The 10 greatest Angels of all time, No. 10: Frank Tanana
We recently asked you to list your choices for the 10 greatest Angels of all time. We received 993 ballots. Each weekday at 11 a.m. PDT, a new person will be listed as we count down all 10.
Remember, any Angel was eligible, including managers, owners, announcers, etc. Points were assigned based on where you listed the person on the ballot. Your first choice received 12 points, second choice 10, third place eight, all the way down to one point for 10th place.
So without further ado, here is No. 10:
No. 10: Frank Tanana (22 first-place votes, 2,305 points)
Not many pitchers have reinvented themselves like Frank Tanana did. In his prime with the Angels, he threw a 100-mph fastball and made three consecutive All-Star games (1976-78). From 1975 to 1978, he was 68-40 and completed 69 of the 131 games he started, leading the league in strikeouts (269) in 1975 and ERA (2.54) in 1977.
However, the number of innings caught up to Tanana, and he missed about 10 weeks of the 1979 season because of a shoulder injury.
When he came back, he no longer had his 100-mph fastball, and became a junk-ball pitcher, with his fastball topping out at 88.
He only pitched 90.1 innings in 1979, but was on the mound when the Angels clinched their first playoff berth in team history.
On Jan. 23, 1981, Tanana was traded along with Joe Rudi to the Boston Red Sox for Fred Lynn and Steve Renko.
Among Angels career leaders, he is fifth in ERA (3.08), fourth in wins (102), fourth in innings (1,615.1), fourth in strikeouts (1,233), second in complete games (92) and second in shutouts (24).
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