1982 Fleer #461 Bobby Grich - I love '82 Fleer. The photos were quite unusual, and this one is no exception, showing Grich about to enter his stride. I also love the shot of the other photographer sitting in the background

Just to be clear, this poll includes all iterations of the Angels franchise, including the Anaheim Angels, California Angels, and Los Angeles Angels dating back to 1961.

This team had a couple of long post-season droughts from 1961 to 1978 and from 1987 to 2001. In 2002 they broke through and won the World Series, part of a string of 6 playoff appearances in 8 years. Lately, though, they’ve been playing second fiddle to the other 1961 expansion team, the Texas Rangers (whom we’ll look at next.)

Before you click through, see if you can guess who the all-time team leader in WAR is…hint: it’s a pitcher. Continue reading →

I have installed a new chat widget that I think will work better. For now I am keeping it on a standalone page–I may move it to a more prominent position later.

"The only way you'll get me out is if I eat my bat" - Paul Konerko / PRESSWIRE

With Paul Konerko reaching 400 career White Sox homers today, it seems like a good time to repeat how amazing he’s been for the last 3 seasons. Continue reading →

1979 Topps #68 - Joe Niekro

We turn our attention to the Houston Colt .45’s, who came into being in 1962. Three years later they were rebranded as the Astros.

In their first 35 years, the Astros had limited success with just a couple of post-season appearances. Come 1997, though, they had 6 playoff appearances in 9 years, culminating with their lone World Series appearance in 2005. They’ve been pretty dismal since then, though.

Let’s take a look at their best players. Continue reading →

David Wright / Presswire

Let’s move back to 1962 and start off with the New York Mets. This is going to be pretty interesting, I think.

Before you click through, just a comment about this photo–I think it’s insanely cool to see 3 sets of eyes locked onto the ball.

Continue reading →

1985 Donruss #297 Willie Wilson - what a great photo, showing Wilson's eyes locked on the incoming pitch as he's about to lay down a drag bunt

We finish the 1969 round of expansion with the Kansas City Royals. Just as a reminder, we’re trying to figure out which four Royals we’d put up on a monument for the team. The selection criteria are entirely up to you–best player, best performer, best embodiment of the team…

The Royals started on fire, with 3 second-place finishes in the first 6 years, followed by 4 first-place finishes in the next 5 years. After losing the World Series in 1980, they finally won it all in 1985. Sadly, in the subsequent 27 years they haven’t made the playoffs at all and haven’t even sniffed the post-season since the late 1980s.

There are an awful lot of players for this franchise who deserve consideration. Let’s dig in. Continue reading →

Ben Sheets / Presswire

We turn our attention to another of the 1969 expansion teams, although this one was known as the Seattle Pilots back then.

For a franchise that has only made 4 playoff appearances (and finished first in their division only 3 times in 43 seasons), they’ve had a lot of great players.

Let’s take a peek.

Continue reading →

1978 O-Pee-Chee #78 Dave Winfield - I love this card. All the yellow, oranges, and browns look great, and the retro uniform and font are great.

Here’s a bit of history about the Padres. In their first season in 1969, they lost a whopping 110 games. They finished last in the NL West every year for their first 6 seasons until finally finishing 4th in 1975.  Over the next 8 seasons, they moved around from 4th to 6th. Then, all of a sudden, in 1984, they vaulted to 1st place and made it to the World Series. The following year, they put up their first 3rd-place finish, but didn’t finally put up a 2nd-place finish until 1989 in their 21st season.

Anyway…let’s take a look at the best players this team has ever had. Continue reading →

David Ortiz / Presswire

In the 2009 season, David Ortiz went homerless all the way up until 3 years ago today, of May 20th. Up until that game, for the season he was hitting .203/.317/.293. Yikes.

Lots of people, including me, said that he was D-U-N done. He certainly looked done.

Since May 20th 2009, though, Ortiz has been anything but done. In 446 games and 1847 plate appearances (3 full seasons over 3 full calendar years) he’s hit .285/.375/.543 with 98 HR and 311 RBI.

Over the 3 full seasons 2009, 2010, and 2011, two other players–Adrian Gonzalez and Paul Konerko–have exactly 98 homers themselves. Only 6 players (Albert, Prince, Tex, Ryan Howard, Miggy, and Gonzalez) have at least 98 homers and 311 over that same period.

Apparently, rumors of Ortiz’s demise were greatly exaggerated.

1976 Topps #441 Gary Carter All-Star Rookie

OK, we roll back the clock to 1969 and the bunch of teams that all came into existence that year. One of them, the Montreal Expos, is just a memory at this point. Let’s identify the franchise’s marquis players. Washington Nationals can also be considered, but I don’t think there’s anybody from the modern era even close enough. Continue reading →