AngelsWin.com Today: Who's In Your Angels Legendary Lineup?

[Dave Saltzer]

17 hours ago, Erstad Grit said:

Lack of love for Langston, Chili Davis, and Edmonds

Look, there are lots of personal favorites that I left off the list. Some of them hold very special meanings for me as I got to know them off the field as well as on the field. I did consider Langston, and loved it when we had the 3 big lefties in our rotation, all with 18+ wins. But, it was hard enough working Abbott into my lineup, and Langston wasn't going to supplant Finley. 

 

As for Chili Davis, really loved it when he played here, but there was no way he could supplant any of the starting OFers or Vlad. Loved him as a switch hitting DH, but there just wasn't room on the roster for him. I'm telling you, making this roster is not easy.

[Dave Saltzer]

I emailed off the creator of the Topps and Beckett Media's list with some questions about their list. I'll post the responses I got here. If you all have more questions about the Topps and Beckett Media's list, please post them here and I can pass them along for answers.

How did you all determine which players to place in your lineup? Was it based on the most cards sold or were other criteria used?

We chose the teams based on four key variables: Star Power of the player…. What the player means to the fans base and what their peak popularity was… What the player means to the hobby and collectors… The overall skill/accomplishments of the player… These are each weighed differently for each player/card and we realize there is no perfect answer. We certainly invite discussion and new thoughts/ opinions on how the list could be improved…

Why did you go with Jim Abbott as the starting pitcher and not Nolan Ryan?

The pitching decision was a really tough one! Obviously Nolan Ryan, Chuck Finley and Jered Weaver were tremendous pitchers for the Angels. They had longer careers and in all three cases accomplished more on the field than Abbott… But this is one instance where the importance of the player’s card weighed very heavily. Abbott’s ’89 Bowman Rookie Card was released during a watershed moment in collecting and with him being selected 8th overall, then finishing 3rd in the Cy Young voting as a 23-year-old, his peak popularity and the importance of his card got him on this list…

Why did you go with Percival over K-Rod?

This was really close. K-Rod’s peak was incredible and he had some electric years as the closer. Percival did as well and ultimately spending a full decade as the team’s closer and finally winning a World Series (we know K-Rod was great in the WS too) gave him the nod…but this one was as close to a 50/50 call as we had.

How come you list Carew at 2B when the overwhelming majority of his time as an Angel was at 1B?

This was between Bobby Grich and Rod Carew, who, even though he spent most of his time with the Angels at 1st, we felt could still be slotted as a second baseman, since he spent much of his career their. A fictional, legendary Angels line-up with Carew AND Joyner at the plate, along with the popularity of their cards, nudged us towards that decision.

What were the toughest positions for you to decide for your legendary lineup?

You mentioned them, for sure. The two hardest were the starting pitcher and relief pitcher spots. There were passionate cases made for all those guys and we gave it our best shot, sticking to the guidelines we put together. We know some fans may disagree, but that’s the point of the teams…to invite discussion and come up with the best squad.

 

[floplag]

17 minutes ago, Dave Saltzer said:

Ahhh . . . but that's the challenge. Now you know why it's a difficult problem. As I said, it's painful. You will have to make some difficult choices and compromises. So, who are you going to cut from that group?

I think you missed my intent, those 3 dont get cut, someone else does, in this case thats likely GA.  I love what the guy did for the franchise, but the others resonate higher to me personally. 

[Dick B Back]

48 minutes ago, Lou said:

I don't think that's allowed here. 

In seasons Fregosi started more than 100 games, he averaged 26 errors/yr. ( he also committed 22 errors during his final season here when he started 73 games)

Simmons has committed 27 since he's been here. 

But the OP stated:

“We decided that to be a legendary Angels player, a player had to play a substantial portion of his career with the Angels and be forever associated with the team and a position.”

I don’t think Simmons meets the qualifications for legendary just yet.

[Dave Saltzer]

5 minutes ago, Dick B Back said:

But the OP stated:

“We decided that to be a legendary Angels player, a player had to play a substantial portion of his career with the Angels and be forever associated with the team and a position.”

