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