LA Angels: Who is the greatest first baseman in franchise history?

2) Wally Joyner

Wally Joyner deserves a lifetime achievement award. He has played in more games at first than any other player in club history. He has hit the most home runs and has drove in the most RBIs as an Angel first baseman. Over 879 games at the position, he batted a respectable .285/.349/.449. Only Rod Carew played in close to the same number of games (718), otherwise Joyner has nearly double the appearances than anyone else.

Joyner was never spectacular, but he was consistent. After making the All-Star team during his rookie campaign in 1986, he amazingly never received the honor again. But in each season he was fully healthy with the Halos, he batted at least .280, hit double digit home run totals, and recorded more than 150 hits.

Had things turned out differently in 1986, he might have gone down as a Derek Jeter-like figure in Anaheim, as a rookie who helped his franchise end a championship drought. Not only did he impress over the regular season, he batted .455 in the playoffs.

Joyner signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Royals after the 1991 season. He played four years in KC, before joining the Padres, playing one season with the Braves, and then returning to Anaheim to close out his career in 2001. When all was said and done, the Georgia native played over 2,000 Major League games, hit over 200 home runs, and drove in over 1100 runs.