwick,  Bill Harrelson, Aubrey Gatewood, Dan Osinski, and one of the earliest-born men in franchise history Orlando Pena, born on this day in 1933.