In my recovery blog, I posted that JT Snow is my favorite ball player of all-time
I grew up a huge California Angels fan - and when he was traded to the Angels from the Yankees and went on the local sports talk show circuit and said that he, too, grew up an Angels fan, and was at the game when they clinched their first division title - I said, "Hey, I listened to that game on the radio - still remember the final out when Rod Carew fielded a grounder and tossed it to the pitcher - okay I forgot the pitcher, but I think it was Frank Tanana." To boot, he was a great fielder, and a quality hitter. Although I never met him, or know him personally, I felt a bond - being an Angels fan in the 1970's was kind of like being a Cubs fan, but without the long history -and we are only a couple of years apart in age, so his comment about being at the Angels' game was more signifcant to me.
So when Snow was traded to the Giants, I really never forgave the Disney corporation. My loyaties to the Angels wavered and though I still root for the Angels, since Disney sold it, its still not as strong under theMoreno era as it was during the Autry era. I did root for the Angels during the 2002 World Series aganst Snow's Giants, for the record.
I might have really disliked the Dodgers growing up, but spending 5 years on the East Coast - heck, I had to defend Southern California from verbal abuse, and if it meant defending the Dodgers, so be it. In time, I became a fan of Tommy Lasorda, and eventually grew fond of them.
Next post: JT Snow's retirement and the Brian Stow incident - Giants organization's classy reactions.
I grew up a huge California Angels fan - and when he was traded to the Angels from the Yankees and went on the local sports talk show circuit and said that he, too, grew up an Angels fan, and was at the game when they clinched their first division title - I said, "Hey, I listened to that game on the radio - still remember the final out when Rod Carew fielded a grounder and tossed it to the pitcher - okay I forgot the pitcher, but I think it was Frank Tanana." To boot, he was a great fielder, and a quality hitter. Although I never met him, or know him personally, I felt a bond - being an Angels fan in the 1970's was kind of like being a Cubs fan, but without the long history -and we are only a couple of years apart in age, so his comment about being at the Angels' game was more signifcant to me.
So when Snow was traded to the Giants, I really never forgave the Disney corporation. My loyaties to the Angels wavered and though I still root for the Angels, since Disney sold it, its still not as strong under theMoreno era as it was during the Autry era. I did root for the Angels during the 2002 World Series aganst Snow's Giants, for the record.
I might have really disliked the Dodgers growing up, but spending 5 years on the East Coast - heck, I had to defend Southern California from verbal abuse, and if it meant defending the Dodgers, so be it. In time, I became a fan of Tommy Lasorda, and eventually grew fond of them.
Next post: JT Snow's retirement and the Brian Stow incident - Giants organization's classy reactions.