I don’t think Simmons meets the qualifications for legendary just yet.

That's where I'm at, but I can see why some would think he is. As I wrote, Simmons' defense is worth the price of admission. And, he has become so much better as a hitter than I thought he would be when we first got him. I can easily see him becoming the legendary player for the position, but for me, it will take several more years of play at this level to beat out Fregosi.

[Lou]

28 minutes ago, Dick B Back said:

a player had to play a substantial portion of his career with the Angels and be forever associated with the team and a position.”

Career as an Angel:

Simmons = 43% of his years in MLB in Anaheim 

Ryan = 30%  (Rangers HOFer)

Bengie = 57% 

Boone = 37% (better known for his time with the Phillies)

Edited May 2, 2018 by Lou

[Lou]

1 hour ago, Dave Saltzer said:

I did consider Langston, and loved it when we had the 3 big lefties in our rotation, all with 18+ wins. But, it was hard enough working Abbott into my lineup, and Langston wasn't going to supplant Finley. 

How on earth did you put Abbott ahead of Langston? 

Imo, it isn't even close. 

[Dick B Back]

5 minutes ago, Lou said:

Career as an Angel:

Simmons = 43% of his years in MLB in Anaheim 

Ryan = 30%  (Rangers HOFer)

Bengie = 57% 

Boone = 37% (better known for his time with the Phillies)

But but but, you were talking about Fregosi.

Also, the definition of legendary is not mine so you know who to bitch at.

[Lou]

3 minutes ago, Dick B Back said:

But but but, you were talking about Fregosi.

Also, the definition of legendary is not mine so you know who to bitch at.

Oh, I know. I just used your post because it stated the OP's "rules" 

 

[Stradling]

18 hours ago, Dick B Back said:

Picking Simmons over Fregosi at this moment is like picking Justin Anderson for the BP because he has a 0.00 ERA.

I disagree.  But then again I didn’t see Fregosi.

[Dick B Back]

58 minutes ago, SuperTroopers said:

I disagree.  But then again I didn’t see Fregosi.

I did, but I’m old.

[Dave Saltzer]

1 hour ago, Lou said:

How on earth did you put Abbott ahead of Langston? 

Imo, it isn't even close. 

As I said in the article, he is my favorite player, and his story is utterly compelling. He will forever be talked about as a player. Additionally, his story, particularly going straight from college to the Majors without any Minor League experience is utterly impressive. To put it in perspective, in the last 38 years, it's only been done 8 times. Seeing how there's probably been about 8,000 players in the Majors in that time span, saying someone is 1 in 1,000, regardless of all else, is pretty legendary.

 

Don't get me wrong, Langston has better numbers. But Abbott's story is legendary, and my favorite player. It's okay to disagree, but it doesn't make one opinion right and the other wrong.

[Angelsjunky]

20 hours ago, Dick B Back said:

Picking Simmons over Fregosi at this moment is like picking Justin Anderson for the BP because he has a 0.00 ERA.

That's a bit extreme, but I hear what you are saying.

19 hours ago, Lou said:

If my team is playing against that lineup, I'm giving every player the green light on the basepaths 

Took me a second to see why...OK, I guess I'll go for Boone as my catcher. 

[Lou]

1 hour ago, Dave Saltzer said:

As I said in the article, he is my favorite player, and his story is utterly compelling. He will forever be talked about as a player. Additionally, his story, particularly going straight from college to the Majors without any Minor League experience is utterly impressive. To put it in perspective, in the last 38 years, it's only been done 8 times. Seeing how there's probably been about 8,000 players in the Majors in that time span, saying someone is 1 in 1,000, regardless of all else, is pretty legendary.

 

Don't get me wrong, Langston has better numbers. But Abbott's story is legendary, and my favorite player. It's okay to disagree, but it doesn't make one opinion right and the other wrong.

Ok, so it's numbers and franchise longevity.

Except when it's not.