Debut #89 Jack Hiatt

Jack E Hiatt
Catcher and First Baseman
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 2", Weight: 190 lb.
Born: July 27, 1942 in Bakersfield, CA
MLB Debut: September 7, 1964 Los Angeles Angels
Final MLB Game: October 3, 1972 California Angels
Year with the Angels: 1964, 1972

ANGELS TRANSACTIONS:
March 7, 1961: Signed by the Los Angeles Angels as an amateur free agent.
November 21, 1964: Traded by the California Angels to the San Francisco Giants for Jose Cardenal.
July 29, 1972: Purchased by the California Angels from the Houston Astros.
March 27, 1973: Released by the California Angels.

ANGELS DEBUT:
Entered the game as a pinch hitter for Paul Schaal with one out and bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th of a 3-3 tie and hit a game-winning single to left scoring Willie Smith against the Boston Red Sox on Monday, September 7, 1964 (D) at Chavez Ravine.

ANGELS RECORD:
1964, 1972
Batted .311 in 61 AB over 31 games.

Best Angels Performance:
Went 1 for 3 hitting a triple and driving in 2 on September 29, 1972.



OTHER INTERESTING FACTS:
- Also played for the Giants (65-69); Cubs (70); Expos (70); Astros (71-72).
- After taking over as starting catcher from Dick Dietz hit four home runs with 13 RBI in his first 6 games for the Giants in 1969.
- Hit 2 HR and drove in 7 for the Giants on April 26, 1969.
- Owned Claude Osteen going 13 for 35, .371.
- Managed in the Cubs minor league system from 1975-1980.
- Managed the Holyoke Millers in the Angels system in 1982.
- And in the Giants system in 1988.
- Finished his career as the Giants' director of player development for 16 seasons, before his retirement in October 2007.

Completed Team Set 1979 Topps

I've taken up the effort of sorting my box of Angels cards: sorting by manufacturer and year then going back to see if I could fill any holes in my team sets which are in binders. Sure enough I was able to complete a couple sets.

First set I completed was this 1979 Topps set. Took 5 cards to finish it out.

Funny thing is I tought I had double-checked my extras a while ago. Shows you how quickly one can get disorganized.






Signed cards in the set are Don Aase, Don Baylor, Ken Brett, Dave Chalk, Al Fitzmorris, Paul Hartzell, Terry Humphrey, Dave LaRoche, Dyar Miller, Rick Miller, Merv Rettenmund, and Frank Tanana.

Angels Want List 2010

2010 Allen and Ginter - ANGELS
125 Hideki Matsui

2010 Bowman - ANGELS
59 Bobby Abreu
111 Torii Hunter
148 Hideki Matsui
167 Kendry Morales

2010 Bowman Chrome - ANGELS
25 Dan Haren
58 Howard Kendrick
98 Jered Weaver
116 Torii Hunter
124 Kendry Morales
141 Erick Aybar
168 Hideki Matsui

2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects 1-110 - ANGELS
done

2010 Bowman Chrome Prospects (111-120) - ANGELS
BCP188 Tyler Chatwood
BCP194 Trevor Reckling

2010 Bowman Prospects - ANGELS
BP98 Alexia Amarista

2010 Bowman Chrome Draft - ANGELS
BDP104 Peter Bourjos RC

2010 Bowman Chrome Draft Prospects - ANGELS
BDPP72 Chevez Clarke
BDPP89 Kaleb Cowart

2010 Bowman Draft Prospects - ANGELS
BDPP76 Taylor Lindsey
BDPP89 Kaleb Cowart

2010 Bowman Draft - ANGELS
done

2010 Bowman Platinum - ANGELS
done

2010 Finest - ANGELS
47 Kendry Morales
59 Bobby Abreu
71 Hideki Matsui
131 Chris Pettit RC

2010 Topps - ANGELS
done

2010 Topps Series 2 Attax Code Cards - ANGELS
Torii Hunter

2010 Topps Short Print Variations - ANGELS
done

2010 Topps 206 - ANGELS
64 Bobby Abreu
160 Erick Aybar
213 Joel Pineiro
301 Kendry Morales SP

2010 Topps Attax - ANGELS
Kendry Morales
Scott Kazmir
Torii Hunter
Vladimir Guerrero

2010 Topps Attax Foil - ANGELS
Torii Hunter
Howie Kendrick

2010 Topps Chrome - ANGELS
88 Scott Kazmir
115 Torii Hunter

2010 Topps National Chicle - ANGELS
done

2010 Topps Heritage - ANGELS
460 Bobby Abreu SP

2010 Topps Legendary Lineage - ANGELS
LL22 Guerrero HAVE

2010 Topps Opening Day - ANGELS
76 Kendry Morales
151 Mike Napoli

2010 Topps Peak Performers - AGELS
PP-16 Guerrero HAVE
PP-83 Abreu HAVE

2010 Topps Pro Debut - ANGELS
57 Tyler Skaggs
59 Garrett Richards
107 Dillon Baird
143 Seth Loman
147 Randal Grichuk
176 Alexia Amarista
192 Alex Torres
211 Pil Joon Jang

