baseball obituaries 2015

wendell kim

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-3t4F8W0AAcsjo.jpg

Fred Mertz AND Spock.

(would a Rhubarb viewing party get you out of the house, mook?)

maybe!

Minnie Minoso:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/chi-white-sox-great-minnie-minoso-dead-at-90-20150301-story.html

He should have been in the Hall of Fame before today. RIP.

If you give enough weight to his a) late start (25 as a rookie), b) historical importance, and c) MVP support (no wins, but four fourth-place finishes), yes. Statistically, with the exception of one great year ('54), he's not quite as strong as I would have thought.

Christina Kahrl interviewed him last week:

A few guys who would shout, "Hit this [N-word] in the head." When we went to Philadelphia, you could hear Jimmy Dykes [then a coach for the A's] shouting that from the dugout. But then, after the game back to the hotel, he passed me by and said, "Hello, Mr. Minoso." And I went, "Wait a minute, how do you now call me 'Mr. Minoso,' but before you called me dirty names during the game?" And he said, "That's the game."

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/page/blackhistoryMLBminoso/white-sox-great-minnie-minoso-integration-fan-appreciation-cuba-hof-slight

former met/oriole jeff mcknight, aged 52

1970 AL batting champ alex johnson

Al Rosen, 1953 AL MVP (Indians), 1987 Executive of the Year (Giants)

http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/03/14/al-rosen-dies-cleveland-indians-mvp-san-francisco-giants

Missed Alex Johnson. Because 1970 was my first year watching baseball, still remember that he won that batting race going into the fourth decimal place (and, without checking, that he hit .329).

(Which I did check after typing that. But not before.)

Why I remember: this photo turned up in the first Zander Hollander guide I bought.

http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/d52ced231646628a24690e2e6fce9bae95a7beaa/c=0-9-2237-2992&r=537&c=0-0-534-712/local/-/media/2015/03/05/DetroitFreePress/DetroitFreePress/635611651735560995-AP-Alex-Johnson-Baseball-NY1.jpg

Ford C. Frick award winner Lon Simmons:

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12624395/lon-simmons-hall-fame-san-francisco-giants-broadcaster-dies-91

Jim Fanning, former Expos GM.

http://montrealgazette.com/sports/baseball/longtime-expos-manager-jim-fanning-dies

I'm actually about halfway through Jonah Keri's Expos book at the moment.

RIP Nelson Doubleday; you weren't a fucking Wilpon

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/13104166/former-new-york-mets-owner-nelson-doubleday-dies-81

darryl hamilton

jeez

Ugh, that's horrible.

His poor son. Man.

if Kevin Millar gets called up to fill his chair the terrorists have won.

Billy Pierce

pierce bio by neyer

http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/9e29afb8

RIP Joaquín Andújar

http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/2468215/fallecio-exlanzador-dominicano-joaquin-andujar

"youneverknow"

yogi berra

RIP Lawrence Peter

Aw, RIP

RIP Yogi.

I just learned (from the NYT obit) that his return to Yankee Stadium after 14 years feuding with the Steinbrenners happened on the same day as David Cone's perfect game.

he was going to jump into Cone's arms but they couldn't find a stepladder.

last time i saw him AND Gary Carter was at the closing of Shea Stadium:

http://www1.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Yogi+Berra+Gary+Carter+Florida+Marlins+v+New+gvQWrA9KENtl.jpg

aww man ... it's getting dusty in here ...

Dean Chance:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-dean-chance-angels-cy-young-winner-dies-20151011-story.html

Dominant in '64 (a little less so when you adjust for era and park).

Also an object lesson in how pitchers were destroyed in those days. He was on track for the HOF at 27, at which point he'd thrown 1800+ innings; threw another 350, and retired at 30.

His real claim to fame: the only guy to beat Sandy Koufax in a Cy Young vote after '62. (Koufax lost time to an injury and finished third.)

Reading his SABR bio - said to have had a back injury before the 1969 season.

I looked at his Wikipedia entry, and my assumption seems to be wrong. He got into a contract dispute after the '68 season, held out (and "won" a mere $5,000 reduction...), then tried to rush his comeback, which led to the back trouble.

Also, for what it's worth, Felix Hernandez had thrown 1,800+ innings by age 27. Obviously, he's an exception to the general trend, though.

Pitching is voodoo and just good genes. There are bunches of guys out there with career arcs like Dean Chance. Jim Maloney is one from the same period. He stays healthy into the 70s and the Big Red Machine, the guy is probably a Hall of Fame pitcher, but it just was not to be. Then you look at guys like Carlton, Seaver and Blyleven and wonder how they handled that many innings. You got to wonder if some of the modern guys could actually handle those 280 inning loads and are just not getting used that way out of fear they will get hurt. Never know.

the modern guys throw harder more often than fastball pitchers of the '70s (with a few exceptions then like Ryan)

Neill Sheridan, an outfielder in the old Pacific Coast League who supposedly hit the farthest home run in history, died Thursday in Antioch. He was 93.

Mr. Sheridan died peacefully while surrounded by family members a month after suffering from pneumonia, said his granddaughter Tami Hopkins.

In his 12-year pro career in the ‘40s and ‘50s, Mr. Sheridan played mostly in the PCL, including several stints with the San Francisco Seals and one with the Oakland Oaks - and played two games for the 1948 Boston Red Sox, striking out in his only major-league at-bat.

"Ted Williams and I were talking, and Joe DiMaggio comes out and asks me if I'd like to meet Babe Ruth,” said Mr. Sheridan, reminiscing about a day in spring training for a Chronicle story published in January 2014.

