#42 Dean Chance

Custom All-Time Angels Autograph card

Wilmer Dean Chance
Pitcher
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 3", Weight: 200 lb.
Born: June 1, 1941 in Wooster, OH
Debut: September 11, 1961 Los Angeles Angels
Final Game: August 9, 1971 Detroit Tigers

Drafted 26th as an additional selection by the Los Angeles Angels from the Baltimore Orioles in the 1960 expansion draft.
Later, Traded by the California Angels with a player to be named later to the Minnesota Twins for Pete Cimino, Jimmie Hall and Don Mincher. The California Angels sent Jackie Hernandez to the Minnesota Twins to complete the trade on December 2, 1966.

1962 Topps

ANGELS DEBUT:
Started the game and gave up 4 runs on 10 hits in 7.1 innings in a 5-2 loss at Minnesota on September 11, 1961.

ANGELS RECORD:
1961 - 1966
Compiled a record of 74-66 (21 shut-outs and 48 complete games) with a 2.83 ERA.

1963 Jello

NOTABLE ANGELS ACHEIVEMENTS:
1962 Topps All-Star Rookie Team
AL All-Star (1964)
ML Cy Young Award Winner (1964)
AL ERA Leader (1964)
AL Wins Leader (1964)
AL Innings Pitched Leader (1964)
AL Complete Games Leader (1964)
AL Shutouts Leader (1964)
20 Wins Season (1964)

1964 Topps Giants

baseball-reference:

Dean Chance was the first big pitching star of the fledgling Los Angeles Angels, and later in his career he was part of the division-winning 1969 Minnesota Twins.
He won the 1964 Cy Young Award, dominating the 1964 American League with a 1.65 ERA and 11 shutouts. Chance, a right-hander, signed with the Baltimore Orioles out of high school and spent two seasons (1959-60) in their lower minor league system before the Angels selected him in the December 1960 AL expansion draft. After spending most of 1961 at the AAA level, Chance became a major leaguer late that season. Chance had an outstanding rookie campaign in 1962, winning 14 games with an ERA of 2.96, but he lost 18 games in 1963, immediately prior to his Cy Young season. He won 15 games in 1965, and was 12-17 record in 1966 despite a good ERA of 3.08. The Angels were a weak hitting team and desperate for power, shipped him to the Minnesota Twins in a major off-season trade that netted them outfielder Jimmie Hall, slugging 1st baseman Don Mincher, and relief pitcher Pete Cimino. The trade helped both teams as the Angels rose to 5th place with an 84-77 record in 1967, and the Twins were not eliminated from the pennant race until the season's last game.

1964 Topps Embossed

1994 Snapple Stadium Give-away

1968 Topps Game

#41 Buck Rodgers

1963 Topps and 1962 Topps

Robert Leroy Rodgers
Catcher
Bats: Both, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 2", Weight: 190 lb.
Born: August 16, 1938 in Delaware, OH
Debut: September 8, 1961 Los Angeles Angels
Final Game: October 1, 1969 California Angels

Drafted 12th by the Los Angeles Angels from the Detroit Tigers in the 1960 expansion draft.

1963 Topps Peel-Offs

ANGELS DEBUT:
Entered game in the 10th as a pinch-hitter for Rocky Bridges and grounded out in a 5-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox at Wrigley Field, LA on September 8, 1961.

ANGELS RECORD:
1961 - 1969
Batted .232 with 704 hits in 932 games. Had .988 fielding percentage as a catcher.
Hit 32 doubles in 1962.
1962 Topps All-Star Rookie Team

1967 The Enquirer Newsprint Photo (also signed by Jake Gibbs)

1967 The Enquirer Newsprint Photo (also signed by Steve Whitaker)

wikipedia:
Rodgers attended Ohio Wesleyan University and Ohio Northern University. As a player, he signed his first professional contract with the Detroit Tigers and was selected by the Angels in the 1960 MLB Expansion Draft. He was a top defensive catcher and a switch-hitter who played nine major league seasons (1961-69), all with the Angels, compiling a .232 batting average with 31 home runs in 932 games. Rodgers caught Bo Belinsky's no-hitter on May 5, 1962.

