1962 - YES WE CAN!

Long before Barack Obama's camp adopted the phrase, Angels fans in 1962 were chanting "YES WE CAN!" in hopes of a championship season.  Why in the world would a team in just its second season have postseason dreams, especially before the advent of divisional play?  To start with, most of these guys looked pretty happy going into the season wearing a halo on their heads:

The '62 Angels did the impossible - they actually led the American League late in the season.  In fact, "First on the Fourth" was a cry at one point when the Halos were in first place on the 4th of July.  Ultimately they fell to third place, ten games behind some team from New York, but at 86-76, it was an amazing finish for such a new team.

While this set is well-loved by collectors because of the wood-grain finish, in terms of quality control 1962 turned out to be one of the worst years for Topps cards ever.  Due do a serious production error, an entire run of cards ended up with a greenish tint, and there were many other variations - many including Angels.  As you can see in the first image, there was a variation on the team card, with two insert pictures being added in later runs.  And the Eddie Yost card was printed with a head shot in one version, and a batting pose in another.

Leon "Daddy Wags" Wagner was the major force on offense that year, with 37 homers and 107 RBI.  He ended up winning the Angels' first All-Star MVP award that year and placed 4th in the MVP ballot.  Lee Thomas led the Halos with a .290 batting average.  On the pitching side, Dean Chance led the team with 14 wins and a 2.96 ERA among the regulars, while Bo Belinsky checked in with 145 strikeouts.  Belinsky pitched the franchise's first no-hitter on May 5th (against the Orioles), and became an instant sensation in SoCal.

Belinsky's rookie card, #592) was the hardest pre-1972 card for me to get.  Unfortunately this wasn't just because it was Bo's rookie card, but because it was also Jim Bouton's rookie card.  Bouton wrote the first real tell-all book about baseball, "Ball Four," and his cards have been more in demand ever since.

The inserts this year were lickable stamps, set two to a panel.  While most of what I've acquired are single panels, I'm pretty happy about the double-panels I've found.  Having the old-school Angels logo paired with a Houston Colts emblem is really cool.

1962 was such an amazing year for the Angels, that (so far) it ranks as my second favorite season ever.  In addition to the 1962 Topps Bucks, I even had to pick up a couple non-regular-Topps cards because I love this team so much.  The first is a 1999 Fleer Greats of the Game autograph card of Bo Belinsky, which I obtained after he passed away.  Bo was such a huge character on the early Angels teams, largely because he had relationships with many of the hottest starlets of the day.

I also had to get the Topps Archives Dean Chance auto card, as it just wouldn't be 1962 if Belinsky was there without Chance.

1962 Topps Angels Checklist

11 - Tom Morgan

39 - Joe Koppe

68 - Ken L. Hunt

96 - Eli Grba

128A - Art Fowler green tint

128B - Art Fowler

132A - Angels Team

132B - Angels Team w/photo inserts

154A - Lee Thomas green tint

154B - Lee Thomas

176A - Eddie Yost - portrait

176B - Eddie Yost - batting

194A - Dean Chance green tint

194B - Dean Chance

209 - Jim Fregosi

257 - Jack Spring

268 - Ken McBride

287 - George Witt

343 - Albie Pearson

369 - Ted Bowsfield

388 - Ryne Duren

422 - Steve Bilko

431 - Bob Rodgers

452 - Earl Averill

491 - Leon Wagner

498 - Jim Donohue

525 - George Thomas

539 - Billy Moran

549 - Bill Rigney SP

569 - Ed Sadowski SP

592 - RC Parade Pitchers (Belinsky, Bonikowski, Bouton, Pfister, Stenhouse) SP

595 - RC Parade Infielders (Sadowski, Charles, Coughtry, Torres) SP

Topps Stamps Inserts

TSI62 - Los Angeles Emblem

TSI63 Steve Bilko

TSI64 Ted Bowsfield

TSI65 Ken Hunt

TSI66 Ken McBride

TSI67 Albie Pearson

TSI68 Bob Rodgers

TSI69 George Thomas

TSI70 Lee Thomas

TSI71 Leon Wagner

1962 Topps Bucks

TB40 Ken Hunt

TB58 Ken McBride

TB88 Lee Thomas

TB90 Leon Wagner

Extras
1999 Fleer Bo Belinsky Sports Illustrated Greats of the Game Autograph
2002 Topps Archives Dean Chance Autograph