2010 Topps Pro Debut Series 2 (221-440) - ANGELS
231 Donnie Roach
240 Taylor Lindsey
244 Ryan Bolden
248 Wendell Soto
261 Max Russell
283 Pat Corbin
352 Hank Conger
405 Brian Diemer
439 Casey Haerther

2010 Topps Triple Threads - ANGELS
80 Hideki Matsui
111 Torii Hunter

2010 Topps Update - ANGELS
done

2010 Topps Update Attax Code Cards - ANGELS
done

2010 Upper Deck - ANGELS
269 Ervin Santana
271 Jose Arredondo
554 Los Angeles Angels BP

2010 Upper Deck Season Biography - ANGELS
SB39 Joe Saunders
SB40 Torii Hunter
SB83 Torii Hunter
SB129 Chone Figgins
SB145 Vladimir Guerrero
SB163 Joe Saunders

2010 Upper Deck Portraits - ANGELS
SE39 Jered Weaver
SE40 Torii Hunter
SE42 Chone Figgins

Card Shop Day

Snuck over to the local card shop today on a long lunch. I had been wanting to go for a while, and today was the best opportunity. I had 2 goals in mind (always go with a goal, that way you don't spend more than you planned): 1) trade some football TTM autographs for baseball IP and TTM autographs, and 2) give the man a ziploc of top loaders with price stickers (he reuses them).

After giving him the top loaders he said I could pick out a small stack of Angels cards for my want list, we'd call it a swap. "Awesome" I said, so I pulled several A & Gs, 4-5 1978 Topps, and few randoms that I needed.

Next I went over to the autographs album and picked out several former Angels, and a couple of 87 Topps. Here's what I got:
Too bad the Pettis autographs weren't on Angels cards, but this is Texas.

I love these legacy cards the team issues at events.

For some reason I thought that Steve Ontiveros and Tom Candiotti had played for the Angels at one time. Nope. Ontiveros is a tough autograph to get, Candiotti so-so. Since they're not Angels these might end up on my trade list at some point. We'll see.

Todays Mail: Frank Lary

Frank Lary signed and returned my 1956 Topps #191 in 38 days. He has a good TTM success rate at 82%.

He also signed the 1964 Topps #197 and an index card. He decided not to answer my questions.

Lary played from 1954 to 1965, mostly with the Tigers. In 10 career games against the Angels (8 starts) he went 5 -3 with a 3.54 ERA.

Some of his accomplishments:

- 2-time AL All-Star (1960 & 1961)
- AL Gold Glove Winner (1961)
- AL Wins Leader (1956)
- 3-time AL Innings Pitched Leader (1956, 1958 & 1960)
- 3-time AL Complete Games Leader (1958, 1960 & 1961)
- 15 Win Seasons: 5 (1956 & 1958-1961)
- 20 Win Seasons: 2 (1956 & 1961)
- 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 7 (1955-1961)

Nap's in my backyard!

Mike Napoli traded to the Texas Rangers...I'm AMPED!

I admit that I like the Texas Rangers, but for what it's worth, not as much as I like the Angels. Heck I was a Junior Angel in the 70's. But I have lived and worked near Rangers Stadium for a decade now, so they've kinda grown on me. Don't get me wrong, the Angels are still numero uno, but I've always been a Napoli fan, and now I get to see him a whole ton more.

Can I root for one guy on the team that is opposing my favorite team? I do it for fantasy baseball, why not for real life baseball?

Plus, I was ticked when the Angels let him go to Toronto, big mistake in my mind, but I'm stoked now that he's here, and I have a feeling that he's going to make the Angels pay. I want to be there when that happens.

Angels Ticket Stub 1977

Hmmm. Orioles at Angels on Thursday May 12, 1977.



The owner of this ticket stub would have been seated here:



Nice seats. Hopefully they, as well as the 10,207 others in attendance, stayed the entire 2 hours and 43 minutes.

