The 50 greatest Angels (41-50)

Here we go… the Orange County Register has begun revealing the 50 greatest Angels of all time as voted upon by a group of panelist including myself. The last ten (41-40) was released today and each day this week, the next ten will be published.

This should be somewhat of an interesting process. I’ll admit right now that my list isn’t perfect and that if I had to do it all over again, I’d probably make some changes, additions and deletions. That being said – I really like the top of my list; it’s the bottom half that gets a little tricky.

The Register’s list includes Dick Enberg and Bartolo Colon tied for 49th; followed by Kirk McCaskill (48), Gary DiSarsina (47), Andy Messersmith (46), Dick Schofield (45), Leon Wagner (44), Jarrod Washburn (43), Scott Spiezio (42), and Albie Pearson (41).

Three “Angels” on today’s list didn’t make my list at all; they’re Dick Enberg, Albie Pearson, and Bartolo Colon.

Pearson has to be a sentimental choice among some of those voting. I couldn’t justify putting him on my list because he didn’t impress me from a statistical point of view. Pearson had one all-star season (1963) but was pretty underwhelming the rest of his career in my opinion. I will admit he’s a name that comes up quite a bit when talking about the Angels’ history and might have deserved more consideration from me for that reason alone. At least I wasn’t alone; four panelists left him off their ballot.

As for Colon – he was only really healthy for two of his four years. Granted he did win a Cy Young Award (2005) along the way, but I just couldn’t put him on my list. How the OC Register’s Early Bloom could rank him 13th is beyond me. Ten panelists left him off their ballots.

Then there’s Dick Enberg. Hmm. I could have easily put him on my list. I have very fond memories of Enberg calling Angel games when I was growing up. Let’s just say that if I did it over again, I might include Enberg. I found it interesting the OC Register’s Earl Bloom ranked Enberg #19 and the Angels’ Vice President of Communications - Tim Mead ranked him 20th; especially when you consider that eleven of the fifteen panelists left him completely off their list.

As for the rest of the list…

Leon Wagner didn’t get as much love as I thought he should. I ranked him 37th. While Wagner only had three seasons in Anaheim, they were monster seasons just the same. For his three years from 1961-1963 he averaged 30 homeruns and made two all-star appearances.

Looks like I ranked Kirk McCaskill higher on my list (30) than the rest of the panelists. Let me trumpet McCaskill’s case just a bit… McCaskill ranks 8th all time on the win list for Angels pitchers, 8th in career shut-outs (11), and 12th in strike-outs (714). Not bad huh? I’m surprised Tim Mead left him off his list all-together.

I’m wondering if Jack Howell, who I ranked 46th on my list will make the top 50. We’ll see as this will all continue through Friday.

Is it safe to open my eyes yet?

Last time I checked the Angels had nearly blown all of their 6-1 lead and it was 6-5 Angels with Brian Fuentes coming in to face the White Sox in the bottom of the 9th.

So, I have to ask… Is it safe to open my eyes yet?

Cue the music…




“I don’t ask for much, I only want your trust, and you know it don’t come easy."

That about says it all.

Meanwhile, I tuned in yesterday just in time to see Erick Aybar steal second base and then turn around and get thrown out trying to steal third base. For those of you keeping score at home, Aybar has stolen six bases and has been caught five times; which goes right along with his career averages (including his minor league stats). He’s not getting any better folks. Let’s just say he’s never going to be confused with Rickey Henderson and leave it at that.

I know what you’re thinking… didn’t the Angels just win two in a row?

Why yes, they did and I’m quite happy about it. It’s just that nothing comes easy for this team and they continue to be hard to watch. Now, that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop watching, but you’ll have to understand if I watch from behind the fingers in front of my eyes, won’t you?

It’s like watching one of those bad horror movies where the people decide to go into the house where the blood curdling scream just came from. You know what’s coming and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Common sense tells you they shouldn't be going into the house/bring in Brian Fuentes... Just saying. Now I know it's in the team's best interest to have Fuentes succeed; however, he just makes me as nervous as chiuaua.

The Angels head to St. Louis this weekend to face the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend and I’m looking forward to the series. It will be odd seeing a Cardinals team void of any ex-Angels for a change. I mean we’ve seen Jim Edmonds, Adam Kennedy, Troy Glaus, Scott Speizio, Troy Percival, David Eckstein and others I may be missing dawning the Cardinals logo in recent years.
One guy I wouldn’t seeing switch from a Cardinals logo to the Angels’ one is Yadier Molina. I just love watching him do his thing behind the plate. He’s a great defensive catcher; in fact, he may be the best in the game. I don’t mind telling you that I covet him for the Angels in the worst way – even though I know that’s not likely to ever happen. A boy can dream, right?

I just hope Erick Aybar doesn’t get any bright ideas about trying to run on Molina. He’s thrown out eleven runners so far while only allowing six stolen bases. So… runners beware.

Hopefully one day the Angels will complete the set and sign Molina some how, some way. Then, Cheryl and I can break out our “Thou shalt not steal on the Molina brothers" t-shirts again. We had these made when Bengie and Jose were Angels. Cheryl was even stopped during one game by Bengie’s wife, who asked where she got the shirt? One thing leads to another and we made some for the whole family…

I remember when we gave the shirt to Jose – he looked, smiled and said, “That’s right!”

Funny story about Jose – one of the 514 Fanatics – Kim (who is infamous for the unique way she helps start Angel rallies) tried to tell us there was a fourth Molina brother. When Cheryl asked him if that was true, he said, “Well, you never know with our dad – I will have to ask him.”

Now, where was I?

Oh yeah, Angels vs. Cardinals. Let’s hope the Angels pitching staff can contain Albert Pujols over the weekend. The thought of Brian Fuentes coming in with a slim lead and Pujols batting with men on base might give me nightmares. I wonder how far Pujols could hit a softly tossed Fuentes fast ball. I shudder. Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.

Interesting pitching match ups are on tap. Tonight Joel Pineiro goes against his old team and Sunday is going to be a potential pitching duel between aces Jered Weaver and Chris Carpenter. I’m looking for Weaver to rebound big from his last start.

Oh yeah, I skipped Saturday. That one has Scott Kazmir and Kyle Lohse going at it. Both are below .500 thus far… you might want to stock up on the munchies for that game as it could be a long one. Just saying.