Dees was born in Birmingham, Alabama. He played for the Louisville Clippers of the Negro Leagues in 1957 before signing with the San Francisco Giants\' organization the following year. He batted over .300 in three of his first five minor league seasons, culminating with a breakout year for the 1962 El Paso Sun Kings of the Double-A Texas League. Dees led the Texas circuit in batting (.348) and hits (179), and reached career highs in home runs (23) and runs batted in (115). He was selected as a member of the Texas League all-star team. The following March, the Giants sold his contract to the Angels.\n', '

Dees split 1963 between the big-league Angels and their Triple-A affiliate, the Hawaii Islanders, and batted over .300 at both levels. In his MLB debut, May 26 at Dodger Stadium, he doubled off Orlando Peña of the Kansas City Athletics in his first at bat, driving home baserunner Billy Moran for his first big-league run batted in.\n', '

Then Dees embarked on a torrid stretch at the plate. Over his first 20 games, he batted .382 and took over the Angels\' starting first base job. But in the middle of June, his hot hitting began to cool. During a 4-for-35 drought that lasted into early July, his average fell below .300 and he was sent back to Hawaii at month\'s end, batting .281. Recalled to Los Angeles in September, however, he enjoyed another hot stretch, particularly against the Boston Red Sox. Dees started ten games between September 9 and 28, and put up six multi-hit contests, with four three-hit games. Three of those came against Boston, against whom he went 11-for-21 (.524). He finished his rookie year at .307 in 60 games for the Angels.\n', '

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