1991 Ticket Stub

ANGELS MANGERIAL RECORD:

1991 - 1994
313 games, 140-173 .447


In August 1991, the Angels fired Doug Rader and hired Rodgers as their new pilot. Buck - still well-liked from his playing days in Anaheim - led the Halos to a 20-18 record for the remainder of the campaign, and was 39 games into his first full season as Angel manager in 1992 when a bus carrying the California club was involved in an expressway accident; Rodgers was seriously injured and missed almost 90 games. He returned, but still felt the after-effects of his injuries. Perhaps more damaging, the Angels did not respond to his leadership. They posted a losing mark in the final weeks of 1992, finished 20 games below .500 in 1993, and were only 16-23 in May 1994 before Rodgers was replaced by Marcel Lachemann.
In between his playing and managing careers, Rodgers served as a coach for the Minnesota Twins (1970-74), San Francisco Giants (1976), and the Brewers (1978-80). He managed in the Angels' farm system in 1975 and 1977.

#40 Jack Spring

Custom Autograph card

Jack Russell Spring
Pitcher
Bats: Right, Throws: Left
Height: 6' 1", Weight: 180 lb.
Born: March 11, 1933 in Spokane, WA
Debut: April 16, 1955 Philadelphia Phillies
Final Game: August 1, 1965 Cleveland Indians

Obtained by the Los Angeles Angels from the Kansas City Athletics as part of a minor league working agreement on April 14, 1961.
Later purchased by the Chicago Cubs from the Los Angeles Angels on May 15, 1964.

1964 Topps

ANGELS DEBUT:
Pitched 1 inning of scoreless relief in the 8th of a 3-2 loss at Cleveland on August 11, 1961.

ANGELS RECORD:
1961 - 1964
Went 11-2 with 8 saves, and a 3.79 ERA in 142.2 innings.


wikipedia:
Spring pitched in a total of six major league games for three clubs before being acquired by the expansion Los Angeles Angels in 1961. He started four games for L.A. and won three of them in September, then pitched exclusively in relief beginning in 1962. That season, his 57 appearances ranked third in the American League. He, along with Art Fowler, Tom Morgan, and later Julio Navarro, were the Angels' most reliable pitchers out of the bullpen during their second and third seasons. Spring's combined record for 1962 and 1963 was 7-2 with 8 saves and a 3.66 ERA in 102 games. He was traded by the Angels on May 15, 1964 and pitched for three more clubs before making his last major league appearance on August 31, 1965.
Career totals include a 12-5 record in 155 games pitched, 5 games started, 0 complete games, 51 games finished, 8 saves, and an ERA of 4.26.
Spring once went 19 consecutive outings without recording a strikeout, which is the longest such streak since 1957.

#39 Tom Satriano

Custom Autograph card

Thomas Victor Nicholas Satriano
Infielder-Catcher
Bats: Left, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 1", Weight: 190 lb.
Born: August 28, 1940 in Pittsburgh, PA
Debut: July 23, 1961 Los Angeles Angels
Final Game: September 19, 1970 Bahstin Red Sox

Signed by the Los Angeles Angels as an amateur free agent on July 22, 1961.
Later, traded by the California Angels to the Boston Red Sox for Joe Azcue on June 15, 1969.

1965 Topps and 1969 Topps

ANGELS DEBUT:
Entered game in the 6th as a pinch hitter for starter Ted Bowsfield and grounded out in an 8-3 win against the Washington Senators at Wrigley Field, LA on July 23, 1961.

ANGELS RECORD:
1961 - 1969
Batted .227 over 568 games as a reserve player.

Custom Index card

baseball-reference:
Tom Satriano was signed as a free agent in 1961 out of the University of Southern California, where he had been in 1960 and 1961. He played at Edmonton in the Western Canada Baseball League in 1959, hitting .350. The team had ten USC players on it that summer. He appeared in 20 games in the majors at age 20 in 1961. In Satriano's first major league at bat, he hit a home run. However, the game was eventually rained out and the home run and at bat erased as official stats.
During his ten-year career, about half of his games were at catcher, but he played at all of the infield positions, with 168 games at third base. Not a particularly strong hitter, his best year with the bat was 1968, in the depth of the second dead-ball era, when he hit .253 with 8 home runs in 297 at-bats. The league as a whole hit .230 that year.

