LA Angels Tim Mead takes job as Hall of Fame President

Tim Mead has been with the LA Angels for close to 40 years starting out as an intern in 1980 and rising up to his current position as VP of Communications in 1998.

They say all good things must come to an end and for Tim Mead his time with the LA Angels will soon come to an end. Mead has been offered and accepted a position as the President of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.  He will assume his position with the Hall of Fame this summer.

In a dugout interview with the media before Tuesday’s game,  Mead stated it will be tough to leave the only job he has ever known in baseball with his childhood favorite team the Angels.

“When that day came, it would be I’d be retired and done, “Mead said of when he thought he would leave the Angels. “The Angels will always be a part of my business. That’s just the way I’ll always think. When you get to do something you love and you get to go out on your own terms for a situation that you couldn’t even have prayed for or thought of.”

The 61 year-old Mead has served in numerous roles in his nearly 40 years with the Angels. After starting as an intern in the in the Angels PR department he was promoted in 1985 to be the director of media relations.  Then six years later Mead was promoted again to Assistant Vice President of Media Relations.  He also served as the assistant general manager from 1994 to 1997 before take his current position in 1998.

Mead is known as one of the classiest guys in baseball and is well liked by everyone he comes in contact with.  Mike Trout and Albert Pujols were among the many current and former players that wished Mead well through twitter and other social media after the announcement.d

The Los Angeles Angels official twitter site @Angels released the following statement about Mead’s great opportunity.

I myself have had the pleasure of working with Tim Mead the past five seasons as part of Halo Hangout.  He gave me the opportunity to fulfill a life-long dream of covering the Angels up close and personal in 2015. I went out to Inland Empire to cover Jered Weaver’s two rehab starts for the 66’ers.

Mead as always was there with Weaver handling the media.  I knew Tim a little bit at that point and knew he was a good guy.  I asked him if it would be possible to cover Weaver’s first start back in Anaheim that August and he told me to contact him when the Angels returned home from their current road trip.  I reached out to him and on the Friday before Weaver’s start on a Sunday he called me at home and told me that I would be able to come out and cover the game against the Orioles.

After getting off the phone with Tim, I just sat there in stunned silence and started to cry as a dream i never thought would ever become a reality actually would happen.  When I got to the stadium Tim met me in the dugout and gave me the lay of the of the land.  He helped me get interviews with a few Angel players including Matt Shoemaker to discuss what it meant to the team to have Weaver back.

I was like a kid in a candy store.  I was also able to interview Mike Scioscia as well as pitching coach Mike Butcher about Weaver.  After the game was done I was able to be a part of Scioscia’s post-game press conference and then I was able to go into the Angels locker room to interview Weaver and i also was able to interview catcher Chris Iannetta and future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols.

It was an unbelievable day all made possible by Tim Mead. I have been able to go back multiple times each season to cover games and do interviews with Angel players including Mike Trout. Every time I’m there Tim and his staff, Adam Chodzko, Eric Kay, and Matt Birch always take care of me and no matter how busy Tim is he will make sure to say hello and ask how I’m doing.

I know the Communications/Media department will be in good hands with Adam, Eric, and Matt running the ship after Tim moves on to his  Hall of Fame President role.  However, he will be missed by all who he came in contact with. The Athens, Greece native always made you feel important and that you mattered when you were there covering the Angels.

Mead takes over as Hall of Fame president from outgoing president Jeff Idelson.  He will become the seventh president of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

One final kindness I would like to share about Tim Mead happened this past summer  I reached out to him letting him know that my cousin, Tyler, would like to interview him for his college class. He talked with Tyler for more than 45 minutes answering every one of his questions.

My cousin has now been hired by the Angels to be their video coordinator in Burlington, Iowa.  For th Angels Single-A team there.

The Hall of Fame also sent out a tweet announcing the news of the hiring of Mead.

We here at Halo Hangout want to wish the best of luck to Tim Mead in his new endeavor.  Good luck Tim and may the Power of the Rally Monkey Be With You!!!