regular cards: 28 + 4

inserts: 14

ALCS Game 3

So I got doubly lucky this year, and was able to score tickets to our first home game of the American League Championship Series.  Not wanting to mess with the formula that worked for game one of the AL Division Series, Jamie and I took our friends Clark and Michelle.  The Angels were already down in the series two games to none to the hated Yankmes from New Yawk, and I have to admit that I wasn't feeling confident coming in to this game.

Unlike the ALDS, we actually had a flyover for this game.  This C-130 cargo jet circled so low over the stadium that Michelle thought that terrorists were attacking.

The Angels had the right side of the '80s infield there for the first pitch - Rod Carew tossed the ball to Bobby Grich.

The Big A is still under renovation for the All-Star Game next year.  It is so very weird to look out there and see a big hole instead of a cola ad.  Unfortunately the Big Halo did not get lit after our win in game 1 of the ALDS.  I always like to take a picture of a lit Halo after an Angels victory.

Always nice to see that fans still remember and love Mr. Autry!

All right, first pitch, and Jered Weaver throws... a ball.  Meh.

Weaver gave up three runs in five innings, and left with the Angels in a 3-0 hole.  Soon after, Howie Kendrick hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth, and Vladdy said "Yes we can!" with a two-run blast in the sixth.  The game was tied at the seventh inning stretch when they introduced the crew of the C-130.

I really don't have enough pics of the numbers that the Angels have retired.

Once again, I was so busy watching the game (and our seats were in the nosebleeds) that I didn't get any pics of the action.  Oddly enough, I was really tempted to pull out the camera right before Vladdy's two-run shot.  We ended up going ahead in the 7th (BRILLIANT move by Mike Scioscia to pinch hit Maicer Izturis for Mike Napoli - Mighty Maicer seems like he's always clutch), but the Yankees tied it in the 8th.  I blame this partly on the video crew showing a second Rally Monkey video after we had already taken the lead.  Isn't that against the rules?

I'd like to take a moment to point out how much respect the Yankees have for Angels fans. Every time the Angels got any sort of momentum going on offense (i.e. anyone on base at all), they did everything they could to slow the game down. I cannot remember the last time I saw a pitcher throw to first four times in a row so early in the game, so thank you for that, Andy Pettitte. Joe Girardi also got in on the fun, having inserted Mo Rivera into the batting order at one point, and stopping the game to confirm with the umpire that that's what he was doing. All these delays did a good job of getting us fans to sit back down (especially when beer sales stopped an inning earlier than usual) but it didn't knock us out of the game. As usual, Angels fans were up to the occasion, and went nuts when--

--after three more scoreless innings, the Angels finally came through in the bottom of the eleventh when Jeff Mathis knocked in Howie Kendrick to make it a 2-1 series.  The folks in the condos across the parking lot were pretty happy about it.

Taking a cue from the Afternoon Angel, I made sure to congratulate a couple of Yankees fans on a great game before heading out.  After all, no matter who wins, an eleven inning game won by one run is always a good beisbol game.  It made me happy that the first two guys I said "good game" to shook my hand and took my well wishes as they were intended.  They both looked to be in their twenties.  I find it very interesting that the two older gentlemen that I said "good game" to looked at me like I had just spat on Babe Ruth's grave.

Mr. Autry was all smiles as we made our way back to the parking lot.

One great bonus was realizing that part of the renovation on the Big A is complete; they lit up the Halo!  Now instead of a single row of white light, we have a bunch of rows that can go multiple colors.

After thirteen innings Saturday night, and eleven today, I am WIPED. Rest up, Angels fans. The Halos are going to need every cheer we can muster to even this up.

