Johnny Oates passes away

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1953071

 

RICHMOND, Va. -- 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 postseason 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 offseason addition of $252 million free agent shortstop Alex Rodriguez.

 

For Oates, the diagnosis of the aggressive tumor 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 honoring 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."

 

Oates shared the American League Manager of the Year award with New York's Joe Torre in 1996, and managed the Baltimore Orioles from 1991-94.

 

He was considering a return to managing in October 2001 when the tumor 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.

 

"It was a pretty courageous fight," said John Blake, a former Rangers spokesman who worked for the organization when Oates coached in the '90s.

 

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 postseason 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 30 miles 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 homers and 126 RBI.

 

Shame to see him go.

[Styles 0]

This is sad news, but he lasted longer than most thought. Johnny was the manager of the Orioles for 4 years in the early 90s and was a well liked figure here. Always seemed to be in a good mood. A touching moment was I think a couple seasons ago, he was brought back to Oriole Park to throw out the first pitch (this was after the original diagnosis and treatment and I believe he was making a recovery) and I think it was probably his first time back in Oriole Park since leaving as manager in 95, and he looked frail and he was missing part of his hair but when he walked out in his O's jacket the crowd gave him a huge standing ovation that brought a genuine smile to his face and he tipped his cap and the fans applauded some more and he just stood there smiling and waving. It was a special moment that I'll always remember that must have meant a lot to him. God bless you Johnn Oates, rest in peace Skip.

[Styles 0]

A nice article from the Baltimore Sun:

 

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/basebal...sports-baseball

Former Orioles manager, player Oates dies at 58

He had been battling a brain tumor since 2001

 

 

By Peter Schmuck and Bill Free

Sun Staff

 

December 24, 2004, 9:01 PM EST

 

Former Orioles manager Johnny Oates wanted everyone to know it would be all right.

 

From the day he was diagnosed with an incurable form of brain cancer in 2001 until Friday, when he died at age 58 at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond, he used his illness as a platform to deliver a positive message about faith and grace.

 

"Just what he has gone through the last three years and the way he has gone about it tells you everything about him," said close friend and former Orioles coach Jerry Narron. "He was always upbeat - always positive. I'm going to miss him. Baseball already has missed him for the last few years."

 

Oates, who came up through the Orioles organization as a player, led the club to winning records in each of his three full seasons as manager (1992 to 1994) and went on to lead the Texas Rangers to three American League West titles before resigning early in the 2001 season.

 

He was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, a particularly aggressive brain tumor, in October 2001. The prognosis wasn't good - there is no cure, and the disease can run its course in a matter of months - but Oates viewed it as anything but a death sentence.

 

"When you look at it, it's a blessing," he said in a 2003 interview. "Really, there's only one day of the week that has any importance, and that's today. You can't do anything about yesterday, and you can't do anything about tomorrow. It's just today."

 

He leaned heavily on his Christian faith and used the milestones in his three children's lives as goals as he battled the disease, regarding each upcoming wedding and birth as a gift from God.

 

"Everybody on this Earth is going to die, and nobody knows when," Oates said in an interview in The Sun in 2002. "Whatever time I have left, whether it be four months, 14 months or four years, I want it to mean something."

 

Narron, who coached under Oates in Baltimore and succeeded him as manager of the Rangers, said he has no doubt Oates touched countless lives both during his baseball career and throughout his illness.

 

"This was a man of great integrity and great character," Narron said. "It is a great loss for baseball and everybody who knew him."

 

Oates replaced Frank Robinson during the 1991 season and went on to a 291-270 record as Orioles manager. He was replaced after the 1994 season, reportedly because owner Peter Angelos was not enamored of his managerial approach, but the two would come to like each other in later years.

 

"One of the regrets he had," said Narron, "he wanted to go back to Baltimore and show Peter Angelos he could win. He really wanted to do that."

