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BORN
1947
DIED
2016
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Michael Strahler Obituary
Michael Wayne Strahler passed away peacefully on July 14, 2016 at his home in Alamogordo. Michael was born on March 14, 1947, to Richard G. and Mary J. Strahler in Chicago, Ill.
He graduated from McClatchy High School in Sacramento, Calif., after which he served in the Army for a short time before receiving a medical discharge. Mike was always interested in baseball and started a career pitching for the Albuquerque Dukes. In 1966–1967 he pitched for Spartanburg, 1967 Eugene, 1968-1970 Spokane, 1970 Dodgers, 1971 Spokane. Mike showed steady improvement in his minor league career and 1971 made the Dodgers' roster. He was one of 6 Dodgers named to PCL All-Star Team in 1970 and won Topps award as one of two top hurlers in circuit. He first signed with the Phillies. He played Triple A for the Los Angeles, Angels for a few years. He loved baseball.
After his baseball career he was a mechanical engineer for Proctor and Gamble for 35 years. He retired and moved to Alamogordo in 2004.
Mike met and married his wife, Dana in Alamogordo in 2010. He was a very generous person and would do anything for anyone and loved people. His family was his whole life and he will be sorely missed by his family, friends and neighbors and most especially by his Great Dane, Nina, who was his constant companion. Mike's generosity was greater than the whole world.
Mike is preceded in death by his mother.
Mike is survived by his wife Dana of the family home, his father, Richard G. Strahler, Sacramento, Calif.; daughters Shivon (Michael) Benoit, Sacramento, Calif.; Shila (Danny) Guyette, Oxnard, Calif.; Shana (Weston) Gutierrez, Oxnard, Calif. Grandchildren; Elijah Benoit, Andrew, Jessie, Suni, Naya, Dasia Guyette, Izaac and Xavier Gutierrez.
Memorial services will be held at Hamilton Odell Chapel, Friday, July 29, 2016, at 10:00 a.m., with Rev Dustin Wilhite officiating.
"Death is but the anesthesia God gives as he takes from this world to His."
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for Michael Strahler
Sponsored by Alamogordo Daily News.
Dana Strahler
July 13, 2024
I wish they had visiting hours in Heaven, I miss holding your hand ! I wish I could pick up the phone to call you, I miss your voice. Most of all, I wish you were still here on earth with me, it has not been the same without you. I still live everyday thankful, grateful and blessed for the time we had together. You will always be upfront and center in everything I do. I love you beyond words.
Dana Strahler
July 13, 2023
Seven years ago you went away. Seven years of holding on to our beautiful memories to get me through each passing day. Seven years of talking to the Heavens to tell you how my day went. Seven years ago feels like yesterday. What I'd give to have you back. You will always live forever in my heart. I love you.
Dana Strahler
July 18, 2022
Yes, he was.
William Sabino
July 14, 2022
If I may ask, is Robert O'Brien the same one who pitched for the Dodgers in 1971?
William Sabino
July 14, 2022
My condolences, Ms. Strahler
Dana Strahler
July 14, 2022
I miss you more and more each passing year. You will always own my Heart, Body and Soul. I love you beyond words.
Dana Strahler
July 13, 2021
5 years have passed without you, but my heart still feels like it was yesterday. I talk to you daily. I tell you how much I love you. I tell you how much Nina and I miss you.
I still live my life around you, always asking for your thoughts and thinking to myself, what would Mike do. Although your not here physically, I know spiritually you are. Our hearts still beat as one. I will tell you daily, thank you, for there is no better man than you.
Dana Strahler
July 14, 2020
To my love, my life, my world. Another year has passed since you wen't away. I miss you everyday, all day long. So, until eternity I wait, holding you forever in my heart. I love you, to the Heavens and back.
April 22, 2020
Just found out you passed, remembering the days with you and Russell,Kekeich so many years ago in the evenings at good old Dodgertown and you guys taking my Honda 50 to go to A & W to get a gallon of root Beer in 70&71
I will see you again someday my man.