Look what I got! - Part Two in a Series

And now for something different:

This, my friends, is the Topps File Card for one Gary George Pettis.  Topps has always done business with individual players, instead of signing a blanket deal with the MLBPA.  Back before the internet (and evidently before Topps bought computers?), Topps kept their records on File Cards like this one so they could keep track of who they had signed, what they paid them (usually cash, but sometimes stuff like stereo systems) and what number their card ended up being.  Considering that I'm keeping a running history of Topps Angels cards here, I'm really happy to have finally added one of these to the collection.  The first image is of the whole card, and the second is of the attachment that's stapled onto the front.

Gary played for the Angels from 1982 through 1987, winning Gold Gloves in 1985 and 1986 (and three more with the Tigers (2) and Rangers).  His best season with the Halos came in 1986, when he hit .258 with 5 homers, 58 RBI, 93 runs scored and 50 stolen bases.  He held the Angels' steals record until Chone Figgins broke it in 2007.  He's currently the first base coach for the Texas Rangers (he still gets cheers when Tejas comes to town), and his #20 jersey can be seen being placed into his locker during the pregame video every night at the Big A.

Now where did I put my broom?

So I'm standing there watching the game in the 7th, and the wife's Uncle turns to me and says, "Oh well, I guess we can clinch it in tomorrow's game."

I looked at him and calmly said, "Game's not over yet."

I had no doubt in my mind that the Angels could come back from a 5-1 deficit on Sunday to beat the hated Red Sox and sweep them out of the playoffs.  Soon after, we made it 5-2.  Then Billy Wagner let two men on in the eighth, and they brought in Papelbon.

I smiled.

It seems like every time Tito Francona sends in Papelbon against us and there are men on base, we end up scoring.  True, we usually only score enough runs against the kid to lose by 1, but we seem to reach him regularly.  And I had a feeling this time would be different.

Top of the eighth.  Two on, two out.  Juan Rivera gets his first-ever hit off of Papelbon, and suddenly it's a 1 run game.  Bottom of the eight,  it becomes 6-4 Red Sox.  Okay, that's just one extra run we need.

Top of the ninth.  Casey Kotchman in at first for the Red Sox (never thought I'd ever type that).  Papelbon gets two quick outs.  I'm so focused on what the Angels are doing, I don't even realize we're one out from playing another game in Boston.

Then Aybar singles.  They let him take second.

Figgins walks.  I start to smile.

CLANG! - Abreu doubles off the wall.  6-5 Red Sox.  Men on 2nd and 3rd.

And then, AND THEN, they intentionally walk Torii to get to Vladdy.  My confident smile becomes a huge grin.  Do these Sox not remember what happened the last time Vladdy came to bat in a do-or-die moment in this stadium with bases loaded?  I sure do.  And sure enough--

--CRACK! - Vladdy singles to knock in two runs, and the Angels take their first lead of the game.  Fuentes comes in and locks down the win.

7-6 Angels.

I hope Donnie Moore can finally rest in peace after this one.

2001 - Not Quite an Odyssey

Once again, a year ends in a 1, and the Angels didn't have a great year.  (I'd start to think that putting up the cards by alternating decades wasn't such a great idea; luckily years that end in 2 have been much nicer to the Halos.)  They went 75-87 and finished in third place, largely due to a ton of injuries and a Seattle Mariners team that won a Major League record 116 games.  But in spite of all this, the Angels drew over 2 million fans to the ballpark (then named Edison Field of Anaheim; man, I want to smack myself for calling it the Big Ed a couple of times).

Most of the cards here are Topps' "Home Team Advantage" variants, with an extra gold stamp.  I believe these were exclusive to hobby shops that year.  That's Bengie Molina's first card as an Angel at the bottom right, and he signed it for me at the Angels Fan Fest in 2004, as did Ramon Ortiz.  Jeff Mathis signed his card for me during Spring Training in 2008.

Man, 2001 was a great year for first-year Angels cards.  In addition to the Bengie, Ortiz and Mathis cards, Scott Spiezio and Mike Scioscia got their first regular Angels cards, and there were certifed auto cards of Scioscia and John Lackey (rookie auto!).

2001 was a great looking set, with the green borders being oddly evocative of the outfield wall at the Big A.

2001 was also the 50th year of Topps baseball cards. As such, the set included a bunch of reprints, including the oft-reprinted 1980 Nolan Ryan.

