Our #6 Starter turns 34 today.
Angels players who celebrate a birthday today, November 18, are:
C.J. Wilson - he turns 34 today and his no trade clause is expired. Anyone need a lefty, we will throw in the cake and candles...
Matt Wise - the heat-throwing perennial prospect turns 39 today. Wise was a tall righty with a fastball that made people think he was the second coming of Mike Witt. Injuries derailed a promising rise through the organization. His claim to fame is that he was the Angels player present for the unveiling of the new Angels uniforms in January of 2002 and helped paint the Big A red, paintbrush in hand, at the ceremony announcing the new look that continues to this very day.
Allen Watson turns 44 today. He was the pitcher the Giants traded to the Halos for beloved (but mediocre) 1B J.T. Snow. He gave up 37 home runs in 35 games in 1997 and if his 4.93 ERA wasn't bad enough, he followed that up in 1998 with a 6.04 ERA and was demoted to mop-up duty midway through the season. All of a sudden CJ doesn't seem so bad, now does he?
Clay Bellinger turns 46 today and doesn't really need any presents. Why? Well the guy was a ring magnet. He was a utility back up who would play anything from 3B to LF. He only had ONE plate appearance in two games with the Angels but it was for the 2002 Angels - netting him a ring. This was after 46 PA for the 1999 Yankees (ring) and 209 PA with the 2000 Yanks (ring). You have to feel terrible that his 88 PA with the NYY only netted a pennant and three wins in seven games of that series. So here is the math: Four seasons in the bigs, 344 PA, 3 Rings. Could they have done it without him?
Mark Petkovsek is 49 today. He was a relief pitcher known as "The Bridge to Percy" for two seasons. Too bad one of them was the miserable 1999 season and the other was 200, aka the year every player in baseball was on roids and half of the flyballs hit went over the fences.
Dante Bichette turns 51 today - he was an Angels prospect with promise, and although his name is synonymous with power-hitting strikeout-laden futility, he finished a 6000+ PA career with a Coors-Field-Assisted OPS of .835 ... but all the Angels got for that were eighteen home runs in three seasons and a trade for... (drumroll) ... a forty-year-old Dave Parker.
Dan Briggs - a second-round 1970 pick who was just not good at bating or fielding despite plenty of seasoning in the minors and parts of the 1975, 76 and 77 seasons in Anaheim. He turns 62 today.