 

He would have to settle for throwing out the ceremonial first ball on Opening Day in 2002, a heartwarming moment before a sellout crowd at Camden Yards that Oates would describe as one of the great thrills of his life.

 

"Johnny Oates was a true gentleman," Angelos said in a statement. "He faced this disease the way he lived his life, with class and with dignity. I know I speak for the entire Orioles organization and fans in expressing our deepest sympathies to his wife, Gloria, his family and friends. We will truly miss him."

 

After Oates had been diagnosed with cancer, baseball commissioner Bud Selig said: "There is so much good in the game of baseball, and Johnny Oates symbolized that. He's just that kind of human being. He is a true baseball professional because he has always conducted himself with dignity and class."

 

Oates had a career managerial record of 797-746.

 

As a major league catcher, Oates played more than nine seasons for the Orioles, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees. He had a career batting average of .250 in 593 games and hit 14 home runs.

 

He saw most of his major league action with Atlanta in the 1973 and 1974, when he played in 193 games.

 

Oates, who shared American League Manager of the Year honors with New York Yankees manager Joe Torre in 1996, was inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in 2003. The manager's office at The Ballpark in Arlington is named in his honor.

 

"Gloria [Oates' wife] said one of their prayers was that he would be in Heaven before Christmas," current Rangers manager Buck Showalter said Friday. "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."

 

The Rangers announced they will retire Oates' No. 26.

 

Doug Melvin, general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers and a former executive with the Orioles and Rangers, recalled the kindness Oates showed him when Melvin was a 27-year-old batting practice pitcher for the Yankees.

 

Melvin was made to feel like an outsider by sometimes-callous major league players. But Oates walked up to Melvin and gave him a hug and a smile.

 

It was a warm gesture Melvin never forgot. Melvin would twice name Oates a manager - with the Orioles' Triple-A Rochester team and the Rangers.

 

"He touched a lot of people, and that's what makes people special in this world," said Melvin. "He always had a relationship with his players that goes beyond just a working relationship. That's rare. Not everybody is like that, especially in a highly competitive field as this one."

 

Coming up through the Orioles organization, Oates had an affection for another former catcher who became a manager, Cal Ripken Sr.

 

"I can remember going over to see Cal Sr. at his Aberdeen home when Cal Jr. was just a kid," Oates said one night at Camden Yards a few years ago. "What a great knowledge Cal Sr. had of this game. It was a treat to be around him and talk baseball."

 

"Johnny was always around my dad a lot," retired Orioles star Cal Ripken Jr. said. "They were both wiry catchers. I met Johnny when I was a kid hanging around baseball. When I think of him, I think of old-school baseball and my dad."

 

Baseball Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, a former Orioles teammate as well as his predecessor as Orioles manager, called Oates "a baseball man who was well-liked by the players."

 

Robinson said he sensed Oates was a devoutly religious man, "but he never brought religion to the ballpark with him."

 

Oates was no battlefield convert to Christianity. He grew up in a church-going family and became a born-again Christian early in his playing career. During his illness, he was fond of quoting from the Book of Jeremiah.

 

For I have a plan for you, not to harm or hurt you, but to give you hope and a future.

 

"I don't know how I could make it without the peace the Lord has given me," Oates would say. "It's a peace only he can give. There are always going to be those who are skeptical, but I am thankful for the mercy and the peace."

 

After leaving the Rangers, Oates lived in Matoaca, Va. Oates is survived by his wife, Gloria, and three grown children - Lori, Andy and Jenny. Funeral services will be held Tuesday at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Colonial Heights, Va., at 11 a.m.

 

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

 

Copyright © 2004, The Baltimore Sun

[Guest Thrashist]

Growing up, when ever I'd watch a Rangers/Yankees game, I'd always be fascinated by the manager of the Rangers always seemingly having a smile on his face. Johnny Oates seemed like a genuine nice guy. While it's sad he had to go, I'm at least happy for him and his family that he was able to do so much since the diagnosis.