Wally was drafted by the Angels in the 1983 amateur draft. He replaced Rod Carew at first base for the 1986 season, and sparked the playoff run with a dazzling rookie campaign in which he became the first rookie in ML history voted onto the All-Star team, finished 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting, and transformed Angels’ Stadium into Wally World. He led the majors in home runs for the first couple of months of the season, and tied for first in the annual HR derby. He finished the season batting .290 with 22 HR and 100 RBI. In the playoffs that year, Joyner was batting .455 with a .909 SLG% through three games before being sidelined with a staph infection. Over his career, Joyner compiled a .485 career LCS OB %, which ranks 9th all-time. The loss of their star first baseman may have been the difference in the Angels’ collapse vs. the BoSox.
Joyner’s sophomore season was even better – hitting .285 with 34 HR (T10th) and 117 RBI (T7th). He also tied the Angel record with 3 HR in a game (10/03/87 ). After that, his power numbers dropped significantly; but he continued to produce both offensively and in the field. He led the AL
After the 1991 season, Wally signed as Free Agent with the Royals. He returned as a Free Agent for the first three months of the 2001 season before promptly retiring when it became obvious that his best days were behind him. After 6 ½ playing for the Halos, Wally is the team’s career leader with:
- 7,686 putouts
- 879 games at 1B
Joyner ranks among Angels’ career Top Ten with:
- a .286 BA (10th)
- 1,511 total bases (9th)
- 175 doubles (10th)
- 532 RBI (9th)
- 304 extra base hits (10th)
- a .592 offensive win % (9th)
- 46 sacrifice flies (5th)
- 49 intentional walks(4th)
- 784 DP turned (3rd)
- a .994 F% (T6th)
Joyner’s Top Ten single season performances with the Angels include:
- 34 HR (’87, T10th)
- 117 RBI (’87, T7th)
- 12 sacrifice flies (’86, T2nd)
- 14 IBB (’88, T5th)
- 12 IBB (’87, T10th)
* League leader years highlighted
Who is the greatest Angels’ first baseman of all-time? It is very close between Joyner and Carew. Carew was better at getting on base, but Joyner had better power – he hit more homers his first year than Carew hit during his entire career with the Halos. Combine the two, and Joyner’s .801 OPS is higher than Carew’s .784. With 204 fewer at bats, Carew scored 5 more runs, but Joyner drove almost twice as many runs (532 – 282). Also, Joyner was the better defender. Carew easily had the better career; but when you focus on their years in Anaheim, Joyner gets the nod.
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