A Sacramento native, Mr. Sheridan grew up in Berkeley, played football at USF and joined the Seals in 1943, playing for legendary manager Lefty O’Doul, who Mr. Sheridan called “Mr. San Francisco.”

His best PCL season was 1947 when he hit .286 with 16 homers and 95 RBIs, which prompted a trade to the Red Sox. He met Ruth in the spring of 1948, shortly before the Babe died, and got called up late in the season.

http://www.sfchronicle.com/giants/article/Neill-Sheridan-dies-said-to-have-hit-613-foot-6573371.php

Norm Siebern, 3-time All-Star OF traded by Yankees for Roger Maris

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/04/sports/baseball/norm-siebern-82-dies-left-yankees-in-trade-for-maris.html

reds outfielder eddie milner, age 60

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/sports/baseball/former-red-eddie-milner-dies-at-60/npF76/

Tommy Hanson, 29

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/14095292/tommy-hanson-former-atlanta-braves-losangeles-angels-pitcher-dies

Jeez -- RIP Tommy.

:( that's awful.

George Genovese, longtime Giants scout

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/14150240/george-genovese-scout-san-francisco-giants-losangeles-dodgers-dies-93

Ken Johnson

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/ken-johnson-dies-dead-only-pitcher-lose-nine-inning-no-hitter-complete-game-82-colt-45s-112315

Phil Pepe, longtime NY columnist/Yankee beat writer

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/14363878/long-new-york-sports-writer-phil-pepe-dies-80

Jim O'Toole:

http://www.700wlw.com/onair/lance-mcalister-7818/sad-news-rip-to-reds-hall-14227094/

I remember he turns up in Ball Four--I think he might be the guy who Bouton looks over at sympathetically in the clubhouse one day as he soaks his elbow in ice water during a doomed comeback attempt.

@BNightengale
Dave Henderson, the gregarious man known as Hendu, died Sunday, one month after getting a kidney transplant. He will be tremendously missed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPwYfPwl7qs

Wow, RIP Hendu. He was a big guy, even by today's standards.

The big moment starts at around 2h30m of the video in the previous post.

Joe Strauss, who covered the Cardinals, along with the braves and orioles earlier in his life, has passed away.

tom singer, writer who began covering baseball in 1974 and was one of mlb.com's first hires 15 years ago, most recently serving as pirates beat writer

jim davenport

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cbl8dJdUYAAJmE6.jpg

tony phillips!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CbmJwk5VAAAEdXz.jpg

@TJQuinnESPN
Spoke openly w me about his addiction. Said, "kid, I swear I'm clean in the offseason. But the season is too MFing hard not to get F'd up."

@TJQuinnESPN
Once Sox minor owner Jack Gould came through clubhouse. Said, "Hi Tony." He said, "what's up, old MF'er." TP turned to me. "Who was that?"

dammit

loved tony phillips. those early '90s tigers teams were so much fun to watch, a mini-murderers row. lots of low AVG/high OBP dudes with power.

good tony phillips stories at https://twitter.com/hbryant42 too

tony!

@hbryant42
TP goes 0-for-4 w/3 K's, A's down 10-8. 5th AB, 3-run, 9th inn HR off Timlin. A's win 11-10.
Post
Me: saw you last night
TP: Fuck you did.

@hbryant42
Me:Bet you'd go 0-for-4
TP:Sobered up by the 5th one.
Me:Happy Birthday.
TP: We'll see how happy you are when you're 40 fucking years old.

Great player. Offensively, I'd almost say he was to Raines what Raines was to Henderson; defensively, obviously much more versatile than either.

sort of a proto-zobrist

Proto-Zobrist almost sounds like some kind of political faction in Israel.

http://chicago.suntimes.com/sports/7/71/1352551/white-sox-co-owner-eddie-einhorn-dies-80

Tom Knight, official baseball historian of Brooklyn

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/07/sports/baseball/tom-knight-brooklyns-baseball-sage-dies-at-89.html

joe garagiola

damn, RIP

saw him in a radio studio circa 1969 on a tour of the 30 Rock building, waved at us thru the glass

looked the same for the next 40 years

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXf5GPt8O-E

didnt remember Scully & Joe as GotW partners. I do remember Joe & Tony Kubek.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3OfRjfllgw

do the quotes mean that is NOT Jose Lind?

that is jose lind, but fair to use quotes around "pittsburgh pirates" in the mid-80s

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CeQfSmMXIAEVJ0L.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CeQfv8uW4AAEt6p.jpg

reading through peanuts collections is how i first encountered joe garagiola.

had a good 1946 World Series at bat, and same with terrible Pirates of '52

One that resonates. Grew up with Joe, Gowdy, and Kubek. (That's how I remember it, although if I actually checked back, maybe the three of them weren't together all that long.)

JG did a pregame show, it was usu Gowdy & Kubek in the booth in the '70s on NBC

My memories of the Game of the Week were Joe and Kubek to start with, then after a few years it was Joe and Vin, with Tony and the rookie Bob Costas doing the B game, or the 2nd game on the rare doubleheader Saturdays.

RIP JoeGaryJoe – that's what my wife's mother called him. He fought the good fight against players' tobacco use but didn't live to see it eliminated onfield entirely.

maybe he saw this last night: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/23/sports/the-mets-and-the-yankees-brace-for-a-future-without-smokeless-tobacco.html

A belated RIP to Charlie Williams, who died Jan. 27, 2015, four days after Ernie Banks. Just stumbled over him when I was looking up something to do with Willie Mays; Williams (+ $50,000) was the only guy ever traded for Mays, in the '72 deal that brought Mays to the Mets.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/31/sports/charlie-williams-a-met-traded-for-mays-dies-at-67.html