Topps inserts finally got interesting in 1996, but it wasn't until 2001 that the Angels got their first jersey card with the "King of Kings" Nolan Ryan card.  The "Who Would Have Thought" cards were great this year as well, covering two of the greatest acquisitions in team history, Ryan and Carew.

Although '01 wasn't a great year, the position players got a lot of experience working together, which would come in handy in 2002...

2001 Topps Angels

4 - Garret Anderson

39 - Shigetoshi Hasegawa

80 - Darin Erstad

87 - Scott Spiezio

161 - Benji Gil

175 - Troy Glaus

186 - Seth Etherton

251 - Scott Schoeneweis

271 - Bengie Molina

309 - Matt Walbeck

324 Mike Scioscia MGR

390 - Troy Glaus SH

392 Sammy Sosa/Troy Glaus HR Leaders

397 Todd Helton/Darin Erstad Hit Leaders

419 - Troy Percival

470 - Gary DiSarcina

484 - Tim Belcher

514 - Adam Kennedy

529 - Orlando Palmeiro

546 - Tim Salmon

586 - Kevin Stocker

604 - Jarrod Washburn

621 - Mo Vaughn

636 - Jose Canseco

722 - Ramon Ortiz

728 - Phil Wilson Angels - Jake Peavey (sic) Padres - Darwin Cubillan Rangers

729 - Steve Smyth Cubs - Mike Bynum Padres - Nathan Haynes Angels

731 - Pena - Larry Barnes Angels - Wise

745 - Joe Torres/Ben Diggins

752 - Anaheim Angels Team Card

Golden Anniversary Prospect Autograph

GAAJL - John Lackey

Golden Anniversary Great Autograph

GAARC - Rod Carew

Going for Gold

GA45 - Troy Glaus

GA48 - Mo Vaughn

Through the Years Reprints

39 - 1980 Nolan Ryan

A Tradition Continues

TRC17 - Mo Vaughn

Base Hit Base Card

BH1 - Mike Scioscia MGR

King of Kings Jersey

KKR6 - Nolan Ryan

2001 Topps Traded

T33 - Ismael Valdes

T38 - Pat Rapp

T104 - Reggie Jackson 82

T120 - Wally Joyner 86

T142 - 1995 Sexson, Arias, Sweeney, Schneider Reprint

T151 - Jared Abruzzo RC

T197 - Brian Specht RC

T227 - Alfredo Amezaga RC

T258 - Jeff Mathis RC

Who Would Have Thought?

WT1 - Nolan Ryan

WT12 - Rod Carew

Let the Playoffs Begin!

Yes, I know five playoff games had already begun by the time the Angels' first postseason first game started, but let's face it - the playoffs don't truly begin until the Halos play their first postseason game. And what a game it was!

A game can't start any better than the wife giving Vladdy a beeg kees.

Not the best picture, but this is what we play for every year:

 And every year we play for Mr. Autry--

--and this year we also play for Nick Adenhart and his family.  I almost lost it when the Angels paid tribute to Nick in the pre-game video.

I was especially happy to see that the Angels included a clip of Jon Wilhite (the sole survivor of the accident that took the lives of Nick and his friends Courtney Stewart and Henry Pearson) throwing out the first pitch on August 29.

I will never get tired of seeing an American flag this large stretched across the lawn of my favorite place in the world.

Eventually it was time for the lineups to be introduced--

 --and for John Lackey to throw out the first pitch. It was a strike.

Most of these pics were taken from our seats in the top deck, section 431.  Not very close to the action, which explains why I don't have more in-game pics, but it was a great place to get pics of the celebration after we won the game.

Nine innings of shutout ball.  John Lackey's first postseason victory since he won Game 7 of the 2002 World Series.  The first postseason shutout in Angels history.  Heck, it was the first time I've witnessed a playoff win at the Big A since the 2002 ALDS.  Here's hoping that we keep dealing more of the same.

Look What I Got! - Part One in a Series

Just won an auction on teh eBay today - the 2006 Topps Updates & Highlights Midsummer Covers #MC-VG, Vladimir Guerrero, numbered 9 of 10.  I'm not sure I've ever seen this card on eBay, and if I have, it's been a few years.

