Nicknamed "Nureyev" by sportswriters for his exciting and acrobatic fielding plays, Knoop played a deep second base, with exceptional range and a strong arm. In another version, Knoop says the nickname derived from not only his acrobatic skills at second base, but a fabricated story he told the writers that his mother had made him take ballet lessons.[6]
In December 1963, the Los Angels obtained him via the Rule 5 draft, by the rules of which he was required to remain on the 1964 major-league roster.[6][8] He in fact played in every game that season and remained the Angels' regular second baseman for the next five and a half years (the name changing to California Angels in 1965), winning the club's MVP award four times in the span, a mark tied by Garret Anderson and Mike Trout.[8][9]
Knoop was sent to the White Sox in mid-1969[13] and then was traded to the Royals in 1971, where he also rejoined former Angels third baseman Paul Schaal.[9][14] With Kansas City, he played mostly as a backup for Cookie Rojas.[14]
In his career Knoop batted .236, with 56 home runs, 331 RBIs, 337 runs, 856 hits, 129 doubles, 29 triples, and 16 stolen bases in 1153 games.[12] He is tied for the record of most double plays in a game by a second basemen, six, held with Alfonso Soriano and Bill Doran, which Knoop did on May 1, 1966.[15] He is also tied for the record of most putouts in a game by a second baseman, twelve, being the most recent person to accomplish this (August 30, 1966).[16]
Coaching
After retiring, Knoop worked for over 40 years as a minor league and major league coach, scout and adviser, including stints with the Chicago White Sox (1977–78, assistant coach), California Angels (1979–96 as first base and third base coach), Toronto Blue Jays (2000, as first base coach) and Colorado Rockies (2008–12, 2008 as pro scout and 2009 as senior advisor for player development), and Los Angeles Angels (2014–18 as infield coach or infield instructor).[6][8][9] In 1997 and 1998, he was head coach at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia.[9] In 1994 Knoop served as manager of the Angels for two games, posting a 1–1 record.[17] In February 2019, Knoop retired from Major League Baseball, after a career that lasted 53 years.[18]
Honors
He was inducted into the Angels Hall of Fame in 2013.[6] Knoop was inducted into the Orange County, California Sports Hall of Fame in 1991.[19]