David
Robert O'Brien
July 14, 2019
When we lose another of our Dodger Family, it reinforces the love and caring of your teammates and fond memories one has.
Dana Strahler
July 14, 2019
Three years ago today you went away. You left so unexpectedly, I still struggle with it to this very day. I feel your Presence, I feel your Love. You own my Heart, you always will. I hold on to our Memories, I hold on to our Love, as it was like no other I've ever known. I know your Home in Heaven above. My Darling Angel, thank you for being Mine.
mike evans
October 23, 2017
Best roomate I ever had......GREAT GUY!! I called him SNACKS....memeber of the Dodgers called me LITTLE SNACKS.......I would love to speak with his kids. [email protected].
Blessings,
Mike Evans
Eric Huseby
October 21, 2017
Mike was the winning pitcher in the first major league baseball game I ever saw in person. My dad took me to a Dodgers victory over the Astros late in the 1969 season. Claude Osteen got shelled. Mike came on in relief and pitched 6 or 7 innings, if my memory is correct. I'm positive he got the win and Dodgers won 6-5. I'm a journalist in El Paso, TX. I did some research a couple years ago and learned he lived near me in Alamogordo, New Mexico. I decided I would look him up the next time I found a good hook for a story. Tonight, when the Astros qualified for the World Series, against the Dodgers, I learned he died a year ago. Very sorry to hear of his passing.
Scott Levison
April 10, 2017
I just learned of Mike's passing.
I met him in '73 when he was with the Tigers, My dad had a shop in the hotel where the Tigers stayed and I had met him then.
We'd always talk about music (of all things) whenever the Tigers came in to Boston.
He will be missed.
mike evans
March 13, 2017
I just learned of Michael's mipassing. It had been decades since we last spoke but were roomates the entire time he was with the Dodgers.
I am saddened................ He was a GREAT, GREAT guy!!
mike evans
William Sabino
February 13, 2017
I remember you when you pitched for the Dodgers and Tigers.
You were a good pitcher who wasn't given a full chance.
Rest in peace.
Joe Richter
August 25, 2016
You left us in stitches every time we talked. RIP buddy.
Joe and Jutta from time not wasted at P&G
Sam Messina
August 16, 2016
Hi Mike. Sure wish I could have found you sooner. I tried for years. We had many great times together in Sacramento in the middle 60's. RIP Mike. What a great friend you were. I will never forget you buddy.
Jackie Carrillo
August 14, 2016
Mike, u were one of a kind. Truly a delight. We always looked forward to u and Dana every Saturday afternoon there at Casa De Suenos.
U will be missed greatly. Dana, my condolences. If u need anything we are here for u. Got Ur table ready with ur Michelob ultra, guac, water, and a Sedona chicken wit extra cala instead of papas and no chze. Also sopas to take home. Thank u for the time u all shared with us.
Kathy Peerman
August 9, 2016
We just found out about Mike. We are so sorry to hear this news. Dana, we hope you are doing well as we send our condolences to you and your family. Steve and Kathy Peerman
Kenneth Duran
August 8, 2016
Just found out of Mike's passing today from one of the neighborhood kids ( now adults) that Mike was part of on 38th Ave in Sacramento. He will always be remembered as a person with a CRAZY sense of humor. I remember when he went off to play ball and he came back with a Red Camero with the license plate on the back that spelled out SNACKS!1 I asked him, Mike, whats with that?? He said that was what his Teammates called him because he was ALWAYS SNACKING on something. lol He was truly one of a kind. Alwasy had a big smile on his face and always cracking jokes. When we would all gather to play football in the street, he would throw that ball I swear at least half way down the block. No one could catch it, but we all loved to see him throw it. Funny how it just seems like yesterday we were all sitting under the trees in front of someones house like kids do. Wrestling, or as we called it back then CAPPING ON EACH OTHER. Seeing who could BURN each other with some good words. lol Mike was hard to beat in that department. You will be missed Mike, BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN. You will always be part of the 38th Ave gang. Best neighborhood to live in because .of friends like you.
