Hardball Retrospective – What Might Have Been – The “Original” 1993 Angels

by
February 18, 2017

In “Hardball Retrospective: Evaluating Scouting and Development Outcomes for the Modern-Era Franchises”, I placed every ballplayer in the modern era (from 1901-present) on their original team. I calculated revised standings for every season based entirely on the performance of each team’s “original” players. I discuss every team’s “original” players and seasons at length along with organizational performance with respect to the Amateur Draft (or First-Year Player Draft), amateur free agent signings and other methods of player acquisition.  Season standings, WAR and Win Shares totals for the “original” teams are compared against the “actual” team results to assess each franchise’s scouting, development and general management skills.

Expanding on my research for the book, the following series of articles will reveal the teams with the biggest single-season difference in the WAR and Win Shares for the “Original” vs. “Actual” rosters for every Major League organization. “Hardball Retrospective” is available in digital format on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, GooglePlay, iTunes and KoboBooks. The paperback edition is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and CreateSpace. Supplemental Statistics, Charts and Graphs along with a discussion forum are offered at TuataraSoftware.com.

Don Daglow (Intellivision World Series Major League Baseball, Earl Weaver Baseball, Tony LaRussa Baseball) contributed the foreword for Hardball Retrospective. The foreword and preview of my book are accessible here.

Terminology

OWAR – Wins Above Replacement for players on “original” teams

OWS – Win Shares for players on “original” teams

OPW% – Pythagorean Won-Loss record for the “original” teams

AWAR – Wins Above Replacement for players on “actual” teams

AWS – Win Shares for players on “actual” teams

APW% – Pythagorean Won-Loss record for the “actual” teams

Assessment

The 1993 California Angels 

OWAR: 39.3     OWS: 277     OPW%: .533     (86-76)

AWAR: 27.8      AWS: 212     APW%: .438     (71-91)

WARdiff: 11.5                        WSdiff: 65  

The “Original” 1993 Angels placed runner-up to the Rangers for the division title, yet the ball club held a fifteen-game advantage over the “Actual” Halos. Tim Salmon garnered 1993 AL Rookie of the Year honors with a .283 BA, 31 dingers, 95 ribbies and 93 runs. Devon White collected his fifth Gold Glove Award and posted career-bests with 42 doubles and 116 runs scored. “Devo” successfully swiped 34 bags in 38 attempts. Dante Bichette provided a .310 BA while clubbing 43 two-base hits and launching 21 moon-shots. Wally Joyner aka “Wally World” contributed 36 doubles along with a .292 BA. Chad Curtis tallied 94 runs and pilfered 48 bases in his sophomore season. Brian Harper (.304/12/73), Mark T. McLemore (.284/4/72) and Paul Sorrento (.257/18/65) augmented the Angels’ attack.

Wally Joyner ranked thirty-seventh among first basemen according to “The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract” top 100 player rankings. “Original” Angels registered in the “NBJHBA” top 100 ratings include Dickie Thon (57th-SS), Tim Salmon (72nd-RF), Devon White (81st-CF), Tom Brunansky (85th-RF), Dante Bichette (90th-RF) and Brian Harper (99th-C). Furthermore, the list includes Gary Gaetti (34th-3B) and Chili Davis (64th-RF) from the “Actual” Angels ’93 roster.

