Tribute to my Father

My father passed away last week, one month short of his 83rd birthday. His health had slowly been declining the last year or so. All of my family was able to be by his side when he passed.

My dad was a good man, and besides learning from him to be a hard worker, and to be devoted to my wife and children, I learned to love baseball, and the California Angels.

Patrick William Tessier "Bill"
Born December 17, 1927 Pawtuckett RI
Died November 17, 2010 Fountain Valley CA
Married 60 years to my Mother
Father of 8, Grandfather of 19, Great Grandfather of 2
Served in the US Navy, aboard the USS Providence as a radar operator, from 1946-1948
Moved to California in the '50s
Retired as a Budget Analyst for McDonnell Douglas in Long Beach CA
Was in attendance at Nolan Ryans 3rd no-hitter

I'll miss you Dad.

#77 Bobby Knoop

Robert Frank Knoop
Second Baseman
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 1", Weight: 170 lb.
Born: October 18, 1938 in Sioux City, IA
MLB Debut: April 13, 1964 Los Angeles Angels
Final Game: September 20, 1972 Kansas City Royals
Years on the Angels: 1964-1969

ANGELS TRANSACTIONS:
December 2, 1963: Drafted by the Los Angeles Angels from the Milwaukee Braves in the 1963 rule 5 draft.
May 14, 1969: Traded by the California Angels to the Chicago White Sox for Sandy Alomar and Bob Priddy.

ANGELS DEBUT:
Starting second baseman had no attempts in the bottom of the first inning. In his debut plate appearance grounded out to second baseman Don Blasingame in the top of the second. He hit a sacrafice bunt in the 8th which scored Bob Rodgers. Ended the day 0-3 with an RBI, 1 putout and 5 assists in a 4-0 opening day win against the Washington Senators on Monday, April 13, 1964 (D) at D.C. Stadium

1965 Topps, 1966 Topps, 1967 Topps

ANGELS RECORD:
1964-1969
In 2886 plate appearances hit .240 with 25 triples, 89 doubles and 236 RBI.

OTHER INTERESTING FACTS:
- #44 on The 100 Greatest Angels
- Played 803 games as the Angels 2nd baseman
- AL All-Star (1966)
- AL Gold Glove 2nd Base (1966-1968)
- Led league in triples with 11 (1966)
- Set an AL record for 2B with 12 putouts in a nine-inning game (1966)
- Set an AL record for 2B with six double plays in game (1966)
- Went 1-1 as the Angels interim Manager (1994)
- Angels coach from 1979 to 1996

- Also played for the White Sox (69-70) and Royals (71-72)

1969 Topps and 1969 Milton Bradley

#76 Joe Adcock

Joseph Wilbur Adcock
First Baseman and Leftfielder
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 4", Weight: 210 lb.
Born: October 30, 1927 in Coushatta, LA
MLB Debut: April 23, 1950 Cincinatti Reds
Final Game: October 1, 1966 California Angels
Died: May 3, 1999 in Coushatta, LA
Years with the Angels: 1964-1966

ANGELS TRANSACTIONS:
December 2, 1963: The Cleveland Indians sent a player to be named later and Barry Latman to the Los Angeles Angels for Leon Wagner.
December 6, 1963: the Cleveland Indians sent Joe Adcock to the Los Angeles Angels to complete an earlier deal made on December 2, 1963.
October 18, 1966: Released by the California Angels.

ANGELS DEBUT:
Started the game at first base in the bottom of the first and first chance was a groundout by Don Blasingame, catcher to first. Singled to left in his first at bat as an Angel off of Claude Osteen. Ended his Angels debut going 3-4 with a run scored and an RBI, and 13 putouts in a 4-0 win against the Washington Senators on Monday, April 13, 1964 (D) at D.C. Stadium.



ANGELS RECORD:
1963-1966
In 946 at bats hit .259 with 53 HR and 159 RBI.

