Troy Percival

{{Infobox baseball biography

|name=Troy Percival

|image=Troy Percival (1099898562).jpg

|team=Idaho Falls Chukars

|caption=Percival with the Cardinals in 2007

|position=Pitcher

|bats=Right

|throws=Right

|birth_date={{Birth date and age|1969|8|9}}

|birth_place=Fontana, California, U.S.

|debutleague = MLB

|debutdate=April 26

|debutyear=1995

|debutteam=California Angels

|finalleague = MLB

|finaldate=May 21

|finalyear=2009

|finalteam=Tampa Bay Rays

|statleague = MLB

|stat1label=Win–loss record

|stat1value=35–43

|stat2label=Earned run average

|stat2value=3.17

|stat3label=Strikeouts

|stat3value=781

|stat4label=Saves

|stat4value=358

|teams=

California / Anaheim Angels ({{mlby|1995}}–{{mlby|2004}})
Detroit Tigers ({{mlby|2005}})
St. Louis Cardinals ({{mlby|2007}})
Tampa Bay Rays ({{mlby|2008}}–{{mlby|2009}})

|highlights=

4× All-Star (1996, 1998, 1999, 2001)
World Series champion ({{wsy|2002}})

}}

Troy Eugene Percival (born August 9, 1969) is an American baseball coach and former professional baseball pitcher. He gained fame as a closer. He is currently the manager of the Idaho Falls Chukars of the Pioneer League. During a 14-year baseball career spanning from 1995 to 2009, he pitched for four Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, primarily with the California/Anaheim Angels. He was an integral part of that franchise's 2002 World Series championship team.

Early career

Percival started playing baseball at Moreno Valley Youth Federation (MVYF). Percival played on the Moreno Valley High School baseball team, before attending the University of California, Riverside, where he played college baseball for the Highlanders from 1987–1990.{{cite web|title=University of California, Riverside Baseball Players Who Made it to the Major Leagues|url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/college/university_of_california_riverside_baseball_players.shtml|work=Baseball-Almanac.com|access-date=18 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040712224354/http://baseball-almanac.com/college/university_of_california_riverside_baseball_players.shtml|archive-date=12 July 2004|url-status=dead}} He was then drafted by the California Angels in the 6th round of the 1990 amateur draft as a catcher. He batted .203 in his only season as a catcher with the Boise Hawks and was converted to a pitcher when coaches noticed that his return throws to the mound were actually faster than the pitches he caught. He made his Major League debut as a reliever in {{mlby|1995}}, and was mostly used as a setup man for Lee Smith. He was coached by his father Richard Percival for all of his childhood years.{{cite web|url=http://www.riversidesporthalloffame.com/troy-percival/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506053213/http://www.riversidesporthalloffame.com/troy-percival/|url-status=usurped|archive-date=May 6, 2012|title=Troy Percival - Riverside Sport Hall of Fame|website=www.riversidesporthalloffame.com|date=2 May 2012}}

Closer career

In {{mlby|1996}}, he became the regular closer for the Angels and had 36 saves with 100 strikeouts in 74 innings. He is one of only six pitchers in the Angels' 44-year history to strike out at least 100 batters in a season without starting a game. The others are Mark Clear (105, {{mlby|1980}}), DeWayne Buice (109, {{mlby|1987}}), Bryan Harvey (101, {{mlby|1991}}) Scot Shields (109, {{mlby|2004}}) and Francisco Rodríguez (123, 2004).

He had a career-high 42 saves in {{mlby|1998}}, and enjoyed his best season in {{mlby|2002}} with a 4–1 record, 40 saves, 68 strikeouts, and a 1.92 ERA. That year en route to winning the World Series, he was 7 for 7 in save opportunities, tying John Wetteland for most saves in one postseason (since tied by Brad Lidge, Koji Uehara and Greg Holland; Robb Nen was also 7 for 7 but blew one on the eighth opportunity).

