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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — After Johnny Oates was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2001, he made a commitment to live each day to its utmost. Knowing his time was short motivated Oates to climb out of bed, even if it was just to see squirrels in the backyard or feel the sun warming his face. Oates died Friday at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center at about 2 a.m., his wife and brother at his side, his son said. He was 58.
He was very comfortable. He went very peacefully," Andrew Oates, 28, said. "I have learned more from him in the last three years than I did in the first 25. I think he's accomplished more in the last three years and touched more people in the last three years."
Oates was best known for managing the Texas Rangers to their first three post-season appearances, in 1996, '98 and '99. He resigned early in the 2001 season after the team lost 17 of its first 28 games despite the off-season addition of $252-million US free agent shortstop Alex Rodriguez.
For Oates, the diagnosis of the aggressive tumour glioblastoma multiforme helped him to focus on the things that mattered most to him, primarily his family.
"When you look at it, it's a blessing," he said in a March 2003 interview with The Associated Press at his home near Richmond.
"Really there's only one day of the week that has any importance, and that's today," he said then. "You can't do anything about yesterday and you can't do anything about tomorrow. It's just today."
Oates left an indelible mark on the Rangers. When Oates was inducted into the Rangers Hall of Fame in August 2003, manager Buck Showalter dedicated the manager's office with a plaque honouring Oates.
"That will always be Johnny's office. We're just renting it and passing through," Showalter, who played for Oates, said Friday. "The definition of man and manager, Johnny's picture will be next to it."
Texas will retire Oates' number 26 before a game dedicated to him next season, the team announced Friday. A commemorative patch will adorn the Rangers' uniforms all next season, and the club will place the number 26 on the outfield wall, pending approval from baseball.
Oates shared the American League Manager of the Year award with New York's Joe Torre in 1996, and managed the Baltimore Orioles from 1991 to '94. He was considering a return to managing in October 2001 when the tumour was diagnosed. Doctors told him he'd likely die within months without surgery, and possibly within 14 months even if he had the procedure.
Oates survived more than three years, achieving goals such as attending the wedding of his daughter, the birth of a grandchild and simply spending more time with his wife, Gloria.
Showalter was among the friends that called regularly.
"Gloria said one of their prayers was that he would be in Heaven before Christmas," Showalter said. "I bet there will be a heck of a baseball game up there tomorrow ... no, the day after tomorrow. It will take John time to get organized."
Oates had a regular season record of 797-746 and got his only post-season victory in 10 tries when the Rangers made their playoff debut, winning 6-2 at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 1, 1996. Texas lost the next three games and was swept by the Yankees in 1998 and again the next year.
Oates and his wife began each morning studying the Bible in the sunroom of their home on Lake Chesdin, about 50 kilometres from Richmond, and were active in their church. Oates also attended local baseball games and enjoyed watching on television, free to doze off when he grew weary.
"I don't miss baseball one single bit. I enjoy talking about it, but I know I can't do it anymore. I like to watch it on TV," he said.
"I miss the people. I don't miss the stress that went with it, all the decision-making. But now I enjoy being here. I enjoy being lazy."
Oates, a left-handed hitting catcher, played for five teams in his major league career, starting with the Orioles in 1970. He laughed years later recalling how his skills compared with those of current catchers.
"I still don't know how I got to the big leagues because I wasn't that good," he said in 2003. "I was a slap hitter. I kept my mouth shut. I did. I kept my mouth shut. I couldn't throw. I couldn't throw a lick."
For his career, Oates hit .250 with 14 ho
mers and 126 runs batted in. Oates' funeral will be Tuesday in Colonial Heights, followed by burial in Chester.
© The Canadian Press 2004
All eyes looked down the fairway as the ball slipped off the tee and traveled a full inch and a half before rolling to a complete stop. Johnny and I had decided to play another round after Tom and Stuart departed. I guess we thought that if we kept at it, we would resemble competition the next time the four of us played.
Tom Murphy not only had a pretty good game, he also had his own set of clubs and real golf shoes, not the Chuck Taylor’s I lived in. Stuart Cassell was a fellow “townie” that was accomplished as well. And then there was Johnny Oates and myself. I don’t think either one of us had ever seen a golf course and in my case, it was totally obvious. The main difference in our games was that although we both were taking Tom Paul’s coaching course, Johnny was getting the hang of it.
There was an aura about Johnny that was different from my other classmates. Although he had already signed a professional contract with the Orioles, there was a quiet dignity in the way he carried himself. He was soft-spoken, conscientious, and very easy to get along with.
