Angels 2002 Champions - almost gone

[Sawman]

Riverside Press Enterprise link

Things Fall Apart: Following harsh winter, only six Angels remain from 2002 World Series champs

As the Angels head to spring training this week, their fans have little left to recall the 2002 World Series championship team, aside from the memories, commemorative gear and a handful of YouTube videos. Only six of the 25 Angels on that roster remain.

"You're continually building your club," Manager Mike Scioscia said by phone. "I don't think it's that out of the ordinary that you have attrition and lose some guys. 'Oh-two' was a special club, and we certainly would have liked to have guys continue on our team, but the state of the game is for these guys to move on."

"Every team does it their own way; this wasn't a shocker," Erstad said by phone. "I've seen how it's happened with other guys and now I'm part of that group. It just happened to be four of us at one time. It's a game of change. It's tough but that's just the way it is."

This year's team "on paper is every bit as good or better than that team," bench coach Ron Roenicke said by phone. "That was a team -- and Mike (Scio scia) and I have talked about it -- I don't know if we'll ever see a team like that again. That was a special group of guys. Yeah, we were talented, but I've never seen a team as a whole focus so much on winning and battling every single day to do that."