Not so fast, Roger Lodge.

I don't usually call out Angels commentators. Well, I guess I kind of go after Mark Saxon on ESPN, Sam Miller of the Register, and Lyle Spencer of MLB.com, every once in a while. But, I've tried to lay off of AM830's Roger Lodge because of a request from Andrew. The other day, however, Lodge had me yelling at him through the radio for his comments regarding the Halos. I thought I'd do a little exploration to see if my yelling was warranted. 

The comment in question is as follows, 

"In his prime, Vlad Guerrero is the greatest Angel of all-time. Seriously, who in Angels history is better than Vlad in his prime?"

I'll admit that a handful of names came to my mind, but I was pretty much just yelling, "Rod Carew, you idiot!" So, is Roger Lodge just another media member who is a creature of recent history? Or, am I the kind of fan who romanticizes the past, making historical Angels better than they actually were? The "prime" of Vlad's time with the Angels could probably be seen as the following:

2004- BA .337, 39 HR, 126 RBI, +7.4 WAR

2005- BA .317, 32 HR, 108 RBI, +5.4 WAR

2006- BA .329, 33 HR, 116 RBI, +3.8 WAR

2007- BA .324, 27 HR, 125 RBI, +5.5 WAR

"Prime" Average: .326, 32, 118, +5.5

All "prime" averages were rounded down, to be fair. So, as I said, I screamed, "Rod Carew!" at the radio, but I'm not sure he was the best choice for me to be yelling. His prime with the Halos is most likely considered the following:

1979- BA .318, 3 HR, 44 RBI, +2.7 WAR

1980- BA .331, 3 HR, 59 RBI, +3.2 WAR

1981- BA .305, 2 HR, 21 RBI, +2.8 WAR

1982- BA .319, 3 HR, 44 RBI, +4.4 WAR

1983- BA .339, 2 HR, 44 RBI, +2.2 WAR

"Prime" Average: .322, 2, 42, +3.0

Alright, so I guess I can argue that Carew's greatness and Vlad's greatness are difficult to directly compare. But surely, I don't have to apologize to Roger Lodge just yet, right? We turn to the prime of Jim Fregosi. He owns the single season WAR record for all Angels players. But was he better than Vlad in his prime? We examine:

1963- BA .287, 9 HR, 50 RBI, +4.1 WAR

1964- BA .277, 18 HR, 72 RBI, +8.1 WAR

1965- BA .277, 15 HR, 64 RBI, +4.5 WAR

1966- BA .252, 13 HR, 67 RBI, +5.2 WAR

1967- BA .290, 9 HR, 56 RBI, +5.0 WAR

"Prime" Average: .276, 12, 61, +5.3

Amazing! The WARs are close, but Vlad still has a good argument for being known as the greatest Angel of all time during his prime. If only I could have added Fregosi's 1970 season, where he had a +7.7 WAR, that would have brought him to +5.7. I could have won my argument! However, I'm going by the rule that a player's "prime" can only include consecutive seasons. I'm still not ready to apologize to Roger Lodge and accept his ideas, though I am starting to wonder if he checked into this a little more than I gave him credit for. I turn, in something of a desperate move to fan favorite, Tim Salmon. I submit his prime as the following:

1993- BA .283, 31 HR, 95 RBI, +5.2 WAR

1994- BA .287, 23 HR, 70 RBI, +2.6 WAR

1995- BA .330, 34 HR, 105 RBI, +6.8 WAR

1996- BA .286, 30 HR, 98 RBI, 1.3 WAR

1997- BA .296, 33 HR, 129 RBI, +5.0 WAR

"Prime" Average: .296, 30, 99, +4.1

Not even close, despite being a more similar type of player. I'm grasping at straws at this point of the post, fearing that I know less about my Angels than the former host of Blind Date. But is it true? I take a shot with Brian Downing. Surely, he was better during his prime with the Angels than Vlad.

As I quickly glance at the his stats, though, I know it isn't even worth it. WARs of 2.8, 6.1, 0.8, and 0.1 don't make up a Vlad-worthy prime. But, wait! What about Troy Glaus? His prime was about 3 seasons with the Halos:

2000- BA .284, 47 HR, 102 RBI, +7.6 WAR

2001- BA .250, 41 HR, 108 RBI, +4.3 WAR

2002- BA .250, 30 HR, 111 RBI, +4.5 WAR

"Prime" Average: .261, 39, 107, +5.4

If anyone has an argument with Vlad, it may be Troy Glaus. He'd still lose the argument, but he'd be close. Unless...

"Prime" Average: .355, 25, 100, +7.7

Finally! I found it! I found a player in Angels history, who, in his prime, is better than Vlad in his prime! Suck it, Sports Lodge! Who is this wonderful talent, you ask? None other than Darin Erstad, who had his prime solely during the 2000 season. Hey, it got him paid.

In all seriousness, I am about to do something I rarely need to do. I'll admit that Roger Lodge was right, and I was wrong, and I will join with him in declaring (infallibly?) that,

Vladimir Guerrero, in his prime, is better than any other Angel in the history of the team, in their respective prime.

There, I did it.

Will I ever doubt Roger Lodge and his wacky comments on the drive into work again? Probably. But, he did just move up a little bit on the "LSF Respect" chart.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē