Each year, more than a handful of players retire from Major League Baseball, citing age, too many injuries or loss of love for the sport, among other reasons. But this year, two members of the Anaheim Angels 2002 World Series Championship team have decided to hang up their cleats, put their gloves away and for once, look at baseball from a different viewpoint than on the field. Anderson was one of the most loved Halo’s since he came up in 1994 after playing his high school ball in nearby Granada Hills. If one ever turned on an Angel game for 14 years, Anderson could almost always be found in left field, but when he was at bat, his sweet swing punished pitchers year after year. After splitting part of the past two seasons away from the American League for the first time, the 38-year-old lefty was granted his release from the Los Angeles Dodgers last August, ultimately ending what could arguably be a Hall of Fame career. While Anderson was not considered a power hitter his entire career, he did beat out the rest of the field in 2003’s Home Run Derby (he hit 287 career HR’s). But what you could expect out of G.A., was consistency. He raked up 2,529 hits and held a .293 batting average over his career while driving in 1,365 runs. Before Anderson’s contract was not extended and he joined the Atlanta Braves in 2009, he had a monster game against the New York Yankees, bashing the Yankee pitching staff and driving in 10 of the teams 18 runs in an 18-9 victory in Aug., 2007.As solid a figure as Anderson was in the Halo’s lineup, Scot Shields was just as solid. Shields gave manager Mike Scosia a dependable reliever out of a bullpen that rarely lacked a strong arm. While Shields’ career was not as long as Anderson’s, just 9-years, he did make an impact on the Angel pitching staff after being called up for parts of the 2001 and 2002 seasons. In 2002, Shields did not fare too well in the playoffs, but the Angels still beat the San Francisco Giants in 7 games to earn their first World Series Championship. After that year, Shields was a mainstay, setting up such high-profile closers as Troy Percival and Francisco Rodriguez, posting a 1.68 ERA in 2003 out of the bullpen, but saw time as a starter as well. Overall in his career,as a starter and reliever, the righty was 46-44 with an ERA of 3.18. But the biggest thing Angel fans will remember about these two players was how many times they pulled through, as the Halos made the playoffs six years during the tenure of these two players. While Shields still has a ring, he wasn’t as vital as Anderson during the championship run. The Angels were a bad-call away from taking a 2-0 lead in the 2005 ALCS, ultimately losing the series, 4-1, to the eventual World Series Champion Chicago White Sox.
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