Wathan’s Father Dies in Iowa at 80 After Brain Hemorrhage

Jim Wathan, the 80-year-old father of Angel interim Manager John Wathan, died Tuesday afternoon at Mercy Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, one day after suffering a brain hemorrhage.

John Wathan flew to his hometown after the Angels’ game against Milwaukee on Monday night and arrived hours before his father’s death. An Angel spokesman said funeral arrangements were tentatively scheduled for Friday in Cedar Rapids. Wathan is expected to rejoin the Angels Saturday in Oakland.

Jim Wathan’s death comes during an Angel season in which bench coach Deron Johnson died from lung cancer, emergency brain surgery was performed on pitcher Matt Keough after he was hit by a foul ball while sitting in the dugout during a game at Scottsdale Stadium and a May 21 bus accident sent Manager Buck Rodgers to the hospital for six hours of surgery. Rodgers plans to return to the dugout Aug. 28.

“You see a lot of things happen over the course of time, and it’s just unfortunate a lot of bad things have happened this year to this organization,” said pitching coach Marcel Lachemann, who was designated Wathan’s replacement after Monday’s game.

The players, who were told of Jim Wathan’s death before Tuesday’s game, offered their interim manager sympathy.

Said infielder Rene Gonzales: “There’ll be a good atmosphere for John to come back to and a lot of support for him here. We’re privileged to have a pretty good group of guys here who have dealt with everything that’s happened. We’ve been lucky that way.”