#38 George Thomas

Custom Autograph card

George Edward Thomas Jr.

Outfield
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Weight: 190 lb.
Born: November 29, 1937 in Minneapolis, MN
Debut: September 11, 1957 Detroit Tigers
Final Game: September 6, 1971 Minnesota Twins

Purchased by the Los Angeles Angels from the Detroit Tigers on June 26, 1961.
Later traded by the Los Angeles Angels with cash to the Detroit Tigers for Paul Foytack and Frank Kostro on June 15, 1963.

1963 Topps

ANGELS DEBUT:
Started the game in left field and went 2 for 4 (flied out in 1st at bat) with 3 RBI and 3 PO in a 10-3 win against the Chicago White Sox at Wrigley Field, LA on June 30, 1961.

ANGELS RECORD:
1961 - 1963
Batted .249 in 188 games over 3 seasons.

Custom Index card

baseball-reference:
Originally a bonus baby, he played thirteen years in the majors, having some of his best seasons with the bat towards the end of his career.
For much of his career he was a back-up, appearing at every position other than pitcher, and he uttered quite a few funny lines about being a utility player. Perhaps the funniest was when he saw the young Johnny Bench at spring training, and remarked that he and Bench played the same position, only Bench had it written on his uniform.
Thomas had a strong arm, and while he did not play pitcher at the major league level, Bill Rigney sometimes had him warm up in the bullpen and if the occasion had called for it, Thomas might have even appeared as a pitcher.
Thomas was at the University of Minnesota in 1957, and was signed by the Detroit Tigers in August 1957. By September, he was in the majors, appearing in one game. He appeared in another game in 1958 and then came back in 1961. He was traded to the Angels in mid-1961 and became a frequently-used player, hitting .280 with 13 home runs in 79 games with the Angels.
In mid-1963 he was traded back to Detroit and spent 1963-65 with them. He was then traded after the 1965 season to the Boston Red Sox, with whom he spent most of the rest of his major league career, hitting well over .300 in 1969-70.
He had two at-bats in the 1967 World Series.

#37 Billy Moran

Custom Autograph card

William Nelson Moran
Infielder
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 5' 11", Weight: 185 lb.
Born: November 27, 1933 in Montgomery, AL
Debut: April 15, 1958 Cleveland Indians
Final Game: September 28, 1965 Cleveland Indians

Aquired by trade from Toronto (International) to the Los Angeles Angels for Ken Hamlin and Russ Heman on June 22, 1961.

1963 Topps

ANGELS DEBUT:
Entered game in the 3rd as a pinch hitter for starter Ted Bowsfield, and walked as part of a 5-run inning in an 8-6 loss to Baltimore at Wrigley Field, LA on June 23, 1961.

ANGELS RECORD:
1961 - 1964
Hit .275 with 448 hits in 417 games.
1962 AL All-Star in both games

Custom Index card

baseball-reference:
Infielder Billy Moran was signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent before the 1952 season. The eighteen year old was assigned to the Green Bay Bluejays of the class D Wisconsin State League. He moved up in the minors through 1954. The next two years (1955-56) Moran would be with the United States Military Services during the Korean War.
Back from the Military Service in 1957 Billy would play second base for the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League. The Indians would give Moran his first look at the major league style of play in 1958 and he hit .226 in 115 games as a rookie. Billy returned to the minor leagues for three more years before flourishing during the 1962-63 seasons with the expansion Los Angeles Angels. In 1962 he led all American League second sackers in assists while hitting .282 with 17 home runs to help lead the second year team to a surprising first division finish. He was also a starter for the American League in both All-Star Games played that summer.
Moran was traded back to Cleveland midway through the 1964 season and was gone from the major leagues a year later with a seven year .263 career average. Billy would finish up his pro baseball in the minors with the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League in 1965.