OTHER INTERSTING FACTS:
- Best career game: 5-5 with 4 HR and a double with 7 RBI for the Braves in 1954
- Best Angels game: 4-5 with 3 runs and an RBI on April 30, 1966
- 336 career home runs
- NL All-Star (1960)
- 20-Home Run Seasons: 7 (1954, 1956, 1959-1962 & 1964)
- 30-Home Run Seasons: 2 (1956 & 1961)
- 100 RBI Seasons: 2 (1956 & 1961)
- Won a World Series with the Milwaukee Braves in 1957
- Managed the Seattle Angels (PCL) in 1968 going 71-76
- In 1959 broke up Harvey Haddix 12 perfect innings with a 2-run homer in the 13th but passed Hank Aaron on the basepaths and was called out.

Tribute to Dave Niehaus

Another voice of the Angels is gone. Former Angels broadcaster Dave Niehaus has passed away at 75. Niehaus partnered with Dick Enberg on the broadcast team for the California Angels from 1969 to 1976. He also broadcast Los Angeles Rams and UCLA Bruins football and basketball. Niehaus had been the voice of the Seattle Mariners since their inception in 1977.

1964 Coaching Debuts

Let's start into the 1964 season with a look at coaching debuts. It's a reverse of the order I was going with, but it makes more sense to post managers, coaches, broadcasting and front office debuts prior to player debuts as I had been posting them. That being said, 1964 saw a change in the Angels coaching staff with the addition of Salty Parker, who replaced Rockey Bridges.

Francis James Parker
Shortstop and First Baseman
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 0", Weight: 173 lb.
Born: July 8, 1912 in East St. Louis, IL
MLB Debut: August 13, 1936 Detroit Tigers
Final MLB Game: September 16, 1936 Detroit Tigers
Died: July 27, 1992 in Houston, TX
Years as an Angels Coach: 1964-1966, 1973-1974

OTHER INTERESTING FACTS:
- Started in minor league ball with the Moline Plowboys at the age of 17 in 1930
- Hit .280 in 11 games with the Detroit Tigers in 1936
- Managed the New York Mets in 1967 for 11 games (4-7)
- Managed the Houston Astros in 1972 for 1 game (win)
- Career managing record (majors and minors) of 920-858 (.517)
- Also coached for the San Francisco Giants (58-61, 79), Cleveland Indians (62), New York Mets (67), and Houston Astros (68-72)
- Part of the "All Condiment Team", along with Pepper Martin, Mayo Smith, Chili Davis, Pickles Dillhoefer, and others.

Tribute to Sparky Anderson

Legendary Hall of Fame Manager Sparky Anderson passed away yesterday. Sparkys' Tigers teams went 100-89 over 17 seasons against the Angels. One of the few winning seasons against him was 1989 when the Angels went 11-1 vs the Tigers. Although the Angels did go 91-71 that season, the Tigers went 59-103, one of their worst, so not a lot of credit to the Angels. I'm glad that we can call him one of our own as Sparky was a TV analyst for one season with the Angels.

Sparky Anderson was a great manager, a colorful guy, and a fan favorite.

My World Series Game

Made it to Game 4 of the 2010 World Series and it was all I had hoped it would be, well, except for the Rangers 4-0 loss to the Giants who now lead 3 games to 1. What a great memory for Tommy and I to spend together.

We got there early to watch both teams take BP.


The stadium was jam packed and buzzing with 51,000 plus fans, and media booths were all over the place. We cruised by the ESPN booth above, and saw Dave Winfield and Nomah, then John Kruk and Bobby V. We then went by the Fox booth and saw Ozzie Guillen and Eric Karros. Karros hastily signed a baseball card for me between segments.


Below is the view from our seats. Quite a distance from home plate but we didn't mind.

I kept score as always. First pitch was by Former Pres. George W. Bush, accompanied by his father George H. W. Bush. He threw a bullet to Nolan Ryan. Lyle Lovett sang the National Anthem, and 4 Troops sang God Bless America.


Bad call against the Rangers in the 2nd when Travis Ishikawa was called safe at first in what should have been an inning ending double play. But Josh Hamilton made an awesome head-first diving catch to end the inning without Ishikawa scoring.

The Giants Madison Bumgarner was lights out, giving up 3 hits in 8 innings. The Rangers were only able to get one guy to second base all night. Former Angels Vladdy and Molina went a collective 0 for 6 with Vladdy striking out all 3 times. Oliver and O'Day both gave up a run with O'Days being a solo shot by Buster Posey. You can get the recap and boxscore here.

Picked up some keepsakes: a World Series rally towel, game program, and collectors pin.