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

Jim Anderson CAL b. 1957, played 1978-1979

Bobby Bonilla LAN b. 1963, played 1998, All-Star: 1988-1991, 1993, 1995. A multi-time All-Star with the Pirates, who signed him as an amateur, lost him to the Rule 5 draft, and got him back again in a trade for the inconsistent Jose De Leon. He was at one time the game's highest-paid player for the hapless early-90's Mets, who shuttled him back and forth between third base and the outfield; while a starter in the three and change years for those teams, not one of them evem managed to get to .500 ball. He didn't help matters by failing to hit home runs, something he was expected to do in the absence of Darryl Strawberry; "home runs are overrated", he once told reporters. Mets fans felt the same way about Bonilla, and his relationship with the team and the public soon grew adversarial.

Traded to Baltimore, he then went to Florida in November, 1996 as part of that team's big push to win a World Series, and then ended up in the Dodgers' lap on May 4, 1998 along with Manuel Barrios, Jim Eisenreich, Charles Johnson, and Gary Sheffield — for Todd Zeile, and, disastrously, Mike Piazza, one of the two great mistakes by the Dodgers in the 1990's, the other being Buttercup. Bonilla's time with the Dodgers was marred by a wrist injury, and he only hit .237. He then made the collossal mistake of using a charity event to gripe about untouchable icon Tommy Lasorda. The Dodgers had had enough, and dumped him to the Mets for a worthless reliever, Mel Rojas.

His second stint in New York went no better than his first, knee injuries inhibiting his offense. Making matters worse, he publicly complained about playing time. The Mets put him on waivers; nobody bit. He spent two more years in the majors, in Atlanta and St. Louis, before retiring.

Phil Haugstad BRO b. 1924, played 1947-1948, 1951, d. 1998-10-21

Ron Hunt LAN b. 1941, played 1967, All-Star: 1964, 1966. Spent most of his career with the Mets, Giants, and Expos, where he was famous for one (painful) offensive event: the hit-by-pitch, in which mark he led the league on seven separate occaisions. "Some people give their bodies to science; I give mine to baseball." He finished his career leading the majors in that statistic in single-season (in the modern era, 1900 and after, with 50 for his 1971 season), and career (243, since surpassed by Don Baylor, Tommy Tucker, and Craig Biggio).

Fred Kuhaulua CAL b. 1953, played 1977. One of 32 players born in Hawaii.

John Morris CAL b. 1961, played 1992

Luke Prokopec LAN b. 1978, played 2000-2001. Whom recent Dodger fans will always remember as one of the guys traded to get Paul Quantrill and Cesar Izturis, probably the biggest coup of Dan Evans' brief career as Dodgers GM.

John Shelby LAN b. 1958, played 1987-1990. The Dodgers' starting centerfielder in the magical year of 1988, he made a brilliant catch for the last out of NLCS Game 4.

Grant Thatcher BRO b. 1877, played 1903-1904, d. 1936-03-17

Con Lucid BRO b. 1874, played 1894-1895, d. 1931-06-25

Gary Moore LAN b. 1945, played 1970

Eddie Murray ANA,LAN b. 1956, played 1989-1991, 1997, All-Star: 1978, 1981-1986, 1991, Hall of Fame: 2003 (BBWAA). Spent the huge majority of his baseball career with the Orioles, where he helped them win their last World Series title; he is one of only four players to have 500 home runs and 3000 hits, the others being Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Rafael Palmiero. (And some people think Raffy doesn't belong in the Hall.) His time with the Dodgers and Angels was as a late-career name to plug into the lineup; though he continued to be productive for the Dodgers, by the time the Angels got him — as a 41-year-old — the problems were obvious and his age was a clear hindrance. He spent a few at-bats with the Dodgers after the Halos released him before retiring.

Fred Sington BRO b. 1910, played 1938-1939, d. 1998-08-20