Original 1993 Angels                                      Actual 1993 Angels

STARTING LINEUP POS OWAR OWS STARTING LINEUP POS AWAR AWS
Chad Curtis LF/CF 2.16 16.51 Luis Polonia LF -0.17 10
Devon White CF 4.47 21.28 Chad Curtis CF 2.16 16.51
Tim Salmon RF 4.36 24.61 Tim Salmon RF 4.36 24.61
Dante Bichette DH/RF 1.71 19.35 Chili Davis DH 0.33 11.91
Wally Joyner 1B 3.14 18.09 J. T. Snow 1B 0.66 10.09
Mark McLemore 2B/RF 2.19 13.37 Damion Easley 2B 1.15 8.38
Gary Disarcina SS -1.15 5.73 Rene Gonzales 3B 0.29 7.04
Damion Easley 3B/2B 1.15 8.38 Gary Disarcina SS -1.15 5.73
Brian Harper C 1.27 15.66 Greg Myers C 0.59 4.26
BENCH POS AWAR AWS BENCH POS AWAR AWS
Paul Sorrento 1B 1.03 13.23 Torey Lovullo 2B 0.39 7.35
Erik Pappas C 1 8.23 Stan Javier LF 1.17 7.1
Dickie Thon SS 0.02 4.88 Eduardo Perez 3B -0.21 3.25
Eduardo Perez 3B -0.21 3.25 Rod Correia SS -0.15 2.84
Dick Schofield SS -0.15 2.43 Chris Turner C 0.6 2.25
Ruben Amaro CF 0.44 2.29 Kelly Gruber 3B 0.2 2.19
Chris Turner C 0.6 2.25 Kurt Stillwell 2B -0.19 1.33
Tom Brunansky RF -0.6 1.56 Ron Tingley C -0.47 1.24
Doug Jennings 1B 0.17 1.46 John Orton C 0.05 1.03
John Orton C 0.05 1.03 Jim Edmonds RF -0.13 0.78
J. R. Phillips 1B 0.17 0.87 Ty Van Burkleo 1B -0.03 0.5
Jim Edmonds RF -0.13 0.78 Jim Walewander SS 0.04 0.41
Larry Gonzales C 0.06 0.24 Larry Gonzales C 0.06 0.24
Jeff Manto 3B -0.23 0.09 Gary Gaetti 3B -0.39 0.12
Gus Polidor 3B -0.04 0.02 Jerome Walton DH -0.03 0.06

Chuck Finley (16-14, 3.15) whiffed 187 batsmen and paced the Junior Circuit in complete games with 13. The Halos compensated for a pedestrian rotation with a stellar bullpen consisting of Bryan Harvey (1.70, 45 SV), Roberto Hernandez (2.29, 38 SV) and Alan Mills (5-4, 3.23). Mark Langston (16-11, 3.20) topped the “Actuals” in strikeouts (196) and innings pitched (256.1) while earning his fourth All-Star invitation.

  Original 1993 Angels                              Actual 1993 Angels 

ROTATION POS OWAR OWS ROTATION POS AWAR AWS
Chuck Finley SP 4.9 18.94 Mark Langston SP 6.16 20.37
Jim Abbott SP 1.34 9.75 Chuck Finley SP 4.9 18.94
Frank Tanana SP 1.03 7.07 Scott Sanderson SP 0.65 5.75
Phil Leftwich SP 1.5 5.13 Phil Leftwich SP 1.5 5.13
Kirk McCaskill SP -0.43 2.35 Joe Magrane SP 0.26 2.58
BULLPEN POS OWAR OWS BULLPEN POS OWAR OWS
Bryan Harvey RP 3.46 17.47 Joe Grahe RP 0.86 7.28
Roberto Hernandez RP 2.49 15.5 Steve Frey RP 0.67 6.92
Alan Mills RP 1.45 9.45 Mike Butcher RP 0.33 4.35
Joe Grahe RP 0.86 7.28 Gene Nelson RP 0.32 4.31
Mike Fetters RP 0.25 4.25 Ken Patterson RP 0.19 2.92
Hilly Hathaway SP 0.04 2.15 Hilly Hathaway SP 0.04 2.15
Scott Lewis SP 0.3 1.61 Scott Lewis SP 0.3 1.61
Mike Witt SP -0.13 1.23 Brian Anderson SP 0.17 0.63
Brian Anderson SP 0.17 0.63 Darryl Scott RP -0.22 0.42
Mike Cook RP 0.08 0.47 Chuck Crim RP -0.27 0.4
Darryl Scott RP -0.22 0.42 John Farrell SP -1.65 0
Marcus Moore RP -0.56 0.36 Mark Holzemer SP -0.83 0
Mark Holzemer SP -0.83 0 Doug Linton RP -0.81 0
Dennis Rasmussen SP -0.62 0 Jerry Nielsen RP -0.61 0
Paul Swingle RP -0.37 0 Russ Springer SP -1.03 0
Paul Swingle RP -0.37 0
Julio Valera SP -1.13 0

Notable Transactions

Devon White 

December 2, 1990: Traded by the California Angels with Willie Fraser and Marcus Moore to the Toronto Blue Jays for a player to be named later, Junior Felix and Luis Sojo. The Toronto Blue Jays sent Ken Rivers (minors) (December 4, 1990) to the California Angels to complete the trade. 

