Robert Frank Knoop ( ; born October 18, 1938) is an American former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

and coach. In his nine-year

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

career, he appeared in 1,153

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

as a member of the Los Angeles / California Angels (1964–69),

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

(1969–70) and

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

(1971–72). He threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed .

Early life

Knoop was born on October 18, 1938, in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury County, Iowa, Woodbury and Plymouth County, Iowa, Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, fo ...

to parents Frank and Mabel Knoop. His father was a German immigrant while his mother was a descendant of Swiss and Norwegian immigrants. Frank lived to be 101. The family moved to

Montebello, California Montebello (Italian language, Italian for "Beautiful Mountain") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, located just east of East Los Angeles, California, East Los Angeles and southwest of San Gabriel Valley. It is an indepen ...

when he was young, and he attended

Montebello High School Founded in 1909, Montebello High School is a public high school which is part of the Montebello Unified School District, and has an enrollment of approximately 2,600 students in grades 9-12. Its campus is located in Montebello, California, a sub ...

, where he starred in baseball, football and basketball. He also played American Legion baseball.

Baseball career

Knoop was signed by the

Milwaukee Braves The Milwaukee Braves were a Major League Baseball club that played in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, from 1953 to 1965, having previously played in Boston, Massachusetts, as the Boston Braves. After relocating to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1966 they were rename ...

in 1956.

Minor league player

He played for ten different minor league teams between 1956 and 1963, his best year being in 1963 with the Hawaii Islanders of the Triple-A

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

, where he had a .283

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

, with 20 homeruns, 72

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted bal ...

, 67 RBI, and a .965

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a baseball positions, defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putout ...

Major league player

Nicknamed " Nureyev" by sportswriters for his exciting and acrobatic fielding plays, Knoop played a deep second base, with exceptional range and a strong arm. In another version, Knoop says the nickname derived from not only his acrobatic skills at second base, but a fabricated story he told the writers that his mother had made him take ballet lessons. In December 1963, the Los Angeles Angels obtained him via the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

, by the rules of which he was required to remain on the 1964 major-league roster. The Angels were already familiar with Knoop because the Islanders were their Triple-A affiliate, not Milwaukee's. The Angels were particularly impressed with his defensive ability, manager Bill Rigney considering Knoop as good defensively as any second baseman in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

(AL), including

Yankee The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Their various meanings depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, the Northeastern United Stat ...

second baseman

Bobby Richardson Robert Clinton Richardson, Jr. (born August 19, 1935) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees from 1955 through 1966. Batting and throwing right-handed, he fo ...

(who won five consecutive AL

Gold Glove awards The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances. It is awarded at each fieldin ...

at second base, 1961-65). Knoop played in every game in 1964, and remained the Angels' regular second baseman for the next five and a half years (the name changing to California Angels in 1965), winning the club's MVP award four times in the span, a mark tied by Garret Anderson and

Mike Trout Michael Nelson Trout (born August 7, 1991) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). Trout is an 11-time Major League Baseball All-Star Game, All-Star, three-time American League (A ...

. In 1966, he led all AL second basemen in fielding percentage (.981), with Richardson second (.980). He turned the

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Le ...

well along with

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

Jim Fregosi James Louis "Jim" Fregosi (April 4, 1942 – February 14, 2014) was an American professional baseball shortstop and manager, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from to , primarily for the Los Angeles / California Angels. He also played ...

, to give the Angels outstanding keystone defense. Fregosi was his roommate and closest friend in baseball, as well as a teammate. In , the pair both won the Gold Glove award at their respective positions—the second of three Gold Gloves Knoop would capture from 1966 to 1968. He was the

's starting second baseman in the

1966 Major League Baseball All-Star Game The 1966 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 37th midseason exhibition between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was played on July 12, 196 ...

, and went hitless in two

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

s. As a hitter, he had his best season during , with career-highs of 17

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, 72 RBI, 54 runs and 11

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

. Knoop was sent to the White Sox in mid-1969 for

Sandy Alomar Sr. Santos Alomar Conde (; ; born October 19, 1943), known as Sandy Alomar Sr., is a Puerto Rican former second baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for fourteen seasons. Alomar was a switch-hitter and threw right-handed. He is the fat ...

and

Bob Priddy Robert Priddy may refer to: * Robert L. Priddy, American co-founder of several airline companies * Bob Priddy (baseball) (1939–2023), American baseball player from 1962-71 * Bob Priddy (basketball) (1930–2021), American basketball player fo ...

and then was traded to the Royals in 1971, where he also rejoined former Angels third baseman

Paul Schaal Paul Schaal (March 3, 1943 – September 1, 2017) was an American professional baseball player who played 11 seasons for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Los Angeles / California Angels and Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball. Playin ...

. Knoop played his final two years with Kansas City, mostly as a backup for Cookie Rojas. In his career, Knoop batted .236, with 56 home runs, 331 RBIs, 337 runs, 856 hits, 129 doubles, 29 triples, and 16

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out a ...

in 1153 games. In addition to leading all AL second baseman in fielding percentage in 1966, he was fifth in 1964, second in 1967, fourth in 1968 and 1969, and third in 1970. He is tied for the record of most double plays in a game by a second basemen, six, held with Alfonso Soriano and Bill Doran, which Knoop did on May 1, 1966. He is also tied for the record of most putouts in a game by a second baseman, twelve, being the most recent person to accomplish this on August 30, 1966 (through the 2024 season).

Coaching

After retiring, Knoop worked for over 40 years as a minor league and major league coach, scout and adviser, including stints with the

(1977–78, assistant coach), California Angels (1979–96 as first base and third base coach),

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

(2000, as first base coach) and

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

(2008–12, 2008 as pro scout and 2009 as senior advisor for player development), and Los Angeles Angels (2014–18 as infield coach or infield instructor). In 1997 and 1998, he was head coach at

Hampden-Sydney College Hampden Sydney is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince Edward County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,450 at the 2010 census. Hampden Sydney is the home of Hampden–Sydney College, a private all-male college that is the tenth ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. In 1994, Knoop served as manager of the Angels for two games, posting a 1–1 record. In February 2019, Knoop retired from Major League Baseball, after a career that lasted 53 years.

Honors

He was inducted into the Angels Hall of Fame in 2013. Knoop was inducted into the

Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...

Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.

References

External links

Page at ''AngelFire''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knoop, Bobby 1938 births Living people American League All-Stars American people of German descent American people of Norwegian descent American people of Swiss descent Austin Senators players Baseball coaches from Iowa Baseball players from Sioux City, Iowa California Angels players California Angels coaches Cedar Rapids Braves players Chicago White Sox coaches Chicago White Sox players Colorado Rockies scouts Gold Glove Award winners Hawaii Islanders players Kansas City Royals players Los Angeles Angels players Los Angeles Angels coaches Louisville Colonels (minor league) players Major League Baseball first base coaches Major League Baseball second basemen Toronto Blue Jays coaches San Diego Padres (minor league) players Sportspeople from Montebello, California Baseball players from Los Angeles County, California Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players Vancouver Mounties players 20th-century American sportsmen