Major League Baseball is asking its fans to vote for the four most impactful players who best represent the history of each franchise. The winners will be announced in July at the All Star Game in Cincinnati. Today, I will give my Franchise Four picks for the American League West.
The Astros, around since 1962, have 2 obvious options, and both are from their World Series team in 2005: Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell. After that, there is a bit of a drop off. Nolan Ryan would seem to be a good pick for the third slot, having spent more years with the Astros than with any other team. For the last slot, I’ll go with J. R. Richard, whose career was cut short due to a stroke, but still came to represent the franchise in the late 70s.
Despite existing since the 1961 season, the Angels have a complete lack of star power in their 8 nominees. Garret Anderson? Tim Salmon? Brian Downing? While fine players, none of them would be confused with an all time great. Of the remaining 5, I will dump Jim Fregosi and take Chuck Finley, Nolan Ryan (again!), Vladamir Guerrero, and, despite being in only his 4th season, Mike Trout.
