Hometown Heros -- No Nolan?

[whatlyahave]

Did anyone else think it was weird that Nolan Ryan was on both the Rangers and Astros hometown heros list and not the Angels.

Sure he went to the playoffs as an Astro and he clobbered Robin Ventura as a Ranger, but wasn't he his most frighteningly dominant as an Angel? In fact, as I was thinking of this whole Hometown Heros thing, he was my choice for the Angels.

As an M's fan, I obviously keep tabs on the Angels, but I am not intimately involved with them.

I may be way off base here, so -- :waving I'm wondering whats an Angel fan's take?

[AnaheimAngelsFan]

Did anyone else think it was weird that Nolan Ryan was on both the Rangers and Astros hometown heros list and not the Angels.

Sure he went to the playoffs as an Astro and he clobbered Robin Ventura as a Ranger, but wasn't he his most frighteningly dominant as an Angel? In fact, as I was thinking of this whole Hometown Heros thing, he was my choice for the Angels.

As an M's fan, I obviously keep tabs on the Angels, but I am not intimately involved with them.

I may be way off base here, so -- :waving I'm wondering whats an Angel fan's take?


You are absolutely right. Ryan would've been MY pick. Who made these "nominations," anyway?

[CaliforniaCajun]

Did anyone else think it was weird that Nolan Ryan was on both the Rangers and Astros hometown heros list and not the Angels.

Sure he went to the playoffs as an Astro and he clobbered Robin Ventura as a Ranger, but wasn't he his most frighteningly dominant as an Angel? In fact, as I was thinking of this whole Hometown Heros thing, he was my choice for the Angels.

As an M's fan, I obviously keep tabs on the Angels, but I am not intimately involved with them.

I may be way off base here, so -- :waving I'm wondering whats an Angel fan's take?

Nolan is a Texas Ranger because he's wearing a Ranger cap in Cooperstown. I think the Angels were the team where he became a Hall of Famer.

There was a lively discussion about it on the Angel board: http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=ml-angels&msg=70011.157&ctx=0

[whatlyahave]

Nolan is a Texas Ranger because he's wearing a Ranger cap in Cooperstown. I think the Angels were the team where he became a Hall of Famer.

There was a lively discussion about it on the Angel board: http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=ml-angels&msg=70011.157&ctx=0

Great message board. In the dozen or so comments I read, It seemed fairly split between Nolan Ryan as write-in and Tim Salmon.

As a life long Mariners fan, my memory of Nolan Ryan was him mowing down the M's in their second game ever. My memory of Tim Salmon was him striking out against Randy Johnson to end that '95 playoff game.

If you guys vote in Tim Salmon as the best angel of all time, he -- great player that he is -- will be the worst of all of the hometown heros winners, except, maybe, the Devil Rays winner.

It would be like the Mariners voting in Alvin Davis. He was a great Mariner, great community guy, but c'mon.

Ryan, Baylor, Downing, Finley, Grich, Guerrero, even Garrett Anderson should get the nod over Tim Salmon.

That is just an informed ('cause we play you guys alot) outsiders opinion, though. I shouldn't even be in an Angels chat, since we are, by geography, sworn enimies!

My gripe isn't really Timmy Salmon, I like the guy alot. It is the fact that Nolan Ryan, the greatest, most dominating player to ever put on an Angel uniform (once again, an informed outsiders opinion) isn't included in a list of Angel hometown heros!

[CaliforniaCajun]

It is the fact that Nolan Ryan, the greatest, most dominating player to ever put on an Angel uniform (once again, an informed outsiders opinion) isn't included in a list of Angel hometown heros!

I understand what you're saying, but I think the HOF snub is the reason why he was not listed. When Ryan was interviewed and he said he was going in as a Ranger, I shouted an expletive that would have shattered my TV tube on a windy day. He wrote the foreward on a book about the World Series win, and his picture is on the cover and he's one of the featured players in the book "Once They Were Angels."

I don't know who the candidates on the Mariner board are, but how would you feel about A-Rod, Randy Johnson, and Ken Griffey, Jr.?

Before 2002, the Angels were about as starcrossed of a franchise as you can get. No Hall of Famers, no pennants. Except for that one World Series win, I would have said the Mariners had accomplished more than the Angels in terms of player development and having consistently good teams based on the mid-late 90s and early 00s. Lack of player development over the years prevented the Angels from coming up with a suitable substitute.

Actually, the hometown hero in my heart is Jim Fregosi, because he was basically the only consistent All-Star caliber player they had during their first decade of existence. If he hadn't come along and taking the team over from a leadership standpoint, I shudder to think what would have happened. :atthepc

[whatlyahave]

I don't know who the candidates on the Mariner board are, but how would you feel about A-Rod, Randy Johnson, and Ken Griffey, Jr.?

Actually, the hometown hero in my heart is Jim Fregosi, because he was basically the only consistent All-Star caliber player they had during their first decade of existence. If he hadn't come along and taking the team over from a leadership standpoint, I shudder to think what would have happened. :atthepc

Fregosi is a great choice. He wasn't included on the list either, was he?

All three of those M's you mentioned were definate turn-coats. Griffey (who I chose over Edgar, Ichiro and Jay Buhner on the M's list) was arguably THE player of the 90's, though. What he did for this franchise, putting us on the map; a household, hall of fame caliber name for the masses is what, I believe, Nolan did for the Angels.

[JohnGelnarFan]

Who were the 5 listed? I can see on previous posts that Salmon won. I agree that Ryan and Fregosi should have been nominees. Ryan was unbelievable in his years with the Angels even though his won-lost percentage won't show it. Were Andy Messersmith and Brian Downing two of the others?

[eddiejc1]

I understand what you're saying, but I think the HOF snub is the reason why he was not listed. When Ryan was interviewed and he said he was going in as a Ranger, I shouted an expletive that would have shattered my TV tube on a windy day. He wrote the foreward on a book about the World Series win, and his picture is on the cover and he's one of the featured players in the book "Once They Were Angels."

I don't know who the candidates on the Mariner board are, but how would you feel about A-Rod, Randy Johnson, and Ken Griffey, Jr.?

Before 2002, the Angels were about as starcrossed of a franchise as you can get. No Hall of Famers, no pennants. Except for that one World Series win, I would have said the Mariners had accomplished more than the Angels in terms of player development and having consistently good teams based on the mid-late 90s and early 00s. Lack of player development over the years prevented the Angels from coming up with a suitable substitute.

Actually, the hometown hero in my heart is Jim Fregosi, because he was basically the only consistent All-Star caliber player they had during their first decade of existence. If he hadn't come along and taking the team over from a leadership standpoint, I shudder to think what would have happened. :atthepc

Actually, you have several Angels in the Hall of Fame---it's just that none are wearing Angels caps. That did not mean that they did not play for the Angels. I assume Ryan picked the Rangers out of loyalty to their owner, and the HOF let him do so because more so than any other player (except perhaps the Georgia Peach) people associate Nolan Ryan with the state of his birth.

I do notice that the HoF isn't just letting players pick their caps anymore. Wade Boggs picked the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as his cap because of the incentive clause in his contract. The HoF put him in a Red Sox cap. Gary Carter wanted to be inducted in a Mets cap, and the HoF ordinarily might have let him do so even though he played most of his career in Montreal. But with the Expos moving to Washington, the HoF decided that Carter should be inducted in an Expos cap.

At least the majority of your nominees actually played in Anaheim! I think it's a joke that only ONE of the Dodgers' hometown heroes played most of his career in L.A., and they'll probably pick a guy who never played a single game in Southern California as their Hometown Hero---Jackie Robinson.

Eddie Cunningham