Hi, my name is Rick Hogaboam and I am a lifelong Baseball fan and have loved the Angels since I was a child. Here is a little more info about myself.
I played high school baseball at El Segundo in California, one of the most renowned high school baseball programs in the country, having produced the likes of George and Ken Brett, Scott McGregor, Billy Traber, and others. I graduated in 1997, where we were upset in the playoffs after earning a 1 seed. I went on to play at Central College in Kansas on a baseball scholarship and decided to give baseball up in the pursuit of Christian ministry. I am a pastor and have a blog on theology at: www.endued.wordpress.com
I have coached baseball at the high school varsity level for several years, as well as my son’s little league team.
I grew up listening to Angels games on the radio at night. I would often hide the radio under my pillow at night to listen past my bed-time. I seriously started following them at the age 10, which was the 1988 season. I grew up loving Wally Joyner, Chili Davis, Brian Downing, Devon White, Jim Abbot, Chuck Finley, Bert Blyleven, and on and on. My greatest gift were season tickets in 1995. My father would drive me to just about every game, making the commute from Torrance (45-60 minutes away). My heart was broken in the 1995 season as the Angels gave up a 13 game lead in the division, only to force a gamebreaker and then be eliminated by Randy Johnson in Seattle. I still think that the 1995 team would have fared well in the playoffs, but that’s beside the point.
My sorrow turned to joy in 2002 and we Angels fans have subsequently been spoiled with winning teams, an increasing payroll, and high expectations. Never in my dreams did I think the franchise would rapidly become the West Coast version of the Yankees.
I am a former Angels’ analyst for the Most Valuable Network (MVN), watch just about every game, love to read SABR publications and analyze the game.
