Brian Downing, who played 1,661 games as an 
Angel, the third-most in club history, returns to Angel Stadium of Anaheim on Thursday night.
Downing and former teammate Chuck Finley will be inducted into the Angels Hall of Fame in a pregame ceremony before the Angels and Oakland Athletics conclude a four-game series.
It’s a rare Big A appearance for Downing. Except for throwing out the first pitch in a 2002 playoff game, he hasn’t been back much to where he worked, and was a fan favorite, for so long.
Downing, 58, was an Angel from 1978-90. He ranks third all-time, behind Garret Anderson and Tim Salmon, in almost every offensive category, including home runs (222), RBIs (846), runs scored (889) and hits (1,588). Downing was the Angels club leader in most of those departments when he went to Texas in 1991.
“Brian was what other players called a ‘GAMER,’ ” former teammate Bert Blyleven wrote in an e-mail. “I remember him as a catcher with the White Sox, and he later became an outstanding left fielder. He was the type of player and teammate that came to the ballpark everyday to PLAY.”
Downing played an key role in the Angels’ first three AL West champions (1979, 1982, 1986). He was the team’s MVP in 1984; played in the All-Star Game as a catcher in 1979; and set an American League record with 244 consecutive errorless games in the outfield from 1981-83.
“He was one of the first players to get into weight lifting and totally loved it,” Blyleven wrote, “(and it) should be said he did it without the juice. He was a quiet teammate, but once you got to know him, he was a great friend that loved playing the game.”
Downing, who grew up in Orange County, attending Magnolia High and Cypress College, has lived the past 11 years on a ranch “an hour north of of Dallas,” he said in a telephone interview. “It’s a place out in the country, where I can be myself, and do whatever I want.”
That means, he said, motorcycles, hot rods, the blues, and guns.
Downing said he has followed the Angels “here and there,” but he doesn’t have satellite TV, so it’s easier for him to follow the nearby Texas Rangers, the last team he played for, in 1991-92.
“The Rangers just remind me of the type of team there was when I went to Anaheim,” Downing said. “They had never won, then they were in the playoffs. Now Nolan
Ryan (a former Angels teammate) is running things, and I root for him.”
He said he appreciates the Hall of Fame honor from the Angels, but admits he has “some serious conflicts” about it.
“I’m very conflicted about a lot of things,” said Downing, who shunned the spotlight as a player, and preferred to let his play speak for itself. “I know a lot of this night is going to be about the fans, and I appreciate all of them, and all of that.”
But Downing, unassuming as always, wonders why he’s going into a Hall of Fame with Bobby Grich, Jim Fregosi, Don Baylor, Rod Carew, Ryan and Jimmie Reese — all of whom he either played with, or for — because he’s not sure he fits the criteria.
But Downing promised he would be there, and will — wearing a walking boot on his left foot, which was crushed in a recent ranch accident.
“I was always glad to be part of a team, with a bunch of players,” Downing said, “but I never wanted to be THE player.”
For one night, sharing the spotlight with Finley, he will have to grin and bear it.
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