5 Angels teams with best records
The Angels have won at least 90 games 11 times and have made the postseason 10 times in their 60-year history, including winning 99 games and the 2002 World Series title. But which seasons are the best? Not factoring in the postseason, here is a look at the Top 5 seasons in Angels history based on regular-season record:
1) 2008: 100-62
The team with the most wins in Angels history is not the '02 World Series championship team, which won 99 games, but the '08 team, which is the Angels' only 100-game winner. Francisco Rodríguez saved 62 of those 100 wins, setting the Major League single-season saves record. With a lineup led by Vladimir Guerrero, midseason acquisition Mark Teixeira and Torii Hunter, and a rotation fronted by Ervin Santana, Jered Weaver, John Lackey and Joe Saunders, the Angels won the American League West before falling to the Red Sox in the AL Division Series.
2) 2002: 99-63
The Angels famously rebounded from a slow start -- they were 6-14 and 10 1/2 games back of the first-place Mariners on April 23 -- and carried that momentum to a 99-win season and the organization’s first and only World Series title. The Angels were led offensively by Tim Salmon, Garret Anderson, Troy Glaus, Adam Kennedy, Brad Fulmer, Darin Erstad, David Eckstein and Scott Spiezio, while Jarrod Washburn, Ramón Ortiz and Kevin Appier anchored the rotation. The club also had a great bullpen led by closer Troy Percival, Brendan Donnelly, Ben Weber, Scot Shields, Lou Pote and rookie sensation Rodríguez. The Angels lost the first game of each of their three postseason series, but rallied back, including an unforgettable comeback win in Game 6 of the World Series and rookie starter Lackey’s stellar performance in Game 7.
3) 2014: 98-64
It was the lone time that Mike Trout made the postseason and the Angels led the American League with 98 wins. Trout won his first MVP Award and carried the offense along with Howie Kendrick, Kole Calhoun, Albert Pujols, David Freese and Erick Aybar, while Weaver, C.J. Wilson, Garrett Richards, Matt Shoemaker and Héctor Santiago had solid seasons as part of the rotation. Huston Street and Joe Smith shared closing duties, saving a combined 32 games. But the Angels were swept by the Royals in the ALDS.
4) 2009: 97-65
A year after the Angels set the club record for wins in '08, the club won another 97 games in '09. But it was a year marred by tragedy, as rookie right-hander Nick Adenhart was killed by a drunk driver on April 9. The Angels, though, came together as a team and dedicated the season in Adenhart's honor, even bringing his jersey out to the field as part of the club's celebration when it clinched the AL West on Sept. 28. The Halos finally got past the Red Sox in the postseason, sweeping them in the ALDS, but lost to the Yankees in six games in the AL Championship Series.
5) 2007: 94-68
The Angels began their streak of winning three straight AL West titles in 2007, led by All-Stars Lackey and Rodríguez as well as Guerrero, who won that year’s Home Run Derby. Chone Figgins, Anderson, Kendrick, Orlando Cabrera and Casey Kotchman played key roles on the club, while Kelvim Escobar, Weaver and Lackey helped make up a strong rotation. The Angels, however, were swept in three games by Boston in the ALDS.