Let's take a look at retrosheet and see what happened in this game.

Gary Ross vs Jim Palmer.

Palmer was holding down the fort most of the game. Rick Dempsey helped out by gunning down three Angel runners trying for second.

The Angels were trailing 5-2 going into the 8th, when Palmer caved and the Halos scored 5:
ANGELS 8TH: Briggs walked; JONES BATTED FOR HUMPHREY; Jones struck out; Flores singled to right [Briggs to third]; Remy forced Flores (shortstop to second) [Briggs scored]; Chalk singled to right [Remy to third]; Rudi singled to left [Remy scored, Chalk to second]; HOLDSWORTH REPLACED PALMER (PITCHING); Bonds singled to center [Chalk scored, Rudi to third, Bonds to second (error by Harlow)]; Baylor walked; Grich singled to left
[Rudi scored, Bonds scored, Baylor to third]; Briggs grounded out (second to first); 5 R, 5 H, 1 E, 2 LOB. Orioles 5, Angels 7.

LaRoche then closed it out:
ORIOLES 9TH: HAMPTON REPLACED JONES (PLAYING C ); LAROCHE
REPLACED KIRKWOOD (PITCHING); Smith walked; L. May flied out to
right; Murray flied out to right; Kelly singled to left [Smith
to second]; DeCinces struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Orioles
5, Angels 7.

Ross gives up 4 runs on 6 hits in 4.1 innings for a no-decision, while Jim Palmer (5-2) gave up 6 runs on 9 hits in 7.1 innings for the loss. The win goes to Don Kirkwood (1-0) for 3.2 innings of relief. Dave LaRoche gets the save, his 5th of the year. Bobby Bonds hit his 7th HR of the young season, a solo shot off Palmer in the second. The Angels are now 14-17.

Final Totals R H E LOB
Orioles 5 10 1 11
Angels 7 11 1 4

If you want all the details, you can go here.

Now lets check the backside.

Flipping it over we see that Golden West Baseball Co. owed the team. We all know that meant Gene Autry.

The back also shows that A. E. "Red" Patterson was the Angels Team President at that time, a title he held for 3 years, then becomming a long-time Angel executive.

Curt Flood Contest

Win a Curt Flood book and a bunch of cards at Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz.

Orioles Contest

There's a contest to win an Earl Weaver autographed card over at The Great Orioles Autograph Project.

Nice blog. Check it out and enter the contest today.

Completed Team Set 1975 Topps

Added the last card I needed to complete the 1975 Topps Angels Team Set, #548 Charlie Sands. I actually had this card several years ago, but it was never returned from Charlie after I sent it to him to sign. Thats a chance I thought was worth the risk.

After recently adding several other cards I needed, I figured I'd go ahead and round out the set by purchasing the lone card I needed online. I wont be sending any others out for autographs.





My favorite in the set, as far as for eye appeal, would have to be Ryans regular card #500. I think that the purple with pink is a good color combination and his facsimile autograph doesn't dominate the card like most the others do. He's in a simple but confident pose before an uncluttered background.

Dave Chalk, John Doherty, Denny Doyle, Ed Figueroa, Bobby Heise, Dick Lange, Rudy Meoli, Orlando Pena, Ellie Rodriguez, Frank Tanana, Bobby Valentine, and Dick Williams all added signatures to their cards.

Steve Busby of the Royals signed the '74 Highlights No-Hitters card. I actually have another one that Busby as well as Dick Bosman have signed. I'll need to somehow get Nolan Ryan's autograph to complete it.

Debut #88 Paul Schaal

Paul Schaal
Third Baseman
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 5' 11", Weight: 165 lb.
Born: March 3, 1943 in Pittsburgh, PA
MLB Debut: September 3, 1964 Los Angeles Angels
Final MLB Game: July 19, 1974 California Angels
Years with the Angels: 1964-1968, 1974

1965 Topps #517

ANGELS TRANSACTIONS:
Before 1962 Season: Signed by the Los Angeles Angels as an amateur free agent.
October 15, 1968: Drafted by the Kansas City Royals from the California Angels as the 27th pick in the 1968 expansion draft.
April 30, 1974: Traded by the Kansas City Royals to the California Angels for Richie Scheinblum. October 24, 1974: Released by the California Angels.

