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Committee Chairman

Kirk Buchner, "The Committee Chairman", is the owner and operator of the site.  Kirk can be contacted at [email protected] .

Chili Davis signed with California after seven years in San Francisco, and his first foray into the American League showed similar power numbers to what he had shown before.  

Beginning his Angels career in 1988, Davis had at least 20 Home Runs and 90 RBIs in his first two seasons, progressively moving from the Outfield to Designated Hitter as his skills with the glove eroded.  He joined the Twins as a Free Agent in 1991, winning a World Series there, and he returned the Angels in 1993, this time primarily as a DH.  Davis was an All-Star in 1994, and in all four of his Angels years in his second run, he belted at least 20 Home Runs and 80 RBIs in all of them.  Overall, as an Angel, Davis smacked 156 Home Runs, 618 RBIs with a .279 Batting Average.  Davis later won two more World Series Rings with the Yankees. 

Despite Davis’ strong offense, his abysmal defense when he was an Angel, and lack there of when he was a Designated Hitter, prevents him from a much higher rank. 

Bobby Knoop was your prototypical weak-hitting but defensively skilled infielder from the 1960s.  

Playing at Second Base, Knoop first made the Angels roster in 1964, and along with Shortstop, Jim Fregosi, would become one of the top double-play combinations in the American League.  Knoop won three straight Gold Gloves (1966-68) and led the AL Second Basemen in Total Zone Runs four times.

Knoop was not a heavy hitter, but he was an All-Star in 1966 when he led the AL in Triples (11) and had a career-high 17 Home Runs.  He left California early in 1969 when he was traded to the White Sox.

He returned in 1979 as a Coach, holding that role until 1996, and would have a second run in that capacity from 2013 to 2018.   Knoop was inducted into the franchise Hall of Fame in 2013.

One of the few Canadian Pitchers who had a long career in Major League Baseball, Kirk McCaskill, played the first seven of his 12 years with California.

McCaskill was a starter for the duration of his Angels run, where he twice posted seasons where he won at least 15 Games.  McCaskill made the top ten in ERA in three different years, peaking with a fifth-place finish in 1989 with 2.93.  

He left the Angels for the White Sox in 1992 and would have a 78-74 record in California.  

45. Fred Lynn

Fred Lynn was one of the most popular players in the 1970s and was in rarified air as a player who won the Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season.  After seven years in Massachusetts, Lynn was traded to the California Angels, who thought he might be a player to help them reach the top.

Lynn had a poor start in California, as though he was voted into the All-Star Game, his numbers in the strike-shortened 1981 Season (5 HR, 31 RBI .219/.322/.316) were not good.  Lynn was voted to the following two All-Star Games, but he was a better player than in 1981.  He had at least 21 Home Runs in both of those years, batting at least .271, but his best moment was the 1982 ALCS, where despite the Angels losing, he won the ALCS MVP with a .611/.650/.889 Slash Line.

Lynn had another decent power year, hitting 23 Home Runs with a .271 Batting Average, and that was it for Lynn in California as he signed with the Orioles afterward.

With the Angels, Lynn had 71 Home Runs while batting .271.