Edgar Leon Kirkpatrick (October 8, 1944 – November 15, 2010) was an American
professional baseball
Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Mod ...
outfielder
An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...
and
catcher
Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...
. He played in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB) from 1962 through 1977 for the
Los Angeles / California Angels,
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) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...
,
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...
,
Texas Rangers, and
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...
.
Kirkpatrick helped the Pirates win the National League Eastern Division in the 1974 and 1975 seasons.
In 16 seasons, he played in 1,311 games and had 3,467
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 during their turn at bat, but a bat ...
s, 411
runs, 824
hits
Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block
* ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998
* ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...
, 143
doubles, 18
triples
TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...
, 85
home run
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
s, 424
RBI, 34
stolen base
In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled 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 ...
s, 456
walks, .238
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 ...
, .327
on-base percentage
In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...
, .363
slugging percentage
In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...
, 1,258 total bases, 25 sacrifice hits, 39 sacrifice flies and 70 intentional walks.
Kirkpatrick recorded the final base hit (a single in the 8th inning) in the final game ever played at Kansas City's
Municipal Stadium on October 4, 1972.
Kirkpatrick claims the city of
Glendora, California
Glendora is a city in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County, California, east of Los Angeles. As of the 2020 census, the population of Glendora was 52,558.
Known as the "Pride of the Foothills", Glendora is nestled in the foothills o ...
where he graduated from high school as his hometown. Glendora annually presents the Ed Kirkpatrick award to a citizen that has done the most for youth. In 1981, Kirkpatrick was leaving a charity event in
La Habra, California
La Habra (archaic spelling of ''La Abra'', ) is a city in the northwestern corner of Orange County, California, United States. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,239. A related city, La Habra Heights, is located to the north of ...
, and he was involved in a seemingly minor car accident. A blood clot traveled from his neck into his brain the next day, and he suffered a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
during a subsequent brain surgery.
He was in a coma for 5½ months and was left permanently paralyzed.
[Former Angels outfielder Ed Kirkpatrick dies at 66] He died at the age of 66 in
Mission Viejo, California
Mission Viejo ( ; corruption of ''Misión Vieja'', Spanish for "Old Mission") is a commuter city in the Saddleback Valley in Orange County, California, United States. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest master-planned communities eve ...
after a long battle with throat cancer.
References
External links
Baseball ReferenceBaseball Reference (Minors)Venezuelan League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkpatrick, Ed
1944 births
2010 deaths
American expatriate baseball players in Mexico
Arizona Instructional League Angels players
Baseball players from Spokane, Washington
California Angels players
Deaths from cancer in California
Deaths from esophageal cancer
Florida Instructional League Phillies players
Hawaii Islanders players
Industriales de Valencia players
Jacksonville Suns players
Kansas City Royals players
Leones del Caracas players
American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela
Los Angeles Angels players
Major League Baseball catchers
Major League Baseball first basemen
Major League Baseball outfielders
Mexican League baseball players
Milwaukee Brewers players
Nashville Vols players
Pittsburgh Pirates players
Plataneros de Tabasco players
Quad Cities Angels players
Salt Lake City Gulls players
San Jose Bees players
Seattle Angels players
Texas Rangers players