Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity. As such, we are very happy to present our post 2022/23 revision of our top 50 Los Angeles Angels.
As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following:
1. Advanced Statistics.
2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in Major League Baseball.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.
Last year, the Angels went all in and imploded with another failure to make the playoffs. We only saw one change, and no new entries.
As always, we present our top five, which saw one major change.
1. Mike Trout
2. Nolan Ryan
3. Chuck Finley
5. Frank Tanana
You can find the entire list here.
Notably, Trout was already at the top of the list, and with Shohei Ohtani departing the club, his status at #1 is cemented for decades.
Ohtani made it to #4 from #12. As mentioned, he left the struggling Angels for a shot at the World Series with the Dodgers.
As always, we thank you for your support, and look for more revisions in the future.
Yes, we know that this is taking a while!
As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity. As such, we are very happy to present our post 2022 revision of our top 50 Los Angeles Angels.
As for all of our top 50 players in baseball we look at the following:
1. Advanced Statistics.
2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the American League.
3. Playoff accomplishments.
4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.
Last year, Los Angeles again failed to make the playoffs, despite having the two best players of this generation, one who is ranked number one on this list, and another who jumped 20 spots.
As always, we present our top five, which was not affected by the last season:
1. Mike Trout
2. Nolan Ryan
3. Chuck Finley
4. Frank Tanana
5. Jered Weaver
You can find the entire list here.
2021 MVP and dual-threat superstar, Shohei Ohtani, rocketed from #31 to #12.
We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.
Frank Tanana would be on the first ballot if there were a Hall of Fame for underrated Pitchers.
Tanana played the first eight years of his 21 with the California Angels, and if you were paying attention, you were seeing one of the best hurlers in the American League. The southpaw was easy to overlook, as the Angels were only in the playoffs once when Tanana was there (1979), and he was on the same staff as Nolan Ryan, so ace status was not bestowed upon him.
Debuting in 1973, Tanana was in the rotation the following year, going 14-19, but despite the losing record, he had 180 Strikeouts with a decent 3.12 ERA. Tanana then had three great years, where he was in the top-nine in Cy Young voting, and kept his ERA well under three, including winning the ERA title in 1977 (2.54) and also leading the AL in bWAR for Pitchers (8.3). In the two years before, Tanana also had a bWAR over seven, was first in SO/BB, and had a Strikeouts Title (280 in 1975). With what we know of today’s advanced metrics, it is possible that Tanana should have captured the Cy Young, but he was ninth, distantly behind Sparky Lyle of New York.
Tanana's last few years were plagued with tendinitis, and his pitching suffered, but he was still a competent starter and helped California reach their first playoffs in 1978. He was dealt to the Red Sox before the 1981 season, leaving the Angels with a 102-78 record with 1,233 Strikeouts.