Angels Fact #6 - RBI duo

There are two players in the Angels franchise history who have posted four consecutive seasons of 100+ RBIs. What makes it even more interesting is one picked up his streak where the other left off.  The greatest offensive player in Angel history, Garret Anderson did it from 2000-2003. It was the only four years in his career he had over 100 RBIs. Of course one of those was  2002 which helped propel the Angels to their only World Series championship. He is still currently the Angels all-time leader in hits, doubles, runs, and RBIs. He played 15 of his 17 years with the Halos.

The first four of his six years from 2004-2007, Vladimir Guerrero was an RBI machine, no matter where the ball was pitched. Guerrero won the American League MVP in his first season in the big A when he had 39 home runs and 125 RBIs.  Guerrero also won the Silver Slugger all four of those seasons. He became a great show for fans everywhere, especially those who came to watch batting practice before games.

1 Million pt2 - Fact 5

Since 1975, the seasonal attendance at Angels games has never dropped below one million fans. That season the Angels averaged just over 13,000 fans per game which was just a notch below the major league average. Just four years later, they would more than double that number with 31,000 fans per a game putting them over two million for the season, the first time in franchise history. The 1979 roster included Nolan Ryan, Frank Tanana, Brian Downing, Rod Carew, Bobby Grich, and Don Baylor. The Halos finished 88-74 winning the AL West. They would fall to Baltimore in the ALCS 3-1.

Immortal Angels - Fact #4

There are 5 numbers that the Angels have retired. At Angels Stadium 6 numbers hang with the addition of Jackie Robinson's #42. From a past post, we have learned that owner Gene Autry had #26 retired first in 1982. The next two were players who also have their numbers retired elsewhere. Rod Carew's #29 was retired in 1986. His number is also retired by the Minnesota Twins. He played 7 years with the Angels while playing 12 in Minnesota. The 18-time all-star won 7 batting titles and many other awards including the 1977 AL MVP. Over 3,000 hits and a .328 career average got him into the Hall Of Fame with over 90% voting in 1991.

Nolan Ryan would be the next in 1992. His #30 in lone to the Angels, but he also has #34 hung up by both teams in Texas. It was 1973 when The Ryan Express was completely unmatched by any hitter who dug in. Two no-hitters and a major league record 383 strikeouts that season. Ryan would also throw a no-hitter in the following two marathons. In his eight seasons with the Halos, Ryan led the American League in strikeouts seven times before being traded to Houston in 1980. He would be inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 1999 with a 98.7% voting percentage. 56 consecutive games with a hit by DiMaggio might be untouched, but 7 career no-hitters by Ryan might be on the same level.

Jimmie Reese coached the Angels for 23 years and was considered the greatest fungo hitter in the game with a bat he used himself. Unfortunately he did not see his #50 get retired in 1995 after passing away just a year earlier. Before his coaching days, Reese played with the Los Angeles Angels in the Pacific Coast League from 1933-1936. In those first two years he hit over .300 and lead all second baseman in fielding percentage.

The last number to be retired was Jim Fegosi's #11. He made his major league debut in September of the Angels' inaugural season. Fegosi played 11 years with the Halos while making his first all-star game in 1964. He was the last player to retire from the original 1961 Angel roster when he left Pittsburg in 1978 to come manage his team, the Angels. He would manage the Angels for just over 3 years. Fegosi along with Autry, were the first faces of this franchise.

1 Million - Fact #3

It was just the second year in franchise history when the Angels fan-base broke the one million mark in attendance. The year was 1962, and it was the first year the Angels would play their home games in Chavez Ravine. The Angels used Wrigley Field in Los Angeles for their inaugural season in 1961, but the old Spanish-style ballpark had a max capacity of 22,000 fans. Even the Dodgers looked at using Wrigley when they first moved from Brooklyn. However a 93,000 seated Coliseum was more enticing. Wrigley was owned by William Wrigley, the chewing gum king who owned the Cubs. Built in 1925, Wrigley Field in Los Angeles was the home of the Los Angeles Angels and the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League. Located in south central at 42nd Place and Avalon Blvd, just two miles from the Coliseum, Wrigley was given one special major league season in 1961 as a farewell to the old park. They averaged 7,500 fans a game which gave them just over 600,000 fans for the season.

Fact #2: First Angels number retired

The first number retired by the Angels franchise was not for a player, but instead for the original owner, Gene Autry. The number that was retired for Gene was #26, because he was the "26th man" for the team. The number was retired in 1982. When Major League Baseball was expanding in 1960-61, he just wanted the broadcasting rights to the team. Instead he served as the owner for the Angels for 38 years until it was sold to Disney during his final years.

Jan 1, 2013 Fact

Dean Chance won the first Cy Young award in franchise history in 1964. Chance went 20-9 with a 1.65 ERA for the Halos. From 1962-1966 only pitchers from the Angels or Dodgers won the award (Drysdale '62 | Koufax '63, '65, '66). In 1967 the award would be given to a pitcher from the AL & NL for the first time since the award began in 1956.

Could be an awful offseason.

The Angels decided to bring back both Scioscia and Dipoto this upcoming season after hinting that one of them were going to be dismissed of their duties. Scioscia needed to come back as he is still one of the top managers in the league. Dipoto is still yet to do something positive for the organization. A very likeable guy, he does know the game very well. However, the signings of Pujols and Hamilton have not worked out. Although he is the general manager, it has been said that those moves had been made by the owner Arte Moreno. Despite those moves, Dipoto did go out and get Joe Blanton who had one of the worst seasons one could remember, Tommy Hanson for Jordan Walden which completely backfired, and also signed two great bullpen guys when injured and they never gave us a sniff at a possible comeback. It makes a fan pinch their eyes and rub their foreheads of how a team can fall off so quickly when being preseason World Series hopefuls two years in a row. Losing Greinke to the Dodgers after not paying him didn't help in this "we need pitchers" offseason.

Things are now only to get worse as the Angels have announced that Trumbo and Bourjos will be on the trading block for hopes of starting pitching, but in the contrary, the front office did not extend qualifying offer to left handed starter Jason Vargas. Mark Trumbo is a home grown talent who tore up AAA Salt Lake just a few years ago, and is now one of the top home run hitters in the American League. His defense has improved, but his discipline has not. When watching games and at-bats, you can tell he is guessing at pitches and will flail at almost anything. Even with that being said, he can still grow and learn and can give you 30/100 offensive numbers. Bourjos was out a majority of this past year with injuries, but again has the potential to be an offensive threat by putting the ball in play and motoring around the base paths. He flies around in the outfield, running down anything that doesn't get to the wall taking hits away in all parts on the grass. Again, another guy who came from within. If the Angels lose both these guys, it will be a huge dent, missing a major power bat, and rabbit on the diamond.

If the Angels are going after pitching, do what you need to do to get rid of Hanson and Blanton. This also means keeping Jason Vargas. A left handed pitcher who still has plenty of years left missed two months due to a blood clot in his armpit. A rare "injury" but had nothing to do with his actual pitching arm. Vargas has been able to go 200+ innings twice in his last three years. This past season with the arm pit injury, Vargas had 24 starts, going 7 innings or more in 10 of them and averaging 6.5K/9.

This will be an interesting offseason for the Halos. As we sit back and cringe awaiting the fate of the Angels trades, let us remember that Weaver and Trout will still be wearing red in Orange County this season.