Where does the time go? Francisco Rodriguez turns 30-years-old today. Known affectionately as K-Rod, Rodriguez will always hold a special place in my heart after his breakout playoff performance in 2002. Frankie debuted for the Angels on September 18, 2002 as a 20-year-old and struck out 13 in 5.2 regular season innings.

Through one of MLB’s loopholes, Rodriguez was added to the Angels 2002 playoff roster and the rest is history. Rodriguez wasn’t perfect but he was electric as he earned the nickname K-Rod by striking out 28 over 18.2 innings with a 1.93 ERA. Rodriguez won five of the 11 games he pitched.

I’ll never forget watching K-Rod strikeout Rich Aurilia, Jeff Kent and Benito Santiago in the top of the 8th inning of Game 7. Some of that was due to watching the game on a 19 inch TV in a corner of the back bar at The Crazy Horse Too in Las Vegas. That’s probably a story for another time though.

K-Rod set the single season saves record with 62 in 2008 with the Angels before leaving for free agency and the Mets. Since it is his birthday, I’ll just skip over the past few years. Rodriguez accepted arbitration with the Brewers this offseason and will head back to Milwaukee to setup for John Axford.

Amazingly, for a reliever, Rodriguez has three top five Cy Young finishes and a top six MVP in his career. But it’s the magic from the 2002 World Series championship that we’ll never forget. For that, the Hangout wishes Frankie a very happy 30th birthday.

It’s a few days overdue but former Angels third bagger Troy Glaus has decided to retire. Glaus was last seen in the Majors in 2010 meandering around first base for the Braves. It wasn’t pretty so the decision to hang ‘em up shouldn’t come as a surprise. ESPN’s Buster Olney tweeted the news from a Cinnabon at DFW…

Glaus should hold a special place in all Angels fans’ hearts. He was the last third baseman the Halos had who could actually rake. Glaus hit 182 home runs and a .253/.357/.497 line during his 1998-2004 tenure with the Angels.

More importantly, Glaus was what they call the Most Valuable Player during the 2002 World Series. He hit three home runs and a ridiculous .385/.467/.846 line over the seven game series against the Giants.

True story. I listened to game six of the World Series that year over the radio on my way from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. My friend was more enthusiastic about strippers than baseball so I ended up watching game seven on a 19 inch TV at the bar of the Crazy Horse Too. I paid strippers to leave me alone to watch the game. Then I blew $400 playing blackjack at the Bellagio because I felt lucky.

The Angels let Glaus walk as a 27-year-old free agent in 2004 because they were confident in prospect Dallas McPhearson. Haha, good one, Anaheim. Glaus signed a 4-year, $45 million deal with Arizona and left a glaring power hole at third base for the Angels ever since.

After the Diamonbacks, Glaus had stints in Toronto, St. Louis and the aforementioned Atlanta before calling it quits. Glaus wound up with 320 home runs and a career .254/.358/.489 slash line. For me though, he’ll always be the guy who brought a tear to my eye in the middle of a strip club.