Bobby Knoop retires from Angels after 53 years in baseball

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Longtime Angels player and coach Bobby Knoop has announced his retirement after 53 years in baseball.

Los Angeles shared the news in a release Tuesday.

The 80-year-old Knoop was one of the Angels' first recognizable figures, earning the club's MVP award four times in its inaugural decade. The second baseman played for the Angels from 1964-69, making an All-Star team and winning three Gold Glove Awards as part of a double-play duo with Jim Fregosi.

Knoop later worked for Los Angeles as a minor league manager, big league base coach and an interim manager for two games in 1994.

He has been an infield instructor with the Angels since 2013. He also played for the White Sox and Royals, worked as a major league coach for the White Sox and Blue Jays and was briefly a scout with the Rockies.

NOTES: Two-time MVP and noted weather enthusiast Mike Trout got his first hit of spring training Tuesday, an infield single against Oakland. Trout was back in the batter's box after spending part of last week chasing a rare lower-elevation Arizona snowstorm, driving 80 miles north of Phoenix to Payson. He chronicled the adventure on social media.