Links + Mariners and Angels Go Old School

Jason Vargas, Miguel Olivo, Brandon League, and Brendan Ryan hope a little hair gel may salvage their season.

Last night, the Mariners and Angels went old school. In a 5-3 win by the Angels, thanks to a pinch hit grand slam by Alberto Callaspo, the two teams each wore retro uni’s from their days in the Pacific Coast League. The Tacoma Rainiers are the current Triple-A affiliate of the Mariners. Here is a little bit of a back story to the Angel’s uni’s from SB Nation:

On Saturday afternoon the club will wear a jersey and hat from the Pacific Coast League Los Angeles Angels. The PCL Angels played at Wrigley Field in South Los Angeles, and were purchased by Walter O’Malley when he moved the Dodgers out west.

When O’Malley bought the Angels, he borrowed the interlocking LA cap logo for his Dodgers before moving the Angels to Spokane where they became the Indians. When Gene Autry purchased the Los Angeles American League franchise, he payed O’Malley for the right to call them the Angels.

Those expansion Angels would play their first year in Los Angeles Wrigley Field, which was built after Chicago’s ballpark but was the first to bear the Wrigley name. Opened in 1925, O’Malley traded the deed to that ballpark to the City of Los Angeles for the land Dodger Stadium currently sits on.

Anyway, here is a nice shot of each uni, as well as a couple in game shots. I really liked both uniforms. Seeing Pujols trot around the bases in a retro PCL uni was quite a sight.

To get you through Memorial weekend, here are a few links to check out:

• A Junior College player makes one of the best catches ever and saves his coach’s career.
• Matt Garrioch looks at some players in this year’s MLB draft with signability questions.
• The Orioles Dylan Bundy takes his talents to High-A Frederick.
• Here are two pieces from Fangraphs on the Orioles: Why the Orioles should pursue Oswalt and Adam Jones gets a raise.
• The Athletics’ Ryan Cook has thrown over 22 scoreless innings.
• The Detroit Tiger’s infield defense is really really bad.
• Mike Trout is really really good.

You can follow Justin Millar on twitter at @justinmillar1, or email him at Justinmillar1@gmail.com. Comment below to join the discussion.