Nine Hall of Famers have played for the Angels at some point in their careers — sometimes for pretty long stretches — but none have gone into Cooperstown with an Angels hat. Nolan Ryan pitched in Anaheim for eight years, from 1972-79, but went in with a Rangers cap. Rod Carew spent his last seven seasons with the Angels, from 1979-85, but went in as a member of the Twins. Reggie Jackson spent five of his twilight years here, from 1982-86, but alas, he’s a Yankee.
So basically the Angels have zero representation in the Hall of Fame. Seven other current teams are in the same boat, but that can change soon for the D-backs (Randy Johnson), Mariners (Johnson, Edgar Martinez, Ken Griffey Jr.) and Astros (Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell). The others are the Rockies, Marlins, Rays and Nationals, four teams that didn’t exist as recently as 1992.
The Angels have had some very notable representation on the ballot. Darin Erstand, Troy Percival and Tim Salmon have recently received token Hall of Fame votes, but have dropped off the ballot because they didn’t get the required five-percent support. Jim Edmonds, Troy Glaus, Garret Anderson, David Eckstein and Bengie Molina will debut in the next ballot, but four of them probably don’t have a shot and the other (Edmonds) would probably go in as a member of the Cardinals if elected.
I recently wrote about why Bobby Grich may have deserved more love from Hall of Fame voters, and how he could’ve been the first Angels representative in the Hall, but it looks like he’ll never get in.
At some point, though, the Angels will have their Hall of Famer.
Question is: Who?
Maybe it’s Vladimir Guerrero, whom Pedro Martinez vouched for recently, but Guerrero — eligible for the 2017 class — spent his first eight years with the now-defunct Montreal Expos.
Maybe it’s Albert Pujols, who should definitely be a first-ballot Hall of Famer but will have always put up his greatest numbers in St. Louis.
Maybe it’s Mike Scisocia, who’s building a Hall of Fame resume as a manager.
Or maybe it’s Mike Trout, who is on a path to becoming one of the greatest players in baseball history but, you know, is only 23 years old.
Class of 2035?
Vote below on who you think it will be and share your thoughts in the comments section.
— Alden
