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William Joseph Rigney
California Angels
Manager
Bats: Right Throws: Right Height: 6'1" Weight: 178
Born: January 29, 1918, Alameda, CA
Acquired: Traded by Oakland (PCL) to the New York Giants for Dolph Camilli
Major League Teams: New York Giants 1946-1953
Born: January 29, 1918, Alameda, CA
Acquired: Traded by Oakland (PCL) to the New York Giants for Dolph Camilli
Major League Teams: New York Giants 1946-1953
World Series Appearances: New York Giants 1951
As a Manager: New York Giants 1956-1957; San Francisco Giants 1958-1960; Los Angeles Angels 1961-1964; California Angels 1965-1969; Minnesota Twins 1970-1972; San Francisco Giants 1976
Died: February 20, 2001, Walnut Creek, CA (age 83)
Bill Rigney was the first manager in Angels' history, leading the team throughout the 1960s to a 625-707 record during a time when the team finished mostly in the second division in the American League. Prior to taking the job with the Angels, Rigney was the last manager of the New York Giants and the first manager of the San Francisco Giants following their move west in 1958. His sole postseason experience as a manager came in 1970 when he guided the Twins to a first place finish in the A.L. West, only to be swept in the ALCS by the A.L. East winner Orioles. With the Giants, Angels and Twins he managed for 18 seasons and had a lifetime record of 1,239-1,321. After leaving the Giants organization, Rigney latched on with the Oakland A's where he served as a front office consultant and occasional broadcaster throughout the 1980s and up until his death in 2001.
As a player, Rigney was an infielder with the Giants for eight seasons between 1946 and 1953. The start of his big league career was delayed until 1946 as Rigney missed the 1943 through 1945 seasons while serving in the Navy. He had his best seasons in the late 1940s, reaching career highs in home runs (17) and RBIs (59) in 1947 and being named to the N.L. All-Star team in 1948.
As a Manager: New York Giants 1956-1957; San Francisco Giants 1958-1960; Los Angeles Angels 1961-1964; California Angels 1965-1969; Minnesota Twins 1970-1972; San Francisco Giants 1976
Died: February 20, 2001, Walnut Creek, CA (age 83)
Bill Rigney was the first manager in Angels' history, leading the team throughout the 1960s to a 625-707 record during a time when the team finished mostly in the second division in the American League. Prior to taking the job with the Angels, Rigney was the last manager of the New York Giants and the first manager of the San Francisco Giants following their move west in 1958. His sole postseason experience as a manager came in 1970 when he guided the Twins to a first place finish in the A.L. West, only to be swept in the ALCS by the A.L. East winner Orioles. With the Giants, Angels and Twins he managed for 18 seasons and had a lifetime record of 1,239-1,321. After leaving the Giants organization, Rigney latched on with the Oakland A's where he served as a front office consultant and occasional broadcaster throughout the 1980s and up until his death in 2001.
As a player, Rigney was an infielder with the Giants for eight seasons between 1946 and 1953. The start of his big league career was delayed until 1946 as Rigney missed the 1943 through 1945 seasons while serving in the Navy. He had his best seasons in the late 1940s, reaching career highs in home runs (17) and RBIs (59) in 1947 and being named to the N.L. All-Star team in 1948.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #196
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
This is the 119th of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing me less than a dollar.
The Card / Angels Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
Rigney had guided the Angels since their inception in 1961, and 39 games into the 1969 season, his tenure as Angels' manager came to an end. The Angels had an 11-28 record and had lost 10 in a row when Rigney was dismissed on May 27th and replaced with Lefty Phillips, the Angels' pitching coach. Rigney joined the Giants' broadcast booth later in the 1969 season.
Sources:
Baseball Reference - Rigney / Baseball Reference - 1969 Angels / SABR / Wikipedia
Building the Set / Card #196
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
The Card / Angels Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
The photo is likely from 1967 as Rigney is wearing the same sweater under his jersey on his 1968 and 1969 Topps cards. The back of the card highlights his 1962 Manager of the Year award, as named by The Sporting News.
Accuracy Index: Rigney wasn't around for much of the 1969 season (see below), but he earns a +5 nevertheless.
1969 Season
Rigney had guided the Angels since their inception in 1961, and 39 games into the 1969 season, his tenure as Angels' manager came to an end. The Angels had an 11-28 record and had lost 10 in a row when Rigney was dismissed on May 27th and replaced with Lefty Phillips, the Angels' pitching coach. Rigney joined the Giants' broadcast booth later in the 1969 season.
Under Phillips, the Angels went 60-63 for the duration of the season, finishing in third place in the A.L. West, 26 games behind the division winning Twins. Shortstop Jim Fregosi (#365) was the team's top offensive player, batting .260 with 12 home runs, 47 RBIs and an .742 OPS. Left fielder Rick Reichardt (#205) led the club with 13 home runs and 68 RBIs. Andy Messersmith (#296) was a 16-game winner, pitching to a 2.52 ERA while throwing 10 complete games and a pair of shutouts. As the Angels' closer, Ken Tatum saved 22 games. Future Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm (#565) appeared in 44 games for the Angels before a trade in early September sent him to the Braves.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1948 Bowman #32
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1952, 1960-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1991 Topps Archives 1953 #328
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 76 in the Beckett online database as of 11/23/23.
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First Mainstream Card: 1948 Bowman #32
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (14): 1952, 1960-1972
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1991 Topps Archives 1953 #328
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 76 in the Beckett online database as of 11/23/23.
Update Cards
For my 1965 Topps blog, I used the team card posts to come up with five or six candidates per team for an imaginary update series. With no team cards in the 1969 Topps set, I'll use each manager card for this exercise, and come up with a list of deserving cards to be included in an 8th/update series.
- Lefty Phillips (manager) - Phillips managed the team for most of the year, and I'd give him a card in my update set.
- Jim Spencer (1b) - Rookie Jim Spencer was the club's regular first baseman, and his rookie card would appear in the 1970 Topps set.
- Sandy Alomar (2b) - Sandy Alomar was acquired from the White Sox on May 14th, and has a card in the set with his former team (#283).
- Rudy May (lhp) - Starting pitcher Rudy May appeared in 43 games and made 25 starts for the Angels. His rookie card is found in the 1965 Topps set, and he'd not appear again in a Topps set until 1970.
- Ken Tatum (rhp) - Closer Ken Tatum has his rookie card in the 1970 Topps set.
- Pedro Borbon (rhp) - As does Pedro Borbon, but Borbon had moved on to the Reds by then. I'd give him a card in my update set with the Angels, his first team.
Baseball Reference - Rigney / Baseball Reference - 1969 Angels / SABR / Wikipedia
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