American League West
Los Angeles/California/Anaheim Angels of Anaheim
Mike Trout
Six
and a half seasons in and he's already leading many franchise categories. I will also put him in the slightly overrated
category. He's obviously very good, but
the fact that he's been top two in the MVP race every year but last year, when
some people still said he should win despite missing a big chunk of time and
but objectively not as valuable as Altuve, is a bit much.
Gene Autry
He
was the owner of the franchise from its inception until 1997. In a sense, he made this franchise
happen. He's also certainly one of the
most famous owners of all time.
Tim Salmon
He's
about as close to a "Mr. Angel" as there's been (before maybe
Trout). He's the franchise leader in
Home Runs and near the top of most everything else. He was also pretty big in their 2002 World
Series win.
Nolan Ryan
He
might be on a couple more lists in this division. Chuck Finley actually holds many of the
pitching records, but Ryan was the first huge name in franchise history. Between 1972 and 1974 he averaged almost 21
wins and over 350 strikeouts, and the team averaged about 71 wins.
Other notables:
Mike
Scioscia has a strong case, but I didn't really want two non-players on the
list. Garret Anderson actually leads
most of the counting categories, but his WAR is pretty low (7th). There's also the aforementioned Chuck Finley,
and the longtime closer Troy Percival.
Houston Astros
Craig Biggio
He
leads the franchise in most categories, and was the ultimate team player moving
from catcher to outfield to second base to outfield to second base as they needed. It was weird to see his uniform not
dirty. He's one of the best second
baseman of all time. This one is easy.
Jeff Bagwell
Another
easy choice, he's the franchise leader in Home Runs, RBIs, WAR, and second in
just about everything else. He was the
unanimous MVP in 1994 (one of the few players helped by the strike since he
broke his wrist a couple days before).
You can't think Astros and not think Biggio and Bagwell.
Jose Altuve
Is
it too early for him? I say no, because
he's already made a huge impact on the team, he's already had some of the best
seasons in franchise history, and he was the MVP for the first World Series
winning team. He ascent up the franchise
leaderboards will only continue.
Nolan Ryan
He's
on here for one simple reason: it was nearly impossible to grow up a baseball
fan in Texas in the 80s and he not be your favorite player. His stats should have been much better, but
they stupidly had him on a strict pitch count.
He's a legend, and Houston is his home.
Other notables:
Larry
Dierker deserves special mention as the team's first ace, a decent announcer,
and a pretty good manager. Other
pitchers of note are Roy Oswalt, Billy Wagner, Mike Scott, and J.R.
Richard. Unfortunately there's not
enough room for Lance Berkman, Jose Cruz, or Cesar Cedeno. I love this team.
Philadelphia/Kansas City/Oakland Athletics
Connie Mack
He
was only the manager, general manager and either owner or part owner for the
first 50 years of the franchise. He only
has almost 1000 more wins than any other manager in history. He only won five World Series with two major
dynasties (1910-1913 and 1929-1930).
Lefty Grove
Some
experts have (successfully) argued that he was the left-handed equivalent of
Walter Johnson, meaning the best of all time.
He won 195 games in 9 seasons with the A's, you do the math. He also lead the league in ERA in all but
three seasons. His 1931 season is one of
the best of all time (31-4, 2.06 ERA - yes in one of the biggest offensive eras
in history, 1.077 WHIP, oh and 5 saves).
Jimmie Foxx
One
of my favorite quotes: "Foxx wasn't scouted, he was trapped." If it weren't for Gehrig, he would be the
best first baseman of all time. The
Beast was just that, an amazing player with unbelievable numbers. He won back-to-back MVPs in 1932 and 1933,
including 58 home runs in '32 and the Triple Crown in '33.
Rickey Henderson
Oh
yeah, this franchise played in Oakland, too.
I was actually surprised to find out he's the franchise leader in WAR,
only because he moved around so much.
He's unquestionably the best leadoff hitter of all time, and most of his
best seasons were in Oakland. It's still
amazing to see 130 stolen bases in 1982.
