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

Earl Averill LAA b. 1931, played 1961-1962. Banged out a career-high 21 dingers in 1961 as an original Angel; he caught, played a little outfield, and even second base. Born Earl Douglas Averill, his father Howard Earl was a Hall of Famer with Cleveland.

Robinson Checo LAN b. 1971, played 1999. A flop with the Angels, who signed him as a free agent in May 1989, he never made the big club and was released in 1990. He eventually played in Japan for the Hiroshima Carp, where he pitched a no-hitter in his first Japan League appearance in 1995 and narrowly missed another in 1996. A salary dispute earned him a black eye, and he eventually employed Hideo Nomo's trick of "retiring" to escape his contract. The Red Sox signed him in 1997, and two years later he was a Dodger for 15.2 remarkably bad innings.

Alvin Davis CAL b. 1960, played 1992, All-Star: 1984. The left-handed first baseman was a Rookie of the Year in 1984, when he cranked 27 home runs, but outside of his exceptional 1987 in which he hit 29, he was normally in the high teens annually. Until the era of Ken Griffey, Jr., Edgar Martinez, and Alex Rodriguez, he owned many of the Mariners' franchise records. The Angels signed him as a free agent before their dreadful 90-loss 1992 season; after a brutal June in which he was 0-for seven games, he left the Angels to play in the Japanese leagues.

Waite Hoyt BRO b. 1899, played 1932, 1937-1938, Hall of Fame: 1969 (Veterans), d. 1984-08-25. Signed as a fifteen-year-old by the Giants, who eventually sent him to the International League team in Rochester; from there he went on a series of rabbithole adventures through the independent leagues until he finally came up with the Red Sox, who sent him on to the Yankees, a move the team would live to regret. Twice an MVP candidate, and five times in the top ten in league ERA. Mostly in the Hall for his exploits as the ace of the late 20's Yankees' staffs, considered by many to be the best baseball teams ever fielded. He also had a significant career with Pittsburgh, pitching for the Pirates for four seasons and part of a fifth before being traded to the Dodgers. Hoyt spent parts of three seasons with the Dodgers toward the end of his career, one in 1932 and the last two years of his career in 1937 and 1938; in his last year, he was only used in relief. Later with the Cincinnati Reds, he was the first ex-player allowed behind the microphone, telling stories about his time with the Yankees and Babe Ruth, becoming steadily grumpier as he aged. Perhaps that was from his side job — as a undertaker in the offseason, from which he derived the nickname "the Merry Mortician".

Kazuhisa Ishii LAN b. 1973, played 2002-2004. Dodger pitching coach Jim Colborn called him "a scaled-down version of Randy Johnson." Shawn Green, who had played against him while on an All-Star barnstorming tour of Japan, said of Ishii, "He shut us down, a team full of guys like Bonds and [Toronto left-handed slugger Carlos] Delgado. Everyone was really impressed with him. He was the most impressive pitcher we saw there for sure."

With those glowing recommendations, the Dodgers outbid the Angels, Mariners, Mets, and Rangers by plunking down $11.3 million just for negotiating rights. It seemed he was worth it, as he had led the Yakult Swallows to five Japan League titles. That is, he was exactly the kind of big-game pitcher the Dodgers had been missing despite having signed Kevin Brown, the hero of the 1997 postseason. Brown had just suffered through an injury-plagued 2001, one of two the Dodgers were to endure.

Ishii turned out to be effective but the second coming of Hideo Nomo he definitely was not, giving up plenty of hits and walks; though he frequently wriggled out of trouble, his poor control often came back to bite him. On September 8, 2002, Astros centerfielder Brian Hunter hit a line drive off Ishii's forehead in the fourth inning that caused the pitcher to be carted off the field. Ishii missed the rest of the season.

He tended to get gassed easily; his career splits show a pitcher who became horribly unreliable after the All-Star break (3.90 ERA before, but an eye-popping 5.54 after). Traded to the Mets by Paul DePodesta in March, 2005, he opened the door to Jim Tracy's favorite toy, Jason Phillips. Ishii pitched one year for the Mets, was released, and is back in the employ of his old club, the Swallows.

Edwin Jackson LAN b. 1983, played 2003-2005. Those whom the gods would destroy, they first label "promising". Among the last pre-Logan White draftees with any buzz, he famously beat Randy Johnson on his debut game, also on his birthday three years ago. His subsequent tumble to near-irrelevance with the Dodgers and now the Devil Rays may prove a lesson in the importance of figuring in park factors when rating prospects, and along with Joe Thurston, of discounting for the affects of One Good Year. His 5.55 ERA with AAA Durham is not the right direction. Still way too young to give up on, but at 23, saws about ticking clocks come to mind.

Charlie Perkins BRO b. 1905, played 1934, d. 1988-05-25

Felix Rodriguez LAN b. 1972, played 1995. Earned a 10.1 IP cup of coffee with the 1995 Dodgers, he became a mainstay of the 90's and early 2000's Giants bullpens, especially in 2001, when opposition batters hit .188 against him. Scott Spiezio and Angels fans generally thank him for one particular middle-inside pitch in the 2002 World Series Game 6, but the thing that seems to be generally forgotten is that he had earlier surrendered Tim Salmon's two-run dong that turned out to be the game winner in Game 2. Did Dusty have a better choice?

Todd Zeile LAN b. 1965, played 1997-1998. Came up with the Cards in 1989 as a 23-year-old, but after the Cards traded him to the Cubs in his last year of arbitration eligibility, he never spent more than two years with any one club, providing the generic face at third base for ten other clubs. He was the last Dodger at third prior to the Adrian Beltre era; whether you consider that a good thing or not depends on whether you like him in a Mariners uniform.