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

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Friday, January 19, 2007

Pickoff Moves

Today's Birthdays

Jeff Juden ANA b. 1971, played 1998

Phil Nevin ANA b. 1971, played 1998, All-Star: 2001. The hell? I've always thought of Nevin as a Padre, and indeed he had his best years with them, mashing 41 homers in his only All Star year of 2001. But long before that, he was a prep star at El Dorado High in Placentia, and the Dodgers had tabbed but did not sign him in 1989. Later joining the CSUF Titans, the third baseman was the Big West conference's triple crown winner in 1992, belting 20 home runs on the path to earning a Golden Spikes award. His play helped lead Fullerton to a College World Series berth in 1992, eventually being voted Series MVP despite the Titans' loss to Pepperdine. Drafted by the Astros that same year as the first overall pick, he started at AAA... for three straight years. His power stroke had disappeared, and some in the organization reported a lack of focus at times; blocked by the notorious Ken Caminiti at third, in 1993 the Astros moved him to left — where he had no experience. He began to look like a mediocrity, though publicly the Astros called him a can't-miss prospect.

He first came up in June 1995, but attitude problems that included a fight with Houston GM Bob Watson got him quickly demoted to AAA; he didn't help himself by getting into a public yelling match with manager Terry Collins when he was informed of the decision. By August, the Astros had sent him to Detroit in exchange for relief star Mike Henneman. Unimpressed with his major league play, the Tigers demoted him to AA Jacksonville for most of 1996, where he learned to catch. In November 1997, the team sent him and catcher Matt Walbeck to the Halos, who got both for a minor leaguer who never made it to the Show.

Thus humbled, Nevin, by now a utility infielder, was mainly used as a reserve behind Walbeck. The Angels sent him to the Padres the next year for another utility infielder, Andy Sheets; with the Padres, Nevin's bat finally awoke, hitting 24 then 31 then 41 homers for San Diego, catching, and playing first and third. He's bounced around a great deal since then, playing variously for the Cubs, Rangers, and Twins, his power vacated by age.

Orlando Palmeiro ANA,CAL b. 1969, played 1995-2002. A good bench man, he left the Angels after winning a ring with the 2002 squad and signed with the Cards; Jeff Davanon largely replaced him in the corner outfield spots, hitting for a little more power and a little less average.

Ed Sadowski LAA b. 1931, played 1961-1963, d. 1993-11-06. An original Angel and one of four members of the Sadowski clan to play in the majors, he was the reserve catcher behind Earl Averill. He died in 1993 of Lou Gehrig's disease.

Dolly Stark BRO b. 1885, played 1910-1912, d. 1924-12-01