The 10 greatest Angels of all time, No. 5: Jim Fregosi

We recently asked you to list your choices for the 10 greatest Angels of all time. We received 993 ballots. Each weekday morning, 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. 5:

No. 5: Jim Fregosi (37 first-place votes, 3,823 points)

You can easily make a case for Fregosi to be the greatest Angel of all time. Not only is he the best shortstop in team history, he managed them to their first playoff appearance in 1979.

In his second full season (1964), Fregosi, 22, hit .277 with 18 home runs and started for the American League in the All-Star game. He went on to represent the Angels in six All-Star games, finished in the top 15 in regular-season MVP voting four times, and won a Gold Glove at shortstop.

But perhaps Fregosi’s greatest contribution to the team came after the 1971 season, when he was traded to the New York Mets for Nolan Ryan and three other players.

Fregosi bounced from team to team until the Pittsburgh Pirates released him on June 1, 1978, at the request of Angels owner Gene Autry.

Autry wanted to make Fregosi the new Angels manager, replacing Dave Garcia. In 1979, Fregosi’s first full year as manager, the Angels won AL West title for the first time before losing to the Baltimore Orioles in the ALCS.

Fregosi was fired as Angels manager in 1981, and the team retired his number (11) in 1998.

You can read a detailed account of Fregosi’s career at the SABR bio project.

ALSO:

The 10 greatest Angels, No. 10: Frank Tanana

The 10 greatest Angels, No. 9: Chuck Finley

The 10 greatest Angels, No. 8: Darin Erstad

The 10 greatest Angels, No. 7: Rod Carew

The 10 greatest Angels, No. 6: Gene Autry