- Lefty Phillips
Harold Ross "Lefty" Phillips (
June 16 ,1919 —June 12 ,1972 ) was an American coach, manager, scout and front office executive inMajor League Baseball . Phillips was the second manager inLos Angeles Angels of Anaheim franchise history.A native of Los Angeles, Phillips was a lefthanded
pitcher but, because of a sore arm, his professional playing career consisted of fewer than five games with theBisbee Bees of the Class DArizona-Texas League in 1939. After theSecond World War , Phillips returned to baseball and became a highly respected scout for theCincinnati Reds (1948-50) and the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (1952-64).In 1965, Phillips reached the major leagues when he was named pitching coach of the Dodgers. During his first two seasons in that post, he worked with Hall of Famers such as
Sandy Koufax ,Don Drysdale andDon Sutton , as Los Angeles won back-to-backNational League pennants and the1965 World Series . Although the Dodgers fell back in the standings in 1967-68, after Koufax' retirement, they still boasted one of the strongest pitching staffs in the majors.At the end of the 1968 season, Phillips joined former Dodger executive Dick Walsh in the Angels' front office. Walsh was appointed
general manager , while Phillips was named to the high-ranking post of director of player personnel. But when the Angels started only 11-28 in 1969 under their longtime (and original) manager,Bill Rigney , Phillips was asked to return to the field as Rigney's replacement, despite his never having before managed in the minor leagues or in MLB.The Angels responded to Phillips, however, improving from sixth (last) place to third in the
American League West Division in 1969 and then — led by batting championAlex Johnson — winning 86 games in 1970 to again finish third. But Johnson was a disciplinary problem. In 1971 he was suspended by Phillips numerous times for lack of hustle and the wheels came off the Angels, who won only 76 games. Phillips and Walsh were fired at the end of the season, and Johnson was traded. Phillips' record in 2½ seasons as Angel manager was 222-225 (.497).Phillips then resumed his scouting career with the Angels, but in June 1972, he was fatally stricken with an attack of
asthma . He died inOrange, California , four days short of his 53rd birthday.External links
* [http://www.thedeadballera.com/Obits/Phillips.Lefty.Obit.html The Deadball Era]
References
*C.C. Johnson Spink, ed., "Official Baseball Guide for 1972." St. Louis: "The Sporting News", 1972.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
