Another Angel free-swinger who fell off the cliff

[fan_since79]

Leon Wagner, in 1963.

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1075065/index.htm

 

 

 

Unlike anyone else in baseball, Leon Wagner of the Los Angeles Angels came into July hitting .351. He had 19 home runs and 57 runs batted in, and for the second year in succession he was named starting left fielder on the American League All-Star team. He seemed to have a good shot at winning the triple crown—batting average, home runs and runs batted in—and then he slumped.

 

It was like the fall of Icarus. All through July he went downward and downward. He lost 50 points from his batting average, hit two home runs in 31 games, batted across only a handful of runs and staggered into August with only one thing unshaken—his confidence. He knew what was causing the slump.

 

"They won't pitch to me," he complained cheerfully. "They won't throw me any strikes. They never throw me a strike. Nobody's hitting behind me and the pitchers don't mind putting me on base. They just as soon walk me. They throw that ball up here and down there and out there and every place except over the plate. I like to hit. I'm a bad-ball hitter and I go for those pitches. I'm not a scientific hitter—you know, like Ted Williams. I'll swing at anything. Those pitchers know it.

[AngelsAndRamsFan]

I thought this thread was going to be about Hamilton. Those are funny quotes. 

[fan_since79]

Leon was quite a character! Plenty of great quotes in the linked article.

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Leon Wagner - "Daddy Wags" as he was once called - was one of the colorful characters of baseball, and a pretty decent player.

[dimitrig]

Bill Rigney, manager of the Angels, said, "Don't talk to me about Leon Wagner. I'd like to shoot him. He keeps telling me that they won't throw him strikes. I said to him, 'Wag, if they don't throw the ball over the plate to you, what do you think you ought to do about it? If you took those bad pitches instead of swinging at them, you know what would happen? You'd be on first base and a single might move you to third and a fly ball might score you and we'd have a run we could use. And if we win, you know what they're going to say? They're going to say it's those damn bases on balls.' I told him, 'Leon, if you walk in the first inning and walk in the third and fly out in the sixth you can still get a home run in the eighth and you've gone one for two and your batting average will go up.' Then they'd start pitching to him again. Three games, that's all. Three games and they'd start putting that ball over the plate."

[ScottT]

Thought this would be about Brandon Wood.  

 

He's actually cut down on his strikeouts at age 28 in AAA.  Too bad his AVG and SLG have gotten worse. 

[Brent Maguire]

Leon sounds like he was a complete a-hole. Can you imagine if a player said something along those lines today?

[CaliAngel]

Leon sounds like he was a complete a-hole. Can you imagine if a player said something along those lines today?

 

What? It would be refreshing to hear a player say something along those lines today. Most especially Hamilton. 

 

It would also be refreshing to have a manager who would say something about his players like Bill Rigley, and it might actually make a difference. 

 

Because what happened back then to Leon is exactly what's happening to Hamilton.

 

Love this quote:

 

"'Leon, if you walk in the first inning and walk in the third and fly out in the sixth you can still get a home run in the eighth and you've gone one for two and your batting average will go up."

 

Awesome! And really, if they're not going to pitch to you, find out other ways to help your team!!

[mtangelsfan]

Because Rigley was so successful?

[Glen]

One of my regrets in life is that I didn't have a son, because I've always wanted to have a son named Leon.  Naming your kid Leon is like putting him on the fast-track to greatness. 

[Angel Oracle]

I'd say that Rigney did a great job in getting them to 70 wins in the expansion season, and to 86 wins in the 2nd season.

The other three early 60's expansion teams didn't sniff that kind of success until they were at least 7 years into their existance. 

[mtangelsfan]

Rigney was not a successful manager, I don't see why people would want to have a manager emulate him.

[fan_since79]

Rigney was smart enough to know that pitchers will not give anything good to a hitter who swings at every pitch thrown to him.

 

Leon Wagner in 1963 lacked common sense at the plate, and 50 years later it's still lacking to a certain #32 playing right field for the Angels.

 

 

[Brent Maguire]

What? It would be refreshing to hear a player say something along those lines today. Most especially Hamilton. 

 

It would also be refreshing to have a manager who would say something about his players like Bill Rigley, and it might actually make a difference. 

 

Because what happened back then to Leon is exactly what's happening to Hamilton.

 

Love this quote:

 

"'Leon, if you walk in the first inning and walk in the third and fly out in the sixth you can still get a home run in the eighth and you've gone one for two and your batting average will go up."

 

Awesome! And really, if they're not going to pitch to you, find out other ways to help your team!!

Cali, I'm referring to him talking about how the hitters suck behind him and how we didn't want to take a walk even to help the sake of the team. 

 

He sounds like a complete tool in the interview. I don't think it would be refreshing at all to hear a player bad mouth his team. 

[Vegas Halo Fan]

I'd say that Rigney did a great job in getting them to 70 wins in the expansion season, and to 86 wins in the 2nd season.

The other three early 60's expansion teams didn't sniff that kind of success until they were at least 7 years into their existance. 

 

When the 1961 expansion draft was held, teams could protect all but 50 players in their entire organization. That means that these teams were largely assembled from the 50 players that each organization wanted least from the MLB level all the way down to A ball. Contrast that with the most recent round of expansion, when clubs were only able to protect 50 players total.

[DMVol]

Because it was difficult to get decent players, I think the early Angel philosophy was to take veteran guys well past their prime (Ted Kluszewski, Del Rice and others) or guys like Wagner who weren't very coachable and teams were frustrated with, and win quickly....it worked but it didn't lay the foundation for extended success.....much easier to win quickly now, with free agency...think Marlilns in the 90's....