The best Angels player to wear number 21

California Angels
California Angels | Focus On Sport/GettyImages

The Los Angeles Angels have had 24 different players wear number 21. Mike Mayers was the most recent to do it, and he's now a Kansas City Royal. Matt Thaiss is going to wear 21 after wearing number 12 last season.

Bartolo Colon wore it for one season. It was the season right before he took home the AL Cy Young Award. Juan Rivera wore it for part of his Angels tenure while Shigetoshi Hasegawa wore it for the entirety of his.

The Angels haven't had too many great players don the number, but there is one that sticks out as the best to do so.

Wally Joyner is the best player to wear number 21 in LA Angels history.

Wally Joyner debuted with the Angels in the 1986 season and was the everyday first baseman. He responded in a big way by slashing .290/.348/.457 with 22 home runs and 100 RBI. He was an all-star, finished second in the Rookie of the Year balloting, and even finished eighth in the AL MVP balloting.

In the postseason Joyner stepped up despite his inexperience, recording five hits in 11 at-bats including a home run and two walks. The Angels lost in the ALCS to the Red Sox but Joyner stepped up in what ended up being his only appearance playing October baseball as an Angel.

Joyner followed up his excellent rookie campaign with an even better 1987 season. He slashed .285/.366/.528 with 34 home runs and 117 RBI. He had a 137 OPS+ and was worth 4.1 bWAR. The 117 RBI was the second highest mark in a single season in Angels history at the time. It's now the ninth highest.

Joyner had a really successful five-year run with the Angels. He's tied for 16th among all Angels position players in bWAR, 15th in OPS, 16th in home runs, and 11th in RBI.

Schedule