A four-time All-Star, Percival compiled a 29–38 record with a 2.99 ERA in 586.2 innings for the Angels. His 355 saves grant him inclusion in the 300 save club. However, his strikeouts per nine innings went down considerably after his years as an elite closer. In {{mlby|2001}}, his K/9 rate was 11.08 and decreased to 5.98 in 2004. His fastball, once clocked consistently at 96–100 MPH, was down to about 92–93 MPH in 2004, due to a degenerative hip condition that first appeared in 2003, which forced him to alter his pitching delivery.

Percival's contract with the Angels expired in 2004 and he became a free agent at the end of that season. Rather than bring Percival back, the Angels decided to turn to young phenom Francisco Rodríguez to close, motivated largely by Rodríguez's much lower price tag and concerns about Percival's age and health. The Angels offered to negotiate a reduced role (at a correspondingly reduced salary) for Percival to return as a setup man, but Percival decided to seek opportunities elsewhere that would allow him to remain a closer.

Later career and retirement

Percival signed with the Detroit Tigers as a free agent for the {{mlby|2005}} season. However, after a mediocre start to his career at Comerica Park, during which he converted eight saves from 11 opportunities and posted an ERA of 5.76, Percival suffered a serious injury to his right forearm in early July. The severity of the injury ended his season, and put the rest of his career in doubt.

After attempting to recuperate, Percival reported to spring training for the Tigers in {{mlby|2006}}. However, on his first outing he again suffered significant pain and left the team. After spending the entire 2006 season on the Tigers' disabled list and working for the team as an advance scout, Percival's contract with the Tigers expired at the end of the 2006 season.

Though he didn't pitch a game during the Tigers' run to the American League Championship, the team voted Percival a ring and a full playoff share. Appreciative of this gesture, he used the money to buy a suite at Comerica Park for his teammates' wives.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

In November and December 2006, during his time off from baseball, Percival funded and personally built a new clubhouse at the Riverside Sports Complex, the home venue of his college baseball program, UC Riverside.{{cite web|last=Shaikin|first=Bill|title=Percival Delivers New Home Base|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-feb-12-sp-percival12-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=18 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140801202722/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/feb/12/sports/sp-percival12|archive-date=1 August 2014|date=12 February 2007|url-status=live}}

Comeback and second retirement

File:Troy Percival Angels Opening Day First Pitch 2012 (9275935926) (cropped).jpg before an Angels game in 2012]]

On January 19, {{mlby|2007}}, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim hired Percival as a special assignment pitching instructor. However, believing his arm to have finally healed, he requested his release from his minor league coaching contract to pursue a comeback. Percival signed a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals and joined the big league team on June 26, 2007.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=January 19, 2007|title=Former Angel Troy Percival returns as special assignment pitching instructor|url=http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20070119&content_id=1782872&vkey=pr_ana&fext=.jsp&c_id=ana|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225010654/http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20070119&content_id=1782872&vkey=pr_ana&fext=.jsp&c_id=ana|archive-date=December 25, 2007|access-date=February 7, 2021|website=Los Angeles Angels}}{{Cite web|last=Molony|first=Jim|date=May 22, 2007|title=Inside Pitch: Percival ready to reload|url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070522&content_id=1979315&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070716193845/http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070522&content_id=1979315&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb|archive-date=July 16, 2007|access-date=February 7, 2021|website=MLB.com}}{{Cite web|last=DiComo|first=Anthony|date=June 26, 2007|title=Percival back in big leagues|url=http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070626&content_id=2050580&vkey=news_stl&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070811063550/http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070626&content_id=2050580&vkey=news_stl&fext=.jsp&c_id=stl|archive-date=August 11, 2007|access-date=February 7, 2021|website=St. Louis Cardinals}} Percival was the fourth member of the 2002 championship Angels team to play for the 2007 Cardinals, joining David Eckstein, Scott Spiezio, and Adam Kennedy, as well as former Angels teammate Jim Edmonds.

Percival made his first appearance in the Majors since 2005 on June 29, 2007, against the Cincinnati Reds. He struck out the first batter he faced, David Ross, and was also credited with the win.

On November 29, 2007, he signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the Tampa Bay Rays. The contract contained up to $4 million in performance-based incentives.{{Cite web|last=Olney|first=Buster|date=November 29, 2007|title=Percival signs two-year, $8 million deal with Rays|url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=3132471|access-date=February 7, 2021|website=ESPN|language=en}} Percival was the team's primary closer in {{mlby|2008}}.