William Owens
August 3, 2016
I grew up with Mike on 38th avenue. He answered to the nickname of "bird legs." Growing up the neighborhood friends spent countless hours playing basketball in Mikes driveway on a hoop that is still attached to Dicks garage. At the end of our block on the corporation yard lawn we played many games of tackle football and baseball with our bikes lined up in a semi circle for the home run fence. Mike probably hit more homers than the rest of us combined. He no doubt, however, had the worst completion percentage in the history of the corp for the simple reason that none of us could catch his passes......He threw the ball at only one speed.........way too hard.
Mike was a catcher in little league, but switched to pitcher in babe ruth. He played on the Post 61 American Legion team in 1964 and 1965. It was a top notch team, and I went with Dick to watch most of Mikes games. They went to the state finals both years. At the last regional game in Woodland in 1964 Post 61 played a team from Vacaville. They had their ace on the mound, Ron Bryant. He later played for the SF Giants and won 24 games in 1973. Bryant pitched nine innings, giving up one run and one hit. But it wasn't good enough, because Mike threw a complete game two hit shutout, and it was off to the state finals at Yountville. I watched the first game there, and Mike threw a complete game victory.
I went with Dick and Mike to a motel in the east bay in 1966 when he was signed to a professional contract by the Phillies west coast scout Eddie Bachman. He was later drafted out of the Philly organization by the Dodgers, and by happenstance I was listening to a SF Giant radio broadcast in my car in 970 when he made his big league debut, pitching against Mays and McCovey. Wow!
Several years later I watched Mike on a Monday night broadcast in Detroit beat the Yankees. In his big league career Mike pitched a complete game for both the Dodgers and the Tigers. He always had an air of confidence about him, and was a competitor who never backed down from a challenge; attributes that held him in good stead as a minor leaguer who won over 50 games, and of course when he took the mound for the Dodgers and Tigers.
These are some of my memories that still resonate after over a half century. As Mike use to say..."shake yourself meat....have an idea."
Rest in peace Bird legs.
Douglas Abbe
August 1, 2016
I first heard of Mike Strahler when I was 12 years old and listening to Dodger Baseball on the radio with Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett calling the game. It was deep into the game and it was stated, "Now coming into pitch for the Dodgers #37 Mike Strahler." The last I heard of Mike in Major league baseball was after the 1972 season when he was traded to the California Angels in a big trade for both teams.
Little did I know but 6 years after I first heard of Mike as as Dodger over the radio, I was working with him at The Procter and Gamble Company in Oxnard, CA and so I did for the next 37 years! Mike had a serious side to him but he also had a very good sense of humor.
Mike still had a passion for baseball and at work on break one time we played catch outside throwing a baseball. (i brought my baseball glove to work.) Mike threw me a series of pitches that he knew but the toughest to catch was the knuckle ball. I bowled in the P&G Bowling League as did Mike and I remember when he threw the bowling ball you thought that he was still pitching for the Dodgers because the bowling ball he threw was as Vin Scully would say, " A fastball right down the middle." In 1982, Mike and I were on the same California Men's State Bowling team together.
Mike was very strong and one time we were hitting golf balls in a driving range and he turned to me and said, "Hey Dougie, (that was his name for me) check this out!" and he belted a golf ball in the driving range over the top of the back screen some 250 yards away on the fly.
Mike and I were on the same team at work and we talked a lot about his time in baseball and how he pitched to Willie Mays and Willie McCovey on the San Francisco Giants and what piches he threw to them to throw them off. Mike told me while on the Dodgers someone gave him the nickname "Snacks" because it probably would not be until late in the game if the team needed him to come in and pitch, so he would get his snacks, organize them and eat them down in the bull pin during the game.