ANGELS DEBUT:
As the starting third baseman in the top of the first, with one out, fielded a ball hit by Bobby Richardson and threw him out at first. Batting leadoff in the Angels half of the inning he flew out to right fielder Roger Maris and ended the day 0 for 4 with 4 assists in a 4-2 win against the New York Yankees on Thursday, September 3, 1964 (D) at Chavez Ravine.

1966 Topps #376 and 1967 Topps #58

ANGELS RECORD:
1964-1968, 1974
Played in 522 games with the Angels hitting 48 doubles and driving in 125 while drawing 216 walks and batting .221.

Played 490 games at third base, fourth most for the Angels behind Troy Glaus, Doug DeCinces and Jack Howell.

Best Angels Performance:
Went 3 for 4 with 2 HR and 2 RBI in a 10-8 win against the Kansas City Athletics on Sunday, May 2, 1965 (D) at Municipal Stadium.

OTHER INTERESTING FACTS:
- Survived a serious beaning in 1968.
- Selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 1968 expansion draft.
- Drove in all the Royals runs (win) with a 5 RBI performance in 1971.
- Hit Stan Bahnsen very well going 13 for 36, 3 2B, 11 BB, .361.
- A member of the Baseball List of Rhyming Names, along with such notables as Don Hahn, Larry Sherry, Lu Blue, Still Bill Hill, Mark Clark, and Greg Legg.
- 1965 Topps All-Star Rookie Team.

Contest Link

Check out the 2010 Panini Century Collection Contest over at Community Gum.

Angels Want List 1963

1963 Bazooka - ANGELS
2 Bob Rodgers
32 Lee Thomas

1963 Exhibits Stat Back - ANGELS
13 Dean Chance
46 Ken McBride
62 Leon Wagner

1947-66 Exhibits
50 Dean Chance
228 Bob Rodgers
261 Lee Thomas

1963 Fleer - Angels
18 Don Lee
19 Albie Pearson
20 Bob Rodgers
21 Leon Wagner

1963 Jello - ANGELS
24 Steve Bilko
25 Bill Moran
26 Joe Koppe
27 Felix Torres
28 Leon Wagner
29 Albie Pearson
30 Lee Thomas
31 Bob Rodgers
33 Ken McBride
34 George Thomas

1963 Post - Angels
24 Steve Bilko
25 Bill Moran
26 Joe Koppe
27 Felix Torres
28 L.Wagner
29 Albie Pearson
30 Lee Thomas
31 Bob Rodgers
32 Dean Chance
33 Ken McBride

1963 Salada Metal Coins - Angels
41 Ken McBride
48 Billy Moran
55 Leon Wagner
59 Lee Thomas

1963 TOPPS - Angels
231 Eli Grba (photo actually Ryne Duren)
355 Dean Chance
396 Joe Koppe
454 Art Fowler
482 Felix Torres
510 Ken McBride
527 Ed Sadowski
541 Ron Moeller
572 Jack Spring

1963 Topps Stick-Ons Inserts - Angels
Lee Thomas

1963 Angels pocket schedule

Tom Henke's Wet Fish...

Handshake?
It's not a handshake. It's not a man shake. It's not even a bro-hug. I don't know what it is, but Fred McGriff wants nothing to do with it, or the curtsy that's sure to follow.

Just Purchased: 1968 Dexter Press

Picked up this awesome 1968 Dexter Press postcard of Jim Fregosi.



Fregosi, as usual was the Angel team leader...

No sarcasm, just a fact. By 1968 Fregosi was leader in many catagories in team history, as noted on the back of the postcard. Let's see if his records still stand.

Was on base nine consecutive times to set an Angel record...

The Angels media guide has Consecutive Times on Base Safely...12 by Bobby Grich in 1984.

... Also holds team record for eight straight hits...

Again to the media guide which has Consecutive Hits...9 by Bengie Molina in 2001.

Only Angel in history to hit for cycle (July 28, 1964 at home vs. Yankees).

Shortly after this card was produced, Fregosi hit for the cycle a second time on May 20, 1968. Since then, other Angels to do so are Dan Ford (1979), Dave Winfield (1991), Jeff Davanon (2004), and Chone Figgins (2006).

So at least we know that his hit-for-the-cycle recod stood for 11 years. I couldn't find a list for the first two, just the most current to achieve it, so I can't tell when the record was first broken or who broke it.

I could contact the team, but it's not that big a deal, and you get the point.

A bit of good news is that Fregosi still holds the career Angels record for most triples (70), and BFW (28.4).

