On Friday, we received the sad news from the United States that legendary pitcher and coach Carl Angelo, who played in Haarlem Baseball Week nine times as a member of the famous Grand Rapids Sullivans team, passed away on Wednesday (July 1) at the age of 88. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, a large memorial service will be held in his memory.
Carl Kris Angelo was born on April 25, 1932, in Battle Creek, Michigan. He lived there his entire life and became involved with one of the most successful baseball teams in the country.
Carl Angelo, who bore a passing resemblance to the legendary Babe Ruth, was involved in baseball for seven decades, either as a player or as a coach. He began playing baseball sometime in the 1940s and retired in 2002. In the 1960s and 1970s, Carl Angelo became a household name in the Netherlands through his participation in the international Haarlem Baseball Week.
In 1961, the Dutch Baseball Team traveled to Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, Michigan. There, the Orange played several games against the Sullivans. That team had been founded in 1953 by Bob Sullivan, who was then in his early twenties and had started his company, Sullivan’s Carpet & Furniture, in Grand Rapids a few years earlier. Sullivan became an icon in both business and baseball in Grand Rapids. Sullivan also sponsored American football and basketball, was involved in boxing, and started Little League Baseball in Grand Rapids. Bob Sullivan also spent 36 years as a scout for the Detroit Tigers. Over the years, many players from the Sullivans went on to play professional baseball, and more than fifty of them reached the Major Leagues. The Sullivans won many regional and national titles, including the National Baseball Congress championship four times (1960, 1970, 1983, 1984). Throughout all those years, Bob Sullivan himself served as the team’s manager.
Carl Angelo played baseball for more than 50 years and became a legend in his own right. He later continued to play recreational baseball well into old age.
For many years, Angelo owned a restaurant in Battle Creek and became Sullivan’s right-hand man on the baseball team. Angelo’s Restaurant, which he managed through 2001, was located across from Bailey Park, the stadium where the Sullivans’ baseball team played its home games. Initially one of the team’s pitchers, Angelo later became an assistant coach.
During his long baseball career, Carl Angelo won 353 games, lost only 69, and threw 13 no-hitters. He is widely regarded as the pitcher with the most wins in the history of amateur baseball. Carl Angelo has been inducted into ten Halls of Fame.
In 1963, the Sullivans’ team participated for the first time in Haarlem Baseball Week, the second edition of the international event that had first been held in Haarlem two years earlier. Carl Angelo was one of the pitchers. It was the first of seven tournaments he participated in, most recently in 1976. However, sixteen years later, in 1992, Angelo returned to the mound in Haarlem. Then, in 1996, he pitched another 1/3 inning at age 64, becoming the oldest player ever to participate in the Haarlem Baseball Week. And so he participated in nine Baseball Weeks as a player. In addition, he was part of the Sullivans during four more “Weeks” solely as a coach, so he participated in 13 tournaments in total. Angelo missed one of the fourteen trips the Sullivans made to Holland.
Carl Angelo was very popular with the audience, but that wasn’t the case at first during his debut in 1963. In his first game as a pitcher, he threw the ball high over the press box and out of the stadium. He immediately received a warning from the umpire, and the crowd booed him. Later in the tournament, Angelo pulled more pranks on the field and began to gain popularity among the fans.
During the 1960s, Carl Angelo did all sorts of crazy things. For example, he once ran backwards around the bases after hitting a home run, or rode a bicycle to the mound when he was supposed to pitch. He also climbed the mound wearing a Scottish kilt. On another occasion, he came to the mound dressed as a firefighter, and once stepped into the batting cage wearing shorts. As a coach, he once walked toward first base in clogs.
It earned him the nickname “Carl the Clown.” At first, Angelo was a little surprised by this, but later he accepted the nickname.
During his early antics, several spectators thought he was making fun of the sport and thus not taking Dutch fans seriously. Henk Knol, who wrote about baseball in the Haarlems Dagblad at the time, asked Angelo about the reason behind the jokes he made.
Angelo replied that it was a character he had created specifically for the tournament. He did it precisely to entertain the audience, because he felt that the spectators should have fun and be entertained. When it became clear that Carl Angelo wasn’t pulling the wool over the audience’s eyes, the audience applauded him and then wondered what antics he would perform next.
After that, Carl Angelo quickly became one of the most popular figures in the history of the tournament.
Carl Angelo, on the other hand, took playing and coaching baseball very seriously and wanted the best for his team. He was a talented player in high school and in college. In 1954, he briefly played professionally in the Chicago White Sox organization in the minor leagues at what was then known as the D-level.
In 1982, Carl Angelo provided one of the most memorable moments in the history of Haarlem Baseball Week. During the Opening Ceremony, he played the national anthems of the three participating countries: the United States, Japan, and the Netherlands. The night before, he was very nervous, but when representatives of the organization approved his versions of the anthems, Angelo decided to play them. After his impressive performance, Angelo received a standing ovation that lasted for minutes.
Earlier, in 1968, Angelo had also played his trumpet, but at that time he simply played a few tunes for the audience.
In 1992, the Most Popular Player award was named after Carl Angelo. When he was told about this, he was very moved.
Since that year, the Carl Angelo Trophy has been awarded to the Most Popular Player of the tournament.
The Sullivans’ team participated in Haarlem Baseball Week fourteen times (1963, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1982, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998). Twelve of those appearances were as the Sullivans, and twice as Little Caesar’s (in 1992 and 1994), when this pizza chain was the team’s main sponsor. The team won the Haarlem Baseball Week six times (1963, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1988, 1990).
In 2002, Carl Angelo returned to the Netherlands once again. This time, he was there on vacation. During the 21st edition of that year’s Haarlem Baseball Week, Angelo and the Sullivans were honored. At the Dutch Baseball and Softball Museum, the section dedicated to the Sullivans for their role in the history of the Haarlem Baseball Week was unveiled. Angelo donated the trumpet he had used to play the national anthems in 1982.
Carl Angelo will certainly be missed by his many fans and friends in the Netherlands. He will never be forgotten and will forever be associated with the rich history of Haarlem Baseball Week.
The organizing committee of Baseball Week Haarlem, the staff, and the many fans of the tournament wish Carl Angelo’s family much strength.
We will miss Carl, but he will always be in our memories!
Carl will always be a part of Haarlem Baseball Week!
(text: Marco Stoovelaar)