At work, don't you dare mess with his tool box without his permission and if you used a tool out of his tool box you better get his permission first, put it back the same way he had it organized and you better lock his tool box with his keys that he gave to you to lock it with. By the way his tool box number believe it or not was #37. About 1992 the crew that Mike and I were on at work were over to his house for a social gathering and he knew that I loved the Dodgers as much as Tommy Lasorda does, so Mike pulled out of the closet his 1969 Los Angeles Dodgers road grey #37 jersey and said to me, "Hey Dougie, check this out!" What a beautiful sight to see as I thought back some 22 years earlier when I first heard his name pitching for the Dodgers over the radio.
in July 1993 Mike called ahead to the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium that he was bringing down some people from work to see the Dodgers vs. Giants and tickets were left for us at Will Call. Prior to leaving for the game Mike said to me, " Hey Dougie, make sure you bring some items with you to the game and I will try to help you get them signed!" it was late in the game and in relief (to me) number #37 Mike Strahler turned to me and said, "Hey Dougie, I can take you and the other guys down to meet Vin Scully and Don Drysdale!" And so he did! What a thrill for me!
It was awesome to meet Vin Scully and Don Drysdale! Don Drysdale signed some baseball's and alot of photos for me that night and we also got a special behind the scenes tour of Dodger Stadium.
Within a week of the game that we attended, Don Drysdale passed away while the Dodgers were playing an away game in Montreal, Canada. Talking with Mike he said he wanted to attend Don Drysdale's Memorial service and he wanted me to go with him to the service. So I drove Mike to Don Drysdale's Memorial service at Forest Lawn Glendale, CA that we attended together. You would not believe the amount of former Dodgers that were there! Fast forward to about 2004 prior to Mike retiring from Procter and Gamble. I told Mike, "Remember your Dodger jersey you pulled out of the closet to show me some 12 years earlier." "As a retirement gift to you I would like to get it framed for you before you leave and move to New Mexico." Within a very short time Mike handed over to me his Dodgers jersey as he said to me, "Hey Dougie, Make sure that I get this back!" I was so delighted to get Mike's jersey framed for him and within a few weeks he came by my house and picked it up and he was thrilled! We had a few pictures taken by my wife in the backyard with both Mike and I along with his framed jersey. I heard that Mike proudly displayed his framed Dodgers jersey on the wall of his new home in Alamogordo, New Mexico. I saw Mike one more time prior to his move out of state.
"Thank you Mike for being yourself and it was a great pleasure knowing you!" "God created you and now you are back with him!" "A job well done on earth as we all are at his mercy for eternal life with him!" "Until we meet again!" "Thank you Jesus for the life of Michael Wayne Strahler."
My thoughts and prayers go out to Mike's Father, Wife, Children and Family. May God give you his perfect peace as you lean on him. Most Sincerely, Douglas Abbe
Peter Palmer
July 31, 2016
I was very saddened to hear of Mike's passing.
We worked together on the maintenance team at P & G Oxnard, sharing many laughs usually initiated by Mike.
Mike usually greeted me with a single word, with much emphasis, "rahthur", which I guess was a dig at my New Zealand accent. I could be way down a hallway at work and hear this single word "rahthur" wafting from behind, of course it would be Mike.
I visited Mike in hospital shortly after his by-pass surgery. He was working on the breathing device pushing to exceed what was expected at that time, which he did. All of a sudden he asked me to help him out of the bed and take him for a walk. With much discomfort he leaned on my shoulder and shuffled along for a long, short walk. He many times thanked me for that walk, I guess it was a huge milestone.
I have only good thoughts of Mike when I hear the Bruce Springsteen song "Glory days". Brings a smile to my face. By now he will have assembled a good team in heaven, hopefully with a great catcher!
We'll meet again Mike "somewhere down the trail".
"Rahthur"
Dominique Calderon
July 27, 2016
We will greatly miss this wonderful man! He brightened our day when he would come in for flowers for his wife, whom he was so proud of, or medicine for his beloved great dane! You could see the love this man had for his family! He wore his great dane shirt with pride and we will always remember him with joy just like when he would bring joy to our day by just stopping by to say hello! Our hearts and prayers go out to all his family and friends. He will forever be in our hearts! -Love,Your Floral Family!
Glenn Conant
July 26, 2016
I also worked with Mike at P&G for 15 years. Have not seem him since I left. I just remember he was a fun to be around at work and outside of work. My prayers are with the family and may you rest in peace my friend.
