6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

Luis Alicea ANA b. 1965, played 1997

George Cutshaw BRO b. 1887, played 1912-1917, d. 1973-08-22

Steve Frey CAL b. 1963, played 1992-1993

Roy Henshaw BRO b. 1911, played 1937, d. 1993-06-08

Chief Meyers BRO b. 1880, played 1916-1917, d. 1971-07-25

Greg Minton CAL b. 1951, played 1987-1990, All-Star: 1982. A Top 100 Angel, "Moon Man" Minton was almost washed up by the time the Angels got him, but some of that was psychological; he had come off a divorce and elbow surgery (for bone chips), and the fans at Candlestick had started to boo the Giants reliever who had once been a bullpen ace. He briefly provided a shot in the arm for a mediocre Angels bullpen following the 1986 debacle that saw Donnie Moore spiral into irrelevance, and the young Chuck Finley struggle.

Luther Roy BRO b. 1902, played 1929, d. 1963-07-24

Harvey Shank CAL b. 1946, played 1970

Dutch Stryker BRO b. 1895, played 1926, d. 1964-11-05

Gary Thomasson LAN b. 1951, played 1979-1980

Carl Doyle BRO b. 1912, played 1939-1940, d. 1951-09-04

Ricky Horton LAN b. 1959, played 1988-1989

Mickey Mahler CAL b. 1952, played 1981-1982. "Minor league batting statistics", Bill James wrote, "will predict major league batting performance with essentially the same reliability as previous major league statistics." This doesn't apply to pitchers, though, and Mahler is something of a poster boy for why. You see, he led the Dominican Winter League in wins by an American, with 41; in the majors, he had a career mark of 9-32 and a 5.45 ERA, but as a reliever, he was 5-0 with a 2.73 ERA. Some guys just can't hack it as a starter.

Paul Minner BRO b. 1923, played 1946, 1948-1949

Joe Nuxhall LAA b. 1928, played 1962, All-Star: 1955-1956. The youngest player of the 20th century to reach the majors — he signed with permission from his principal as a 15-year-old — Nuxhall got shelled his first time out in 1944 but came back from the minors in 1952 to have a long and productive career with the Reds, including two All-Star appearances. He only appeared in five games with the Angels, after spending a year with Kansas City; he returned to the Reds to finish his career, retiring at 37, and working for a time as a broadcaster.

Johnny Rizzo BRO b. 1912, played 1942, d. 1977-12-04

Jim Spencer CAL b. 1947, played 1968-1973, All-Star: 1973, d. 2002-02-10. Maybe if I'd have been born earlier, I might be writing, "J.T. Snow, an all-glove, no-hit first baseman in the Jim Spencer mold...". He won the Gold Glove twice, but he certainly provided an archetype for Snow. Unlike Snow, though, he actually had first baseman's numbers once in his career, in 1979 with the Yankees; even then, he was only Chris Chambliss's understudy.

Casey Stengel BRO b. 1890, played 1912-1917, Hall of Fame: 1966 (Veterans), d. 1975-09-29. Born Charles Dillon Spengel, "Casey" was a nickname from his hometown of Kansas City. Stengel spent his first six years in the majors in a Brooklyn, where his daily interaction with fans on and off the field created the Robins' persona as a neighborhood team. It was also where he developed a reputation as a clown, a trait that got him in trouble in his later career. The Robins won the 1916 pennant in an incredible season that saw Stengel hit an improbable homer in a May 2 game against the Giants. Robins catcher Chief Meyers said of Stengel, "It was Casey who kept us on our toes."

After his tour with the Dodgers, he spent time with Pittsburgh, Philadephia — and then the Giants, where he learned the craft of a manager at the knee of John McGraw. From McGraw, one of the greatest managers of all time, Stengel drew his philosophy of platooning players, something he would take to great lengths with the late 40's and early 50's Yankees. Stengel first managed the Dodgers for three years, unsuccessfully, starting in 1934; three losing seasons later, he was back in the minors plying his trade. In 1938, the Boston Braves (then Bees) hired him as their manager, and he stuck longer there, but ultimately lost his job; once again, he managed in the minors for the American Association Kansas City franchise, and the Pacific Coast League's Oakland team.

1949 marked the beginning of an unparalleled run with the Yankees: he managed New York to seven World Series titles, five of them consecutive, and ten pennants. He rebuilt the team from a star-at-every-position to one built around Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, and Whitey Ford. He ran his starters in no particular order, and in fact, Stengel was accused of never having an actual rotation. There was something to it: staff ace Whitey Ford only got the maximum number of starts (39) after Stengel left the Yankees. Stengel relentlessly promoted DiMaggio, and made playing time for his role players, many of whom could have started elsewhere, contingent on a brutal competition. That led to bitter feelings among some players in the dugout; other players worshiped him, perhaps leading to Stengel's saying that, "The secret of managing is to keep the five guys who hate you away from the five who are undecided."

Following a 1960 World Series loss to the Pirates, the Yankees announced his retirement; Stengel said he was fired. He returned to his home in Glendale to run the Valley National Bank, but the very next year, the expansion Mets tabbed him to run their new franchise. His comic demeanor took the edge off a horrible team that lost constantly, 170-414 over the three and change years he was at the helm. The endless failure prompted Stengel to ask, "Can't anybody here play this game?", later used as the title of a Jimmy Breslin book about the 40-120 season of the 1962 Mets. Stengel fractured his hip in a fall a week before his birthday in 1965, forcing his retirement from baseball.

Ellis Valentine CAL b. 1954, played 1983, All-Star: 1977. Valentine came up with the Expos as a 20-year-old in 1975, a year before Andre Dawson; along with Warren Cromartie, all three were expected to be stars, but only Dawson really stuck. Valentine got hit in the face with a fastball in what could have been his best season, 1980, ending his season, and seemingly changing him as a player. By the time the Angels got him, he couldn't hit righties anymore (.294 against lefties vs. .193 against righties). On top of that, his power had vanished. Two years later, he was out of baseball at 30.

Chuck Ward BRO b. 1894, played 1918-1922, d. 1969-04-04