Looking back on at Fregosi's life, few acknowledge he was a six time All Star. From the years of 1963 to 1970, he was the top shortstop in the AL. During that time, he scored less than 75 runs only once, hit 12 or more HRs 5 times, had seasons of 12 and 13 3Bs, drove on 64-82 runs 5 times and hit for a decent average most of the time. He was the first star player the Angels ever had.
He is the only SS in Angels history to have 30+ 2Bs and 20+ HR in a season (1970). He was also the first Angels player to do so. In 2013, Mike Trout and Josh Hamilton became the 22nd and 23rd Angels to do so. In terms of single season WAR totals, Fregosi's 7.9 in 1964 is the 4th highest in the history of the franchise. Only Trout in 2012 (10.2) and 2013 (9.2) and Darin Erstad in 2000 (8.3) had a higher WAR in a single season. (All courtesy of @BRefPlayIndex on twitter.)
Of course, his 1971 season left much to be desired. He hit just .233 for the Angels, with 5, 33 playing in 107 games, his least amount of GP since he came up with the Angels at age 20 in 1970. His track record still spoke for itself, as he was dealt to the Mets for Ryan plus three other players. His 1972 season was strangely on par with the prior season as he just played in 101 games, hitting .232, 5, 32 playing 3B for the Mets. The Mets sold his contract midway through the 1973 season to the Rangers and he spent the rest of his career as a utility player. By the time he was done playing, he was playing as a reserve 1B for the Pirates in 1977 and 1978. He ended his playing carer in 1978 when he was hired by the Angels to be the team's manager. A year later, he had the Angels in the playoffs for the first time.
While Fregosi will always be remembered as a manager. Take a couple of minutes to remember him for as good of a shortstop he was. Though he was not close to a Hall of Fame player, he did receive 1.0 of the votes. The 4 votes he received were 1 more than Davey Johnson received.