PASSINGS: Ed Kirkpatrick
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Ed Kirkpatrick
Former outfielder for the Angels
Former Angels outfielder Ed Kirkpatrick, who played during parts of 16 major league seasons with five clubs from 1962 to 1977, died Monday after a long struggle with throat cancer. He was 66.
A native of Spokane, Wash., and a graduate of Glendora High School, Kirkpatrick signed with the Angels at 17 and spent the first seven years (1962-68) of his career with them as a part-time player.
Kirkpatrick, nicknamed “Spanky,” also played for the Kansas City Royals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers and Milwaukee Brewers before retiring after 1977, finishing with a .238 career batting average, 85 home runs and 424 runs batted in.
Four years after his playing career ended, in 1981, Kirkpatrick was involved in an automobile accident that left him in a coma for 5½ months and in a wheelchair, partially paralyzed, for the rest of his life.
The city of Glendora presents the annual Ed Kirkpatrick Award to an outstanding member of the community who has provided exemplary and extraordinary service to youth sports in the city.
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