Maybe I should call this section "Reasons Why My Wife Wants to Kill Me."

HOW 'BOUT THEM HALOS?

Now THIS should be Ervin Santana's 2010 card.

Congratulations to the Angels on winning their third straight AL West title.  I was bawling like a baby when they all ran out to take a picture in front of Adenhart's picture in center.  Great job, guys.  Now let's finish strong, rest up, and obliterate the Sox when they come to town.

1991 - A Great Year for Cards.

By the time 1991 rolled around, it had been 7 years since I had collected baseball cards.  By now I was living up in Chico, CA, with a bunch of high school friends, and it would be giving me too much credit to say that I wasn't doing very much with my life.  But gosh darn it, I was collecting the Topps set that year.  Not only did the set have a nice design, and the packs were cheap, but there was that all too enticing "40th Anniversary" design that somehow sucked me in.  Of course it didn't hurt that the local supermarket had them placed where I had to pass by them every time I was ready to check out.

 Topps had started releasing a parallel "Tiffany" set a few years earlier, but in '91 they went a step further with the "Desert Shield" set.  From SportsCardArticles.com:

"When news hit the hobby that Topps was planning a special parallel set of it's 1991 Topps baseball set for the U.S. troops serving in Desert Shield/Desert Storm, the set was immediately sought after by regular non-military collectors. The only difference in the regular Topps baseball set and the Topps Desert Shield parallel set is that the Desert Shield baseball cards all have a gold foil stamp on the front, featuring a palm tree inside of a shield, and the words "Operation Desert Shield" beside an American Flag."

Although the regular '91 set was easy to find, the Desert Shield?  Not so much.  Considering that there are supposedly only 6800 of each card in existence, and how often cards get lost/destroyed/never opened, this has turned out to be one of the most rare sets in Topps' existence.  Even the commons typically go for around five bucks a pop on teh eBay.

1991 turned out to be another mediocre year for the Halos, as they went 81-81.  Manager Doug Rader was replaced after being two games under .500 in 124 games by former player Buck Rodgers, who went a whopping 2 games over .500 the rest of the way.  Possibly the brightest spot in the season came on June 24, when a 39-year-old Dave Winfield became the oldest player in the history of the game to hit for the cycle.

This last bunch is actually from the '90 "Major League Debut" set.  Topps used the 1991 design for this set, that's why I include them with the '91s in my collection.  These cards highlighted the big time debuts of guys who made their debut in 1990 (complete with quotes from "The Register") - and for many of these guys, that's all they did.  Pete Coachman (whose given name is Bobby Dean, so I have no idea where the "Pete" comes from) had his only 45 ML at bats come in '90 (which seems weird, as he batted .311 - you'd think he'd have gotten another chance).  Scott Lewis had a 2.20 ERA in '90, but was pretty mediocre after that.  Jeff Richardson got one out to finish a game, and never pitched in the bigs again.  With results like this, it's no wonder that Topps only ran this set for three years.

The only Angels insert this year was a "Wax Box" card of Bert Blyleven, highlighting his reaching #4 on the all-time strikeouts list. I seriously do not understand why this man is not yet in the Hall of Fame. He won 287 games, often pitching for teams with losing records. This makes him the winningest pitcher not already in the Hall. He's currently 5th all-time in strikeouts (3,701) and 9th in shutouts (60). And he went 5-1 in the post-season, winning a World Series ring with the Twins in '87. Heck, he could probably still pitch for the Netherlands in the WBC today.