[Batter-Fielder Wins (BFW) is a metric devised by Pete Palmer that estimates the number of wins over (or under) what an average player would contribute to his team with his batting, baserunning and fielding.]retrosheet

Signed Forehead: Tom Grieve

Tom Grieve 1976 Topps #106.


Here Tom has a nice big light area across his jersey, just above his team name, but he decides to take out his right frontal lobe.

Debut #87 Rick Reichardt

Frederic Carl Reichardt
Leftfielder
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 3", Weight: 210 lb.
Born: March 16, 1943 in Madison, WI
MLB Debut: September 1, 1964 Los Angeles Angels
Final MLB Game: April 9, 1974 Kansas City Royals
Years with the Angels: 1964-1970

1965 Topps #194

ANGELS TRANSACTIONS:
June 24, 1964: Signed by the Los Angeles Angels as an amateur free agent.
April 27, 1970: Traded by the California Angels with Aurelio Rodriguez to the Washington Senators for Ken McMullen.

1969 Topps #205 and 1966 Topps #321

ANGELS DEBUT:
Started the game in center field and made the third putout in the first when Tom Tresh flied out to him. In his first plate appearance in the second, he struck out against Al Downing on the way to an 0 for 4 performance in a 4-1 loss to the New York Yankees on Tuesday, September 1, 1964 (N) at Chavez Ravine.

1969 Transogram

ANGELS RECORD:
1964 - 1970
In 563 games for the Angels he hit .261 with 68 HR and drove in 261.
Played 516 games in LF, third most behind Garret Anderson and Brian Downing.

Best Angels Performance:
Went 2 for 4, both HRs, scored 3 times and drove in 4 in a 16-9 win against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, April 30, 1966 (D) at Fenway Park.

1969 Jack in the Box

1969 Globe Imports

OTHER INTERESTING FACTS:
- Star football player at the University of Wisconsin and played in the Rose Bowl.
- Drew such large bonus offers in 1964 that the major leagues soon decided to institute a draft.
- Had a kidney surgically removed early in his major league career after suffering from kidney disease.
- Led the AL in being hit by a pitch 13 times in 1966.
- Hit 2 HR in a game 9 times.
- Went 0 for 8 with 6 Ks in a game in 1966.
- # 62 on the list of the 100 Greatest Angels.

1972 Milton Bradley

Todays Mail: Lance Parrish

Angel Great Lance Parrish returned my cards and letter today after 14 days with nice autographs and a nice response. He squared up his signature perfectly on the 1978 Topps #708 rookie card I picked up a couple weeks ago for 2 bucks, leaving plenty of room for the other guys on the card. A nice sig was added as well to the 1991 Upper Deck #552 for my Angels set.

I was very impressed with his elaborate responses to my two questions. A nice departure from the one-word answers a lot of guys use. Not that I'm complaining.

Angels Fan With Dodgers Cards Night Owl Can't Have

Sorry Man, I couldn't resist.

Todays Mail: Doug Gwosdz

Doug "Eyechart" Gwosdz signed and returned his 1982 Topps #731 rookie card, and a 1984 Topps #753 in 21 days. I asked him about his nickname but he didn't really elaborate on how he felt about it.

Doug was a catcher for the Padres from 1981-84 and in 162 career games never played against the Angels.

The guy on Doug's right is Fred Kuhaulua who appeared in 3 games for the Angels in 1977. His autograph is a tough one to get, and one that I lack for my Angels collection.

Joyner on Cardboard - 1986

Wally Joyner is an Angels Great.

I want to take a year-by-year look at the Wally Joyner cards in my collection. So if you don't see a certain one here (what I don't have will be listed at the bottom, and there will be a lot), I need it, and if you want to send it to me, by all means please.

Lets start with 1986 the year of Joyners first bubblegum cards.

1986 Topps Traded #51

1986 Donruss Rookies #1

1986 Fleer Update #59

1986 Fleer Baseballs Best #19

1986 Leaf Pop-Up Figure

1986 Star Red Set


1986 Sportflics Baseball Rookies #7

Wally batted .290 with 22 HR and 100 RBI his rookie season. Played in the 1986 All-Star game.
And was second in voting for the American League Rookie of the Year garnering 98 points to Jose Cansecos 110. Dang he should have won it!

NEED:
1985 Edmonton Trappers Cramer #2
1986 Angels Postcards #13
1986 Angels Smokey Bear #22
1986 Baseball Star Buttons #62
1986 Donruss Highlights #23
1986 Star Blue Stickers Set
1986 Topps Traded Tiffany #51