We had both actually played a fairly good first nine and this was perhaps the impetus that made it sound like a good idea when Johnny asked me to play another round. Or maybe it was just because I enjoyed the company.
I remember noticing as we walked up to the tee that the high school team had arrived, all in their spiffy outfits, impatient for us to get on with it. Johnny fired a great drive down the center of the fairway and it was now my turn (No pressure). I decided that this was the occasion for the four hundred foot drive and with a mighty swing, all eyes looked down the fairway as the ball slipped off the tee and traveled a full inch and a half before rolling to a complete stop. Mulligan?
I have been very pleased over the years to see the many successes of Johnny and think back fondly of the character that discretely elevated him above his peers.
Jeremiah 29:11
'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and future.'
Adger Smyth
Johnny Oates compiled a 506-476 record as manager of the Texas Rangers baseball team from 1995 until his resignation in May. He led the club to its first playoff berth in franchise history in 1996 and was named manager of the year by the Baseball Writers Association. Oates previously managed the Baltimore Orioles and played 11 seasons for the Orioles, Braves, Phillies, Dodgers and Yankees. He is a graduate of Virginia Tech University. He and his wife, Gloria, now live in Virginia. They have a son and two daughters.
JOHNNY OATES
Q. Tell me about the childhood that produced the Johnny Oates that Texas Rangers fans have known over the last seven years.
I grew up near Sylva in the North Carolina mountains. It was very rural. We were not poverty-stricken, but we had no indoor plumbing and no electricity until I was 7 or 8 years old. We could see the stars through the roof at night.
But there was a lot of love, and I would call it a Christian home. It was especially Christian when my grandmother was there. I have a mental image of her kneeling and praying beside the couch, which was an army cot, in our living room.
My parents had like two families. I have two older brothers and a sister, and then there was me and my younger brother. I didn't play any organized baseball until I was 12 because there were no other kids within five miles of us. There were no Little Leagues. We honed our baseball skills playing catch with each other on the North Carolina hillside. The field where we played had a branch at one end and a cabbage patch at the other. The branch was full of snakes, so you learned not to miss many.
My father, the youngest of 11 children, had been a sandlot player and played for a cotton mill team. He did anything he could to make a living. He and Mom cut cabbage much of the time. He would cut it with a butcher knife, and Mom would follow along behind with a bag and carry it to the end of the field. He finally decided he wanted to do something different and began to make and install downspouts he made from oil cans he got from a service station. That got us out of the mountains. He went to work at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, N.C., and I was introduced to baseball on a Royal Ambassador team.
Q. When did you know you were going to have a career in baseball?
I don't know where I got the idea, because we didn't have a television set until we got out of the mountains, but Mom says that as a kid, when I was asked what I was going to be, I would always answer that I was going to be a baseball player. Dad took me to see my first major league game in Washington in 1961 when I was 16. We saw the old Senators (who later became the Rangers in 1972) play the Yankees, and I got to see a Saturday afternoon game and a Sunday doubleheader.
Of course, that was the year Roger Maris hit 61 home runs, and he and Mickey Mantle hit three or four that weekend. I have an attic full of baseballs, but the only autographed ball I have in the house is one signed by Mantle.
But I remember that I just wanted to play baseball. I signed with the Orioles after my third year at Virginia Tech, but a part of my contract was a provision that I would stay in school until June so I could graduate from college. I got a degree in health and physical education.
Q.
Who was the greatest influence on your choice of baseball as a profession?
___Both my mom and dad. Mom got me to practice and to the games. Dad was working every day and usually didn't get off work until after my games had started, but he drove me pretty good. Others had a lot of influence too--my high school coaches and later Cal Ripken Sr. and Sparky Anderson. It was never one person, but there was always someone when I needed him. John Shulock, the umpire, played a big role in my life. Once, when I was feeling some pressure, he encouraged me to get some help, and when I resigned as manager of the Rangers, he called to encourage me.
Q. What was most satisfying as a major league player and manager?
The biggest thrill was that I was able to put on a major league uniform for 30 years and to know the players I played with and against. I often have said that my biggest disappointment was that I didn't enjoy it more while I was doing it. I should have enjoyed it more. I had a career that many wanted to have, but I let too many things bother me.
Q.
What was least attractive about it?