1991 Topps Angels Checklist

36 - Donnie Hill

57 - Jack Howell

84 - Bob McClure

107 - Luis Polonia

129 - Mark Eichhorn

153 - Bryan Harvey

176 - John Orton

195 - Wally Joyner

210 - Lance Parrish

231 - Doug Rader MG

255 - Brian Downing

273 - Johnny Ray

285 - Jim Abbott

355 - Chili Davis

395 - Chuck Finley AS

426 - Joe Grahe RC

452 - Bill Schroeder

477 - Mike Fetters

505 - Chuck Finley

532 - Kirk McCaskill

564 - Dante Bichette

615 - Bert Blyleven

630 -Dave Winfield

648 - Lee Stevens

667 - Kent Anderson

704 - Devon White

736 - Dick Schofield

755 - Mark Langston

784 - Willie Fraser

Wax Box Cards

A - Bert Blyleven

1991 Topps Traded
40T - Junior Felix

44T - Gary Gaetti

50T - Todd Greene Team USA

89T - Dave Parker

99T - Jeff D. Robinson

112T - Luis Sojo

1990 Topps Debut
32 - Pete Coachman

58 - Joe Grahe

88 - Scott Lewis

131 - Jeff Richardson

149 - Lee Stevens

169 - Cliff Young

regular cards: 41
inserts: 1

1981 - Strike!

1981.  Now we're talking!  I really starting taking baseball cards seriously in 1980, but 1981 was the first time I really made an attempt at completing the whole set.  This is definitely one of my favorite designs, as I still love the hat in the corner, and the fonts Topps used for the players' names on the fronts and backs of the cards.

By now, the free agency era in baseball was in full swing, and the Angels were one of the teams shelling out big bucks for top players.  But in spite of having already paid for the likes of Rod Carew, Don Baylor, Bobby Grich and adding Fred Lynn in the off-season, '81 wasn't a great year for the Angels.  Heck, it wasn't a great year for baseball.  The players went on strike in the middle of the season, causing a cancellation of 38% of the games that year.

Rather than just use overall records to decide the division leaders, it was decided that the season would be split in two.  Whoever was in 1st before the strike won that half of the year, and records were reset afterward, so whoever had the best records post-strike won that half.  Then the two teams played each other (or the second half second-place team if the same team won both halves) to see who won the division.

Unfortunately, the Angels didn't do well in either half.  They went 31-29 and finished 4th in the first half, and 20-30 in the second, finishing 6th.  This continued a trend of having bad seasons in years that end with a 1.

1981 was also the year that Topps greatly expanded the stats on the cards.  Through 1980, batters had 9 categories: games appeared in, at bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, runs batted in and batting average (G, AB, R, H, 2B, 3B, HR, RBI, AVG).  Pitchers had games appeared in, innings pitched, wins, losses, runs, earned runs, strikeouts, walks and earned run average (G, IP, W, L, R, ER, SO, BB, ERA).  In '81, Topps added stolen bases, slugging percentage, walks and strikeouts (SB, SLG, BB, SO) for batters, and games started, complete games, shutouts and saves (GS, CG, SHO, SV).  For a stathead like myself, this was a huge addition to the cards, and was a big part of what made Topps way more enjoyable to collect than the new Donruss and Fleer sets that started up that year.  I never did end up completing this set, but I remember getting pretty close.

The early-mid '80s weren't a great time for Topps inserts, and the 1981 set had zero.  (After I shelled out some cash for them, I found out that those two Scratch-Offs weren't part of the main set.  Ah, well.)  But one great thing Topps did that year was reintroduce their Traded set.  They had fooled around a little bit showing some players in their new uniforms in '74 and '76, but it wasn't until '81 that they got serious.  The '81 Traded set added a ton of players, included the first Angels cards of Fred Lynn, Geoff Zahn, and current Angels Assistant General Manager Ken Forsch.

1981 Topps Angels Checklist

12 - Mark Clear

48 - Dave Skaggs

69 - Ed Halicki

100 - Rod Carew

121 - Larry Harlow

182 - Bob Grich

209 - Dickie Thon DP

214 - Angels Rookies Ralph Botting Jim Dorsey

227 - Fred Martinez

239 - Rick Miller DP

263 - Brian Downing

286 - Dave Frost

288 - Bob Clark

311 - Freddie Patek

340 - Bruce Kison

369 - Frank Tanana

391 - Dave Lemanczyk DP

410 - Bert Campaneris

422 - Dan Ford

454 - Andy Hassler

505 - Jason Thompson

529 - Dave LaRoche

557 - Chris Knapp

580 - Don Baylor

601 - Don Aase

621 - Tom Donohue

639 - Carney Lansford

652 - John Montague

663 - Angels Team/Mgr Jim Fregosi

701 - Joe Rudi

717 - Jim Barr DP

Topps Scratch-Offs
(not part of main set)

18 - Rod Carew

25 - Carney Lansford

1981 Topps Traded Angels

733 - Juan Beniquez

743 - Rick Burleson

764 - Ken Forsch

771 - Butch Hobson

797 - Fred Lynn

810 - Ed Ott

818 - Doug Rau

821 - Steve Renko

845 - Bill Travers

856 - Geoff Zahn

regular cards: 41

1971 - I Have no Snappy Comment for this.

