Troy Glaus

Since joining the Atlanta Braves in 2010, Troy Glaus is starting to look like the Glaus of old. Glaus was a star with the Anaheim Angels (now the LA Angels) from 1998-2004. The California native was born California on August 3, 1976. Glaus would attend Carlsbad High School and would attend college at UCLA. Ironically,he would represent the United States in the 1996 Summer Olympics in his future home of Atlanta where he would help the US win a Bronze Medal. He would be drafted by the Anaheim Angels in the first round with the third pick in the 1997 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. Glaus would begin his career in Major League Baseball in 1998 where he would become the team's starting third baseman. He would quickly establish himself as a premiere power threat, hitting 47 home runs in 2000, which would set the franchise record for homers in a season. In 2002, he would be a vital piece in the Angels playoff run leading the team to the World Series and the championship. Along the way Glaus would win the 2002 World Series Most Valuable player Award. He would enjoy several seasons as an All-Star with the team, and then in 2004 would be sidelined with a shoulder injury for much of the season. The following year he would sign as a free agent with the Arizona Diamondbacks. After one season he would be traded to the Toronto Blue Jays and then in 2008, to the St. Louis Cardinals for fellow third baseman Scott Rolen. But all things haven’t been golden in Glaus’s career. In 2007, Glaus was sighted in the Mitchell Report which detailed MLB players who were using performance enhancement drugs. http://files.mlb.com/mitchrpt.pdf He has also had an injury plague. In 2009 while with the Cardinals, Glaus underwent arthroscopic right shoulder surgery and although he was expected to return to the line-up, Glaus was unable to make back into the line-up.http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=136267

Troy Glaus' resurgence as an Atlanta Brave is a great comeback story after going through all the injuries he has gone through and some tough years, Glaus seems to be back on track. But Glaus' resurgence shouldn't be surprised anyone; he was a star almost from the get go and in the 2000 season with the Angels, was his coming out party. In that season, Glaus would bat .284, with 47 homeruns and 102 RBI's. He would selected to The Sporting News and Associated Press All-Star Teams and be selected as the recipient of Silver Slugger Award, presented by Louisville Slugger He also was the first Angel to lead or tie for league home run title and first to lead league outright in club history http://mlb.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=136267 Glaus would also be named to his first of four (2000,2001,2003 and 2006) Major League Baseball All-Star Game. But that was only the beginning for Glaus. Two years later, he would lead the Angels to a World Series victory and win the MVP award of the series.