Separation from my family, no doubt about it. I missed our kids growing up, my son's baseball games, my daughter singing in Carnegie Hall, my oldest daughter's graduation. I missed all three of their baptisms and my first grandson's dedication. I won't miss any more. Some good things come out of resignations.
Q. How did you cope with the long schedule and separation from your family?
Not very well at the beginning, and it created lots of problems. I praise the Lord for my wife, who stuck with me and prayed for me. The only way our marriage survived was because of her faith and willingness to keep us together.
I had accepted the Lord as my Savior in 1983, while I was in spring training as a minor league manager with the Yankees. I was worrying about everything, but in a chapel service I heard the testimony of Bill Watts, a pro golfer, who said he had been miserable, too, until he found Christ. I talked to him and said I needed what he had. We prayed together, and I accepted Christ.
However, my walk didn't match my talk until my wife became ill in 1995. It was also during spring training. My daughter called and said Gloria was having a panic attack in a motel. They were on their way to Port Charlotte, where we were in spring training. I drove all night across Florida and Georgia to get to them, and when I saw my wife I put my arms around her and the Lord.
Q.
Have the huge salaries paid to baseball players today hurt the quality of the game?
No.
Q. Do players play as hard when they know they have guaranteed contracts?
Today's players are as good as they have ever been, although I refuse to compare them. It's really impossible to compare a player today with one in the past. I am often asked if Ivan Rodriguez is the best catcher in baseball history. I certainly would rank him as one of the best ever, but I never saw Roy Campanella of the Dodgers or Bill Dickey of the Yankees play. How can I say Pudge is better or worse?
As to the salaries, there always will be people who just work for their paycheck, whether they are baseball players or schoolteachers. Some teachers deserve Major League Baseball salaries. Some people will just go through the motions whether it is for $25,000 or for $2 million.
But players don't talk about money. Once they walk through the clubhouse door, they are there to play. There is tremendous peer pressure among players, not only from the standpoint of doing well, but to get to where they have gotten, the major leagues, has taken a lot of perseverance and endurance. They know if they let their guard down, they will be overtaken.
Satchell Paige was right when he said, "Don't look over your shoulder; they may be gaining on you." Day-in and day-out, the players are competitors on the field and off. I know some who are out to win even when they are playing checkers with their kids.
Q. You always seemed to remain remarkably calm in the Rangers' dugout. How did you do that? Who were your career models?
Outward and inward appearances are two different things. As the manager, I had to give the appearance that everything was under control. It's OK to get nervous, but don't panic. You don't want to see the manager panic. Birdie Tebbetts (former catcher and manager) told me once that I should never let the media catch me with my head down or in the act of embarrassing a player. I tried to keep a consistent demeanor all the time and not to indicate through the way I acted whether we were winning or losing.
Q. How do you feel about the visible signs of religion on the playing field, Catholic players crossing themselves and others pointing skyward after a big hit?
It's not up to me to critique or praise someone in those circumstances. That's between them and God.
Q. Do you believe God is interested in who wins baseball games?
No. But he gives us talent and ability and expects us to use it and praise him and love him as he loves us. One of my favorite Bible verses is Jeremiah 29:11, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and future.'"
Q. Is hitting a round bat with a round ball the hardest feat in sports?
It always was for me. At dinner last night, a friend was telling me about the physics involved in hitting a golf ball, and the difficulty in matching the sweet spot on a golf club with the small surface of the ball. I reminded him the golf ball is sitting on a tee, not coming at the plate at more than 90 miles per hour.
Q. What could be done to improve the game of baseball?
It's an amazing game that now is played literally around the world, which indicates its popularity. The game has gotten very long, however, and we need to get rid of the dead time. But it is the one game where there is no clock. As long as my team is hitting, we have a chance to win.
Q. What advice would you give to young players considering professional baseball as a career?
Don't put all your eggs in one basket. We all have dreams of being a professional athlete, and it's OK to dream, but it's more important to set goals, both short- and long-term goals. Young people must strive to get an education, and then they can take care of themselves. Only a small percentage of those who dream of being professional athletes ever get a chance to play.
Hall of Fame Inductees
Terry Holland, the winningest basketball coach in University of Virginia history
Laura Mapp, the successful coach of three women's sports at Bridgewater College
Johnny Oates, a player, coach and manager in Major League Baseball for 29 years
J.C. Snead, winner of 12 PGA tour events
Lawrence Taylor, one of the best linebackers in National Football League history
Bob Thalman, a veteran football coach at Virginia Military Institute and Hampden-Sydney College
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