On May 22, 2009, a day after allowing two runs in 1/3 of an inning against the Oakland Athletics, Percival was placed on Tampa Bay's disabled list. On August 11, 2009, he announced that he was likely to retire, and would cease his attempts at coming back from his injury.

Coaching career

From 2010 to 2012, Percival was a volunteer pitching coach at Riverside Polytechnic High School.{{Cite web|url=http://gohighlanders.com/coaches.aspx?rc=632&path=baseball|title=Troy Percival, Head Baseball Coach|publisher=UC Riverside|access-date=June 11, 2016}} On September 24, 2012, Percival was hired as head varsity baseball coach at his alma mater, Moreno Valley High School.{{cite web|last1=Krider|first1=Dave|title=Troy Percival hired as baseball coach at alma mater|url=http://www.maxpreps.com/blogs/maxwire-national-blog/jVvHhq-ugkKwMRDwsFIC3w/troy-percival-hired-as-baseball-coach-at-alma-mater.htm|website=MaxPreps|publisher=CBS Interactive|access-date=July 30, 2014}} On July 26, 2014, he was named head coach of the UC Riverside baseball team.{{cite news|last1=Steele|first1=Allan|title=BASEBALL: Percival to be named UCR's new coach|url=http://www.pe.com/articles/percival-697998-coach-ucr.html|work=The Press Enterprise |access-date=July 29, 2014}} On November 11, 2020, Percival resigned as head coach of the Highlanders, citing the desire to help his son through the professional ranks as his reason for resignation.{{cite news |title=Troy Percival resigns as UC Riverside baseball coach |url=https://www.pe.com/2020/11/11/troy-percival-resigns-as-uc-riverside-baseball-coach/ |work=The Press-Enterprise |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113175119/https://www.pe.com/2020/11/11/troy-percival-resigns-as-uc-riverside-baseball-coach/ |archive-date=2020-11-13 |date=November 11, 2020 |url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}

On January 12, 2024, Percival was announced as the manager of the Idaho Falls Chukars of the Pioneer League.{{Cite journal|title=Troy Percival Announced as Manager of the Idaho Falls Chukars|url=https://www.pioneerleague.com/sports/bsb/2023/releases/20240112i1mllp|access-date=April 17, 2024|website=pioneerleague.com|date=January 12, 2024 |language=en}}

Head coaching record

{{CBB yearly record start | type = coach| conference = | postseason= }}

{{CBB Yearly Record Subhead

| name =UC Riverside Highlanders

| conference=Big West Conference

| startyear =2015

| endyear =2020

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2015

| name = UC Riverside

| overall = 15–40

| conference = 4–20

| confstanding = 9th{{cite web|url=http://www.bigwest.org/sports/baseball/info/review/2015/standings.asp|title=Baseball - 2015 standings|publisher=Big West Conference|access-date=June 11, 2016}}

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2016

| name = UC Riverside

| overall = 26–29

| conference = 12–12

| confstanding = T–4th{{cite web|url=http://www.bigwest.org/sports/baseball/info/review/2016/standings.asp|title=Baseball - 2016 standings|publisher=Big West Conference|date=June 22, 2016|access-date=August 22, 2016}}

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2017

| name = UC Riverside

| overall = 22–32

| conference = 8–16

| confstanding = T–7th{{cite web|url=http://www.bigwest.org/sports/baseball/info/review/2017/standings.asp|title=Baseball - 2017 standings|publisher=Big West Conference|date=June 19, 2017|access-date=June 11, 2018}}

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2018

| name = UC Riverside

| overall = 19–33

| conference = 7–17

| confstanding = 8th{{cite web|url=http://www.bigwest.org/sports/baseball/|title=Baseball - 2018 standings|publisher=Big West Conference|date=June 10, 2018|access-date=June 11, 2018}}

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry

| championship =

| season = 2019

| name = UC Riverside

| overall = 20–36

| conference = 8–16

| confstanding = T–7th

| postseason =

}}

{{CBB yearly record entry