Dante Bichette

March 14, 1991: Traded by the California Angels to the Milwaukee Brewers for Dave Parker.

November 17, 1992: Traded by the Milwaukee Brewers to the Colorado Rockies for Kevin Reimer.

Wally Joyner

October 28, 1991: Granted Free Agency.

December 9, 1991: Signed as a Free Agent with the Kansas City Royals. 

Bryan Harvey

November 17, 1992: Drafted by the Florida Marlins from the California Angels as the 20th pick in the 1992 expansion draft.

Brian Harper 

December 11, 1981: Traded by the California Angels to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Tim Foli.

December 12, 1984: Traded by the Pittsburgh Pirates with John Tudor to the St. Louis Cardinals for Steve Barnard (minors) and George Hendrick.

April 1, 1986: Released by the St. Louis Cardinals.

April 25, 1986: Signed as a Free Agent with the Detroit Tigers.

March 23, 1987: Released by the Detroit Tigers.

May 12, 1987: Purchased by the Oakland Athletics from San Jose (California).

October 12, 1987: Released by the Oakland Athletics.

January 4, 1988: Signed as a Free Agent with the Minnesota Twins.

November 4, 1991: Granted Free Agency.

December 19, 1991: Signed as a Free Agent with the Minnesota Twins. 

Mark T. McLemore 

August 17, 1990: the California Angels sent Mark McLemore to the Cleveland Indians to complete an earlier deal made on September 6, 1989. September 6, 1989: The California Angels sent a player to be named later to the Cleveland Indians for Ron Tingley.

December 13, 1990: Released by the Cleveland Indians.

March 6, 1991: Signed as a Free Agent with the Houston Astros.

June 25, 1991: Released by the Houston Astros.

July 5, 1991: Signed as a Free Agent with the Baltimore Orioles.

October 15, 1991: Granted Free Agency.

February 5, 1992: Signed as a Free Agent with the Baltimore Orioles.

December 19, 1992: Released by the Baltimore Orioles.

January 6, 1993: Signed as a Free Agent with the Baltimore Orioles.

Honorable Mention

The 2001 Anaheim Angels 

OWAR: 37.4     OWS: 267     OPW%: .467     (76-86)

AWAR: 31.1      AWS: 225     APW%: .463     (75-87)

WARdiff: 6.3                        WSdiff: 42  

The “Original” and “Actual” 2001 Angels finished in the American League West basement. Perennial Gold Glove center fielder Jim Edmonds socked 38 doubles and 30 long balls. “Jimmy Baseball” supplied a .304 BA with 95 runs scored and 110 ribbies. Mark T. McLemore batted .286 and nabbed 39 bags in 46 attempts. Troy Glaus crushed 41 circuit clouts and 38 two-baggers as he topped the century mark in runs and RBI. Garret Anderson rapped 194 base knocks including 39 doubles and 28 round-trippers while establishing a personal-best with 123 RBI.  Jarrod Washburn delivered 11 victories with an ERA of 3.77. Troy Percival (1.65, 39 SV) made his fourth appearance in the Mid-Summer Classic and furnished a 0.988 WHIP with more than 11 strikeouts per 9 innings pitched. Glaus, Anderson, Washburn and Percival appear on the “Original” and “Actual” Angels rosters in 2001.

On Deck

What Might Have Been – The “Original” 1999 White Sox

References and Resources

Baseball America – Executive Database

Baseball-Reference

James, Bill. The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. New York, NY.: The Free Press, 2001. Print.

James, Bill, with Jim Henzler. Win Shares. Morton Grove, Ill.: STATS, 2002. Print.

Retrosheet – Transactions Database

The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by Retrosheet. Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at “www.retrosheet.org”.

Seamheads – Baseball Gauge

Sean Lahman Baseball Archive





 

Derek Bain is a New Jersey native with a passion for baseball, statistics, computers and video games. He has written a number of articles for Fangraphs and Seamheads, and enjoys spending quality time with his family.

Comments are closed.