A Perfect Storm of Circumstances Creates Franchise Defining Moments for the Angels Organization

Post date: Jun 14, 2017 12:25:47 AM

There are specific moments in the history of a sports franchise that defines the direction and the legacy of the franchise decides to pursue. The moment one of sports' fan can look back and say "that was the moment that changed everything for this franchise." Good or bad, those moments are cherished and learned from.

The Halos have encountered two such moments; the first, Albert Pujols joined the 600 home run club. He hit the 600th home run of his career on Saturday, June 3, 2017 against the Minnesota Twins, off of former Angel, Ervin Santana. It was a historical home run for the reason previously stated. However, it was also history making since "the Machine" is the first player in Major League Baseball history to hit number 600 as a grand slam home run. He is also the first foreign-born player (the Dominican Republic) to join this exclusive club. For me, it was personally special because he hit it on what we call in Mexico my Santo (my saint day) a day of St. Isaac according to the Mexican calendar. Albert definitely deserves his place in history as a future Hall of Famer, although it would be nice for the Angels' fan base to see him win a few rings with the Halos.

Albert Pujols is of course not the only superstar the Angels have; they also have Mike Trout, a young and very talented player. Mike Trout is out with an injury for the first time in his career. He will be out of the lineup 6 to 8 weeks from the time of his injury. I believe however, this is a mixed blessing for the Angels that the organization must take advantage of and learned from. The Angels franchise has been spoiled the last few years, they benefit from the talents of this young phenom. Since this is Trout's first time on the disabled list since being called up to the major leagues, this provides a unique opportunity for the Angels to see what the game would be like without Trout if he were ever lost to free agency. Hopefully this little preview will underscore the importance of building around the face of the franchise.

If the Angels don't learn from this mixed blessing, this may be the defining moment that determines the future direction of this wonderful franchise; The moment, which an Angels' fan looks back and says, “that was the moment that changed everything for this franchise."

-ICE