Ah, 1971. The year the NASDAQ opened, the Libertarian party was founded, Disney World opened, women in Switzerland got the right to vote, and the London Bridge opened in Havasu. Oh, and the Angels played some baseball.

One thing I do know: Topps released a pretty cool set of baseball cards that year. With its black borders, understated design and lots of horizontal cards, 1971 remains a favorite of collectors.


1971 wasn't a spectacular year for the Halos. To start the team's second decade, Lefty Phillips managed the team to a 76-86 record, finishing 4th in the AL West. 3B Ken McMullen's 21 homers and 68 RBIs, and 2B Sandy Alomar's 39 stolen bases and .260 batting average led the offense.


On the pitching side, Andy Messersmith went 20-13 with a 2.99 ERA and 179 strikeouts. The pitching staff was great, but the offense was anemic.


1971 was the first major change in the Angels' uniforms since they began play in 1961. The basic colors remained the same, but the fancy script letters on the jerseys and the halos on the hats were replaced with a boring font and a lower-case a with a small halo at the corner. A small change to this uniform in 1972 would end up being the most iconic Angels uniform ever.



That last card there is a recent addition.  The 1971 Jim Spencer Scratch-Off was a thorn in my side for a while.  I've had the 1970 Jim Spencer Scratch-Off for years, but every time I saw a scan of something calling itself a 1971 Spencer, it was the exact same image.  I didn't know if the '71 really existed, if people kept mislabeling the pics or what.  It wasn't until I found the Topps Archive blog that I found out what the deal is - if you open up the Scratch-Offs from different years, they have different colors on the inside.  Once I knew that, I had the '71 in my hands the next week, which gave me all of the inserts from 1961 through 1998.  (Would be through 2002 if it weren't for those dadburn '99 Nolan Ryan autos.  Grr...)

1971 Topps Angels Checklist

15 - Andy Messersmith
43 - Steve Kealey
61 - AL Batting Leaders Alex Johnson Angels, Carl Yastrzemski Red Sox, Tony Oliva twins
67 - AL ERA Leaders Diego Segui A's, Jim Palmer Orioles, Clyde Wright Angels
78 - Jim Spencer
105 - Tony Conigliaro
152 - Angels Rookies-Lloyd Allen-Winston Llenas
174 - Dave LaRoche
205 - Gerry Moses
240 - Clyde Wright
256 - Tony Gonzalez
279 - Lefty Phillips
318 - Rudy May
360 - Jim Fregosi
401 - Tom Murphy
421 - John Stephenson
442 - California Angels-Team Card
466 - Ken Berry
485 - Ken McMullen
508 - Roger Repoz
526 - Ray Jarvis
559 - AL Rookie Pitchers-Terry Cox Angels, Bill Gogolewski Senators, Gary Jones Yankees
561 - Syd O'Brien
590 - Alex Johnson
614 - Billy Cowan
631 - Eddie Fisher
645 - Jim Maloney SP
657 - Jose Azcue
664 - Rookie Pitchers SP-Archie Reynolds Angels, Bob Reynolds Expos, Ken Reynolds Phillies SP
666 - Gene Brabender SP
676 - Tommie Reynolds
686 - Chico Ruiz SP
697 - Rickey Clark SP
707 - Fred Lasher
718 - Billy Wynne
736 - Mel Queen SP
745 - Sandy Alomar SP

Topps Coins

TCI4 - Jim Spencer
TCI28 - Sandy Alomar
TCI60 - Clyde Wright
TCI84 - Alex Johnson
TCI112 - Andy Messersmith
TCI136 - Jim Fregosi
TCI142 - Tony Conigliaro

Topps Scratch-Offs

20 - Jim Spencer

regular cards: 37
inserts: 8