Los Angeles Angels: The Greatest Angels of All Time
The Angels franchise has been no stranger to talent.
In the team's 61-year history, they've featured some of the best players in MLB history, but we want to specifically take a look at what these players did while wearing the Angels Uniform.
From 1961-2022, here's a look at the best players to wear an Angel uniform:
1. Mike Trout
It's pretty easy to make a case for Mike Trout at the top of any baseball list. This one is no different. Trout is undoubtedly the greatest player in the team's history, and will most likely finish his career as one of the greatest players ever.
His career WAR of 80.9 already has him at 62nd on the all-time list. He's 12 years into his career, and has another eight left on his contract. If he continues at this pace, he would finish in the top 10, and could even find himself in the top five.
Trout's a 10-time All-Star, three-time AL MVP award winner and the Angels franchise leader in home runs.
He's excelled in just about every category in the regular season, and is just looking for some postseason success to solidify himself among the all-time greats.
2. Garrett Anderson
Garrett Anderson was about as consistent an Angel as you could ask for. He also did something that most guys in an Angel uniform couldn't. Anderson was a member of the 2002 Angels, and helped lead them to their first and only World Series victory in franchise history.
That year, Anderson hit 29 home runs, drove in 123 runs and finished fourth in the AL MVP voting. He also had arguably the most famous hit in Angel history, a go-ahead bases-clearing three-run double in the bottom of the third of Game 7 of the World Series to give the Angels a 4-1 lead. That game ended 4-1.
In his 15 years with the team, Anderson hit .296 with 272 home runs and a franchise-record 1,292 runs batted in. He's also the Angels franchise leader in hits with 2,368.
He was inducted into Angels Hall of Fame in 2016.
3. Tim Salmon
The Angels love their stars with fish last names.
Tim Salmon spent his entire 15-year career with the Angels, and was also a member of that special 2002 Angels team. Like Anderson, he had his fair share of big moments in that series.
The 1993 Rookie of the Year was a career .286 hitter, and retired as the franchise's leader in home runs with 299 — Trout passed him in 2020.
He became a member of the Angels Hall of Fame in 2015.
4. Nolan Ryan
Nolan Ryan may have been one of the greatest players to play for the Angels, but it wasn't entirely in his time with the team. Ryan played for the Angels for just seven seasons, which is why he's not higher on this list. However, he still excelled during those years.
Ryan won the first ever Joe Cronin Award in 1973, for outstanding achievement in the American League. That year, he threw 326 innings, and had a record of 21-16 with a 2.87 ERA.
Overall, Ryan finished his career as one of the greatest pitchers in MLB history, with over 300 wins and seven no-hitters.
He was inducted into the Angels Hall of Fame in 1992, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999. His No. 30 was retired by the Angels.
