Roger Repoz: Major League Baseball Outfielder

Repoz, who grew up in Bellingham and who has lived in Fullerton, Calif., for nearly 30 years, prowled the outfield for the New York Yankees for a season in the mid-1960s.

Among his teammates were several players often mentioned as part of a long list of Yankee legends: Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Elston Howard, Joe Pepitone, Whitey Ford, Clete Boyer and Tony Kubek.

Repoz’s journey to the top of the professional baseball world began when he played prep ball for Bellingham High School and collegiately at Western Washington University. For the Vikings, he was the Most Valuable Player at the 1959 NAIA national tournament as Western advanced to the national quarterfinals. He was primarily a pitcher in his college days, but was an outfielder during his pro career.

The left-hander was twice named to the all-Evergreen Conference team, and in 1960 he was drafted by the Yankees. He reached the big club for a week in 1964, then began a seven-year stretch in the majors in 1965.

And who did he see at ‘work’ each day? From his spot in center field, Mantle was to his right in left field, and Maris, who broke the single-season home run record just four years earlier, was in right field.

“Mantle, Maris, all the big boys,” said Repoz, who added that those superstars were simply regular guys who enjoyed working and playing with friends. Repoz did say that being among the best to ever play had some perks.

“(I was) kind of low-key, because in that era, being a rookie, you didn’t mess with the big boys anyway,” Repoz said. “You carried their bags, and if they asked you to do something, you’d do it. If you were in the training room and they wanted to get in the training room and said ‘get out, I’m coming in’ – yeah. It was a camaraderie, where you really respected those guys – doesn’t happen today.”

Repoz got a big taste of big-city celebrity during a particularly heady stretch of June 1965, when he hit five home runs in 11 games. Upon returning to New York, a reporter asked him “How does it feel to be the next Mickey Mantle?”

Repoz couldn’t help but laugh when sharing that story, and he admits he didn’t have much of an answer other than the obvious – that there would most certainly never be a ‘next’ Mickey Mantle.

The Yankees traded Repoz to the Kansas City Athletics in 1966 (he was hitting .349 at the time) when New York needed to find a left-handed starting pitcher to step in for the ailing Ford. One year later, Repoz was traded to the California Angels, where he played for five years. He followed that with a five-year stint in Japan, where he hit 120 home runs, including 36 in 1977, and earned a “Best Nine” award as being one of the top players in the 12-team league.

Source: Aug. 2, 2008 – Craig Parrish, The Bellingham Herald

Family Connection

Roger is a 3rd cousin twice removed from my maternal side of the family (Lewis, Prosser, Rogers surnames).