Ronald Wenzel
July 22, 2016
I am sure Ed Farmer will mention Mike on his broadcasts.They pitched for Detroit in 1973. A short baseball stint,but at least he made it.
Michelle Vera
July 21, 2016
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Strahler family. Just remember that your dad is watching down on you. May you rest in eternal peace Mike. Love always, The Vera Fanily
Debora Dixon
July 21, 2016
So sorry for the loss of your father to you Shivon and your Sisters as well as Granddad to the kids, and of your husband Dana. I am sure there are so many others from his life who are feeling sad and lost a bit with the family too. God bless you all. Love and Prayers your way.
Jeannette Dryer
July 21, 2016
Sending my condolences to Shivon and family. Your father was a great man with a beautiful soul. May he R.I.P. and fly with the Angels. Love, The Dryer Family
Melissa Moore
July 21, 2016
The world is truly a less a colorful place without Mike in it. Then again, the entertainment in heaven just got bumped up a notch. Rest in Peace old friend. I'll find you again someday. Shouldn't be hard to spot the orange Corvette with the SNACKS license plate cruising around heaven.
Sending hope, strength and prayers to those left behind who must go on without him.
Peace & Love, Melissa (Gary) Moore, P & G Oxnard
Dana Strahler
July 21, 2016
My husband, my best friend, my soulmate. Mike, you blessed and enhanced my life in so many beautiful ways. You where my world, and I will cherish our time together forever. Words cannot express how much I miss you, or the sorrow and emptiness that I feel. But know that one day we will be together again, reunited for eternity.
I LOVE YOU
Bob O'Brien
July 20, 2016
My heart felt condolences to the entire Strahler family. I am so sad to hear about Mike. As teammates on the 1970 Spokane Indians championship team, we resided together, were roommates on the road and even shared our profiles on the Topps Future Stars baseball card, ( also Charlie Hough) . So many beautiful memories I will always cherish.
May God Bless and keep you Mike.
Shivon Benoit
July 20, 2016
My dad, gone but never forgotten
Bob O'Brien
July 20, 2016
My condolences to the entire Strahler family. Mike and I were teammates on the 1970 Spokane Indians championship team. We lived together in Spokane and were roommates on the road trips. We even shared our profiles on a Dodger Rookie Stars baseball card. He will always occupy fond memories in my heart and mind. My prayers are with his family.
May God Bless you Mike, till we are reunited in that sandlot in Heaven.
John Gonzalez
July 20, 2016
Mike will be truly missed. It's been a while since I saw Mike, but I thought about him quite often, he always had a funny story to tell, or a funny saying that applied to the situation. Whenever I watch a baseball game, there are times that I think about Mike and what he taught me about the game. He could predict what the pitcher was going to do based on the situation.
I worked with Mike for 15 years at P&G and it was a pleasure to work with him. He was always trying to improve himself and improve results, and was a great team mate. I worked with him in Operations and on the Mechanical Maintenance Team where we had a great working team. We played a lot of Softball together, we were on some great teams and not so great teams, but no matter how good or how bad we played he had fun. He was fun to be with at work, on the ball diamond, or on the golf course.
I will remember Mike for several things: He was organized, he had the neatest tool box, desk, and work area. His sense of humor, he always had funny stories, and sayings, there are just too many to write down here, but any body that knew Mike knows that he would come up with something funny that fit the situation.
I will truly miss him.
John "Gonzo" Gonzalez, (he gave me that nick name in 1977, and it's stuck with me all this time. Thanks Mike)
July 20, 2016
Mike, you will be greatly missed . I will miss my history lessons on Dodger ball when you would stop by the office. Thank you for allowing me to be your friend. You were one of the kindest people I have ever met and best of all you lit up Dana's eyes every time your name was mentioned . Until we meet again my friend.
Leticia Jacquez
ELIZABETH BELMONTEZ
July 20, 2016
MIKE YOU WILL BE TRULY MISSED..THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING YOU HAVE DONE FOR ME AND MY FAMILY
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