Wednesday, January 10, 2007 |
Pickoff Moves
Today's Birthdays
Ted Bowsfield LAA b. 1935, played 1961-1962. An original Angel drafted off the Indians, he was the number three man in the rotation that first year and the only Angel starter with a winning record. Shipped to the Royals in November, 1962, he spent two more years in the majors before hanging up his cleats.
Chuck Dobson CAL b. 1944, played 1974-1975. It's trite to express just how bad the early 70's Angels were; the '74 squad on which Dobson appeared was fairly typical. No reliever who had pitched more than 20 innings had an ERA that was even league average; most of them, save for the lightly-used Luis Quintana, a farm product, were castoffs picked up in junk exchanges with other bad teams. Dobson had worked his way down to the Mexican Leagues, and was purchased there by the Angels on June 29, 1974.
Everything about the Angels that year was chaotic: the team had three managers, including the inexperienced Bobby Winkles, who eventually got fired because of his inability to handle Frank Robinson, who was admittedly a disruptive influence in the dugout; Robinson often tried to manage the team himself, and as a distinguished veteran, carried a lot of influence with the other players. Whitey Herzog came and went; the Angels replaced him after four games with Dick Williams, a disciplinarian who nonetheless got on Robinson's good side right away by naming him captain. It didn't matter, as the team continued its losing ways; the Angels wouldn't field a winner until 1978.
Vern Geishert CAL b. 1946, played 1969
Marty Herrmann BRO b. 1893, played 1918, d. 1956-09-11
Pat Keedy CAL b. 1958, played 1985
Adam Kennedy ANA,LAA b. 1976, played 2000-2005. Most famous for the three crucial home runs he hit in 2002 ALCS Game 5, an effort that won him an ALCS MVP honor, the Top 100 Angel is a free agent this year, losing his job to the cheaper — and we hope, more talented — Howie Kendrick. As the return on the trade that unloaded Jim Edmonds, that's not bad at all, not bad at all.
Ed McGamwell BRO b. 1879, played 1905, d. 1924-05-26
Johnny Peacock BRO b. 1910, played 1945, d. 1981-10-17
Gary Rath LAN b. 1973, played 1998
Ervin Santana LAA b. 1983, played 2005. Inconsistent, injury-plagued in his short career, yet at times brilliant, he was the hero of the 2005 ALDS Game 5 when he replaced Bartolo Colon in the second inning, holding the Yanks' fearsome lineup to only two runs. If there is one player I do not want to see the Angels trade, it's this guy. (Of course, Jered Weaver's also on that list.)
Javy Lopez A Rocky
38-year-old catcher (try not to laugh) Javy Lopez has signed with the Colorado Rockies on a one-year, $850,000 deal. It's hard to imagine he'll see playing time ahead of Yorvit Torrealba.A Thorn Plucked
The Nationals have severed all ties with Frank Robinson. Good.
Bobby Winkles was inexperienced in MLB but had a great run at ASU (Jackson, Monday, Bando) and 3 CWS Titles in Tempe.
In 1973 with Winkles as Halo manager, the team was 79-83. Robinson was there all year too.
: 1/10/2007 05:47:00 PMNewer› ‹Older
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