Tales from the Angels Dugout: The Championship Season and Other Great Angels Stories

by Steve Bisheff

In "Tales from the Angels' Dugout", take a look at the lighter side of 41 years of frustration and then re-live the excitement of 2002, when the Angels finally got the monkey off their backs. Author Steve Bisheff reminds us of those colorful days with The Cowboy, Gene Autry and the struggles under the ownership of Walt Disney Co., as well as the curses, hexes and tragedies that haunted the Angels for so long. Bisheff contrasts zany personalities such as Bo Belinsky, Dean Chance, Albie Pearson and Reggie Jackson with the remarkable, but non-superstar bunch that finally won the World Series, including The Gamer, The Pest, The Pure Hitter and The Phenom. Finally, what Angels book would be complete without the Rally Monkey, a mascot that took on a life of its own. "Tales from the Angels' Dugout" is just what Angels' fans have been waiting for to capture on paper the long road culminating into a world championship.

200 pages, Hardcover

First published April 25, 2003

Reviews

[Chris Schaffer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This should really be titled The 2002 Angels cause it’s mostly about that great team. And therein lies the problem. Cause the title intimates that it’s gonna be about great Angel moments as told from an in-game, inside the dugout experience. And the Angels have a good history to choose from…but it’s not like that at all and the recaps are insightful but not great. Would like to hear about the rise of the team in ‘78 and how the season got railroaded by the tragic Bostock shooting…about the teams of the ‘70s when you had Tanana, Ryan, Mickey Rivers..the ‘79/‘82/‘86 seasons. The division races in 1985/1989 as well as the other years besides 2002. About Mike Witt’s perfecto. Could’ve been much better.