It has been 29 years since the Angels were the center of the baseball world during spring training. Mike Trout gets attention every spring. Mo Vaughn, Vladimir Guerrero, Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton got their share of attention when they signed with the Angels.
But that attention lasts a day or two, and then the national media horde moves on. In 1989, the Angels had a story that captivated America: Jim Abbott, an Olympic hero who was born without a right hand, was trying to jump from the University of Michigan directly into a major league starting rotation.