The Three Dates That Shaped the Angels History

These may not be the dates you would expect to see on the list, but they may be the ones that define the history of the franchise. 

The Los Angeles Angels came into 2020 with high expectations.  They went out and signed Anthony Rendon, Shohei Ohtani was healthy, they have the best player in the world in Mike Trout, and they also got one of the best managers in baseball in Joe Maddon after his stint with the Cubs.

Well, things don’t always work out and for the Angels, it seems like things don’t work out a lot of the time.  This would be a good time to look back and remember the good times.

The average fan probably doesn’t think of Angels baseball when they think of the MLB.  They’re not the Yankees or Red Sox, and sharing a region with the Dodgers has them playing second fiddle a lot.  I don’t say that to be negative, it’s just fact.  However, every team has a meaningful history that fans latch on to and it may be time to revisit that.

These may not be the greatest moments in Angels history but they are three of the most important dates that shaped the history of the franchise.  Dates that Angel fans can brag on, call their own, and maybe crack a smile every time they think of it.  Also, these are dates that may bring pain to other fan bases, giving Angel fans a feeling of satisfaction after a rough few years.

Is it wrong I want fan bases to relive bad moments because their favorite team is responsible for Angels history? Probably, but the Angels deserve a win here.

So, let’s forget about this season and take a trip down memory lane. Hopefully, this will put a grin on the face of the Halo faithful and maybe, make a few other fan bases relive regret.

December 10, 1971: The Angels trade for 24-year old Nolan Ryan

Some things never change.  Fifty years later and the New York Mets are still making trades that come back and haunt them.  In this case, they sent over arguably the greatest pitcher in the history of baseball for Jim Fregosi.  Now, while Ryan won a ring in New York, nobody was prepared for what he would do in the remainder of the 70’s.

Here’s what Mets Manager, Gil Hodges told the New York Times following the trade.

“You always hate to give up on an arm like Ryan’s,” Hodges said today. “He could put things together overnight, but he hasn’t done it for us and the Angels wanted him. I would not hesitate making a trade for somebody who might help us right now, and Fregosi is such a guy.”

Yes, Nolan Ryan did that thing where he, “put it together overnight.”  In Nolan Ryan’s first year with the Halo’s he would go 19-16 with 329 strikeouts.  He would do all that while rocking a sub 3 ERA over 39 starts.  Nine more wins than he ever saw in a season than when he was in the Big Apple.

Nolan, as most know leads the MLB with seven no-hitters all-time.  He would throw four of those seven for the Angels and then throw his fifth against the Angels.  In 1973, Nolan would go on to toss two no-hitters while winning 21 games and it was arguably his best season as he struck out 383 batters that year and had a 2.87 ERA.

While never winning a Cy Young, Ryan did finish top 3 in the race in 1973, 1974, and 1977.  He would be voted into 5 All-Star games during his time in California and would go on to strike out 2416 batters between 1972 and 1979.  Ryan would take 14 years to strike out another 2805. He won at least 16 games in eight seasons with the Angels and would only hit that number two more times the rest of his career.

While the Angels never brought home any championships in his time with the Angels, he was a bright spot in the team’s history.  He had four no-hitters, 2416 strikeouts, 138 wins and a 3.07 ERA in eight seasons.  Unprecedented and immaculate is what Ryan was as an Angel and while it wasn’t known at the time, the date he was traded to Anaheim was one of the most important in Angels history.

June 9, 2009: Mike Trout becomes an Angel with the 25th pick of the Draft

Yes, this is number one.  While this draft still had some good players in it, I am highly optimistic that all 23 teams who passed on Mike Trout, including the Angels once, would not do that again. He’s not a system guy, he’s not a change of scenery guy, he is simply The Guy.

Look, I know that the past few years haven’t been great but Mike Trout is going to play professional baseball for the Angels for his entire career and if that doesn’t make you happy as an Halos fan then I’m confident nothing will.

Trout would go on to make his debut in 2011 as a 19-year-old playing just 40 games.  He hit just .220 and it was apparent he would figure it out in The Show but nobody on the planet would predict what happened next.

Mike Trout simply decided that he was going to own baseball as a rookie and nobody could do anything about it.  An All-Star appearance, Rookie of the Year, Silver Slugger, and 2nd in the MVP voting as a rookie is not just wildly impressive, it’s unheard of and eight years later I still can’t wrap my head around it.  A 5-tool player by every definition, Trout would go on to slash, .326/.399/.564 as a rookie.  Again, as a rookie.

We all know his resume and baseball-reference is an easy search, but they are never tiring to look at.  An All-Star appearance every year (8), a silver slugger every year but one (7) and at least top-4 in the MVP race every year while taking home three.  The only year Trout did not win a Silver Slugger or finish top-2 in the MVP race, he got hurt and only played 114 games.  I literally cannot wrap my head around how consistently awesome he has been every year.

Counting 26 games played this year and 1225 through his career, Trout has 1351 hits, 295 homers, 777 RBIs, 201 stolen bases, a career slash line of .304/.417/.581.  Mike Trout is 29.  If you dig, guys like Griffey Jr., Mantle, and Pujols had bigger numbers at this point in their career but Pujols had about 200 more games and Mantle and The Kid had over 300.  Not to mention those guys had World Series caliber teams around them to help out at some point in their 20’s while Trout has just been on a playoff team one time.

Dig as much as you’d like, there will always be someone saying that Trout is not the best to ever do it, I just disagree with those people.  Some may disagree with this list, some may just reorder it.  This isn’t a list of the greatest moments but the most memorable dates for Angel fans.  Dates that brought in history even if it hadn’t happened yet.  Dates that can be looked back on that have a real place in the history of baseball.

To me, Mike Trout being drafted is not just the most important dates in Angels history, but in time will be looked back as one of the most important dates in baseball history.