Other notables:
If
this was Oakland only, there would definitely be a spot for Tony LaRussa and
Dennis Eckersley, who together (for better or worse) revolutionized the
bullpen/closer usage. The fourth
Oaklander might be either Charlie Finley or Billy Beane, which is way too many
non-players. On-the-field A's of note
include Eddie Collins, Al Simmons, Mark McGwire, Reggie Jackson (I suppose),
Eddie Plank (franchise leader in Wins and pitching WAR), Rube Waddell, and
Chief Bender among others. This actually
might be the deepest franchise of any, even over the Yankees.
Seattle Mariners
Ken Griffey Jr.
What
can be said about Junior? He was
instantly one biggest name in baseball and didn't disappoint (until he went to
Cincinnati). He instantly gave
credibility to a franchise with none. He
had one of the sweetest swings in history.
He glided in the field. He was
amazing to watch.
Randy Johnson
The
Big Unit was the pitching equivalent to Griffey in Seattle. Still one of my favorite moments was in the
All Star Game when Larry Walker batted right handed against him. Then there was the time when John Kruk wanted
to have nothing to do with him so he threw it way over his head. Oh yeah, then there was the bird he
demolished in mid-flight (yes that was when he was in Arizona, but I had to
mention it). He also netted them Freddy
Garcia and Carlos Guillen in the rental trade by the Astros in 1998.
Ichiro Suzuki
Another
instant sensation when he arrived in Seattle, though of course he was already
an established star in Japan. I'm going
to say it: his numbers are kind of hollow (his OBP was only .381 when he hit
.350 in his "rookie" season in 2001), but he was (is?) great and fun
to watch. And there's no denying his
huge impact in Seattle.
Edgar Martinez
He
probably should be a Hall of Famer, even if he was primarily a designated
hitter for the majority of his career.
Unlike Ichiro, his numbers were not hollow (.479 OBP when he hit .356 in
1995, plus a .628 slugging thanks to 52 doubles). I'm not mad he's not in, I just think he
should be.
Other notables:
This
was probably the easiest list I came up with (yes, if I didn't mention before,
my initial lists were written down in class, gotta do something to stay awake),
even after checking the numbers I didn't waver.
Sure, some people would put Felix Hernandez in there, but Martinez had a
bigger playoff impact. Alex Rodriguez
didn't play long enough in Seattle. The
only other person I might consider is fiery manager Lou Piniella, still easily
the franchise leader in wins.
Washington Senators (2)/Texas Rangers
Ivan Rodriguez
Well,
he is arguably the best all-around catcher of all time, and the only true
Ranger Hall of Famer (zing Cody), so this was a pretty easy pick. He was so good at stopping the running game
that for six of his twelve season in Texas he had a better than 50% caught
stealing percentage, and 48-49% in three others! Smart teams simply didn't bother trying.
Nolan Ryan
The
"other" Ranger Hall of Famer (we all know he should have been an
Astro), his five partial seasons at the end of his career were not great (at
least wins-wise, his other numbers were still great the first three years) but
they were impactful. Of course after
retiring he continued to serve the franchise off the field until he came home
to Houston.
Adrian Beltre
I
underestimated how good he has been in Arlington before I checked the
numbers. He's had some really great
season, even coming in his mid- to late-30s.
He's also been a mentor to the younger guys coming up over the last few
years. Even though, as a Ranger, I can't
like him, his whole thing with his head is kind of funny.
Michael Young
Here's
something that I can't quite figure out: he leads most of the individual stat
categories for the franchise, yet he's not in the top 10 in WAR (he's third in
offensive WAR, he's defensive WAR is atrocious). In a way he's a Biggio-lite, in that he did
whatever the team needed, moving from second base to shortstop to third
base. For me, he was the face of the
2000s Rangers.
Other notables:
Juan
Gonzalez (yes he won two MVPs but he didn't really deserve them). Rafael Palmeiro ('roids). Buddy Bell.
Ian Kinsler. Rusty Greer. Charlie Hough. Kenny Rogers.
Fergie Jenkins. All guys who
could be considered. I actually
initially had Johnny Oates on my list, but that was before I realized he's only
third in franchise wins. No Ron
Washington would not sniff my list, since he essentially lost those two World
Series since he didn't know how to use a bullpen.
