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

Dick Calmus LAN b. 1944, played 1963

Tony Conigliaro CAL b. 1945, played 1971, All-Star: 1967, d. 1990-02-24. Dogged by bad luck throughout his career, which was itself abbreviated thanks to a fastball from Angels pitcher Jack Hamilton on August 18, 1967 that hit him square in the cheek, irrepairably damaging his eyesight. He broke his arm in August of his rookie year and still managed 24 homers as a 19-year-old. The Angels got him in 1971, spending the first half of a year proving he couldn't see, and then ended up in the minors for several years until 1974, when the team released him. He tried a comeback with the Red Sox in 1975, but it didn't work; he died of a heart attack in 1990.

Carlos Diaz LAN b. 1958, played 1984-1986

Eric Gagne LAN b. 1976, played 1999-2005, All-Star: 2002-2004. Since I came back to baseball at the end of the 90's, Gagne remains the one man to me who epitomizes excellence in a Dodger uniform. His streak of 84 consecutive converted saves remains the major league benchmark for closers; he also owns marks in the top ten for games pitched (77, twice, tied for seventh), and is first, second, and third for single-season saves (55, 52, and 45 in 2003, 2002, and 2004 respectively.) Jayson Stark enumerated just how crazy good he was during that streak, with more saves (84) than hits (71). Gagne's MO was to fool batters with mid-90's heat followed by a high-60's circle change or a 12-6 curveball Preston Wilson once likened to Bugs Bunny's.

His conversion from starter to closer, almost by accident at the start of the 2002 season, worked out so stupefyingly well that it's almost forgotten; as Jon once wrote, Eric Gagne is so good. When Gagne came out, you knew the deal was done, the real reason to stay through the end of the ninth. Whether he can do that for the Rangers, nobody really knows. Bon chance, Eric, except against the Angels, natch.

Jim Lefebvre LAN b. 1942, played 1965-1972, All-Star: 1966. Rookie of the Year in '65 when the Dodgers won it all, again, during one of the franchise's golden eras, he was the team's starting second baseman throughout the mid-to-late 60's, participating in the merry-go-round that was the hole at third base for some of that time. He played for a time in Japan, with poor results, and eventually returned to the States, where he became a coach for the Giants; during that tenure, he punched Tommy Lasorda, earning some street cred along the way. Lefebvre later managed the Mariners, Chisox, and Brewers, the latter as a promotion from bench coach after Phil Garner was fired.

Johnny McCarthy BRO b. 1910, played 1934-1935, d. 1973-09-13

Francisco Rodriguez ANA,LAA b. 1982, played 2002-2005, All-Star: 2004. How very strange he should be born on the same day as another great closer. A Top 100 Angel and a great pitcher who couldn't hack the rotation in the minors, he's been unbelievable, starting from his meteoric (if questionably legal) rise in the 2002 postseason to his subsequent career taking over from Troy Percival as the team's closer. He's currently tied for fifth for franchise single-season pitching appearances (69), 10th for games pitched (268), overtook Bryan Harvey for the franchise lead in single-season saves (47), and is now third in career saves with 106. His mentor Troy Percival has the franchise lead with 316, so K-Rod has a while to go yet.

Dick Schofield LAN b. 1935, played 1966-1967. Father to the other Dick Schofield, the good one.

Ray Semproch LAA b. 1931, played 1961

Craig Shipley LAN,ANA b. 1963, played 1986-1987, 1998. Started a Dodger and ended an Angel, the utility infielder was supposedly the first Aussie to play in the modern era. Now an executive in the Red Sox organization.

Al Todd BRO b. 1902, played 1939, d. 1985-03-08