oldguy

Nope, its youth sports that's killing it (not to mention video games). Every kid now needs two triple-walled bats (they look like deadpool when they carry it around in their backpack), their own helmet, two batting gloves, shoes, backpack to carry it all, AND AN ADULT TO TELL THEM WHAT TO DO!!! When's the last time you saw a pickup game in your area? Kids nowadays don't even know that "over-the-line" is. Inner city kids are priced out. Back in the '60s and '70s we had 4 helmets for the team, about a dozen baseballs for the season (we kept one "game ball" for the whole season), nobody had their own bat, and only the rich-spoiled brat kid had a batting glove (we were all jealous of it). I rode to the park with my shoes and glove slung over the handlebars. We usually had only about one or two parents in the stands (usually a couple of dads who'd been drinking and loved to harass the ump). The coach was the guy who drew the short straw. It was like Adam Carolla says, "Who do you want taking your kids camping? The guy who immediately raises his hand? No!!! The guy who is trying to sneak out the back door....that's who you want taking your kids camping!!! (in our case, that was the guy who had to coach little league)" However, after our little league game, we would play pickup games, (over the line if not enough players) until dark, and, I would argue, we developed our skills just through shear repetition and had WAAAY more fun. The same is happening in basketball. Summer camps used to be for skill development. Now they are for playing games. When your kid is on a team of twelve, just what percent of the time does he/she have the ball in their hands?

I hated when we traded Ed Figueroa and Mickey Rivers to the Yankees for Bobby Bonds back in '75. I hated when we sold Rudy May (Autry must have needed the cash, I remember the year the Angels drew only 750,000) I hated trading Fregosi for Ryan and Stanton, loved it afterwards. I hated trading Dave Collins, Jason Thompson, Aurelio Rodriguez Never understood why we didn't want Leon Wagner. The Vernon Wells trade was the worst. Scioscia just hated Napoli, Rivera was better than Wells.

Same here, it was hard to watch him play for Texas knowing what coulda been...

Agree. Back then, a lot more importance was placed on BA.

Weaver is so underrated. In a do or die situation, I'd take him over ANY other Angel pitcher (except perhaps pre-injury Tanana). Up until the last 3 years of his career, his winning percentage was close to .666. When bored at work, I'd search baseball reference, and I could find only Pedro and Whitey Ford with that percentage (in modern times).

I want to say Tanana, but, while he would have had a HOF career, the ramifications of Kendrys getting hurt are much deeper. We never would have signed Pujols. This was a move I never quite understood. Morales was due to come off the injured list and Trumbo just came off a decent season. The Pujols signing left us with 3 first basemen, which was awkward and the team has been awkwardly constructed ever since. Non-Angel, I would have to go with Bo Jackson. P.S. One of the great Tanana quotes from the early 70's... "Next year we've got everybody coming back......and that's the problem!"

Everbody forgets about game 4 in '86. We scored 3 in the ninth to tie, then this...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ-Pak397ec Don't know why I wasn't home, but I was listening on the radio... Baseball was made for radio anyways.

I live in NorCal and pay $100 yearly for the MLB ATBAT package so I can watch the Angels. No mention of a refund or discounts from them either.

Such a painful experience in '86. I remember the Anaheim PD lining the field to hold back the celebration... When Buckner botched that dribbler up the first base line I shouted, "Yes!!! Now you feel our pain!!". Although, I think that Buckner represented everything good about baseball. I still remember when he came up with the Dodgers, quite a AAA team they had in 1970 (Garvey, Lopes, Russell, Charlie Hough, Valentine, Rau, Zahn, Paciorek, Doyle Alexander, with Cey, Ferguson, and Yeager waiting at AA). Talk about a home grown team!

Carney Lansford Lyman Bostock god the memories are painful!

Bobby Valentine (broke his ankle year one) Rick Reichardt - an original bonus baby Aurelio Rodriguez (had a nice 16 year career, we traded him and Reichardt for McMullen) We traded Ken McMullen and Messersmith to the Dodgers for Valentine, Grabarkewitz, Frank Robinson, Bill Singer, and Mike Strahler (relief pitcher) Robinson performed - but a lot of clubs sure traded him Wally Joyner - never lived up to expectations Shoemaker? Anyone old enough to remember watching Tanana before he hurt his arm? One of baseball's best.