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Misc. Baseball
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Gathering up assorted interesting items of baseball anecdotes and history, mostly from the '80s.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'deaths obituaries'
Judy Johnson
Here is the Washington Post obituary for Judy Johnson, who died near the capital on June 15, 1989: William Julius “Judy” Johnson, 88, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and the first black coach in the major leagues, died June 15 at a ...
Ron Jones of the Philadelphia Phillies
This man spent the late ’80s as one of the brighter prospects in the Phillies’ system. He was compared to Kal Daniels and Tony Gwynn, but had problems with his knees even before playing on the AstroTurf of Veterans Stadium. After winning ...
The Death of Eddie Mathews
In the aftermath of Eddie Mathews’ death, in February 2001, the Houston Chronicle published a writer’s memory of Eddie Mathews. It included a reference to another athlete by beginning: “Life is not a game, it is not the wheel of for...
The Death of Ex-Oriole Jim Hardin
Ex-Orioles pitcher Jim Hardin spent time with the team in the late ’60s and early ’70s before pitching with the Yankees and Braves and then retiring in 1972, after suffering various injuries. By 1991, he’d become a star salesman for...
Roger Maris and Fargo
A UPI report on Roger Maris’ death from lymphatic cancer late in 1985 focused on his relationship to his hometown of Fargo: Fargo residents remember Maris fondly, especially those connected with the American Legion, the training ground for th...
Jocko Conlan, Long-Time Umpire
In late April 1989, the Associated Press reported the death of long-time umpire Jocko Conlan in Scottsdale, Arizona: Jocko Conlan, a National League umpire for 24 years who had been the oldest living member of baseball’s Hall of Fame, died Sund...
Mike Sharperson
Even now, over a decade after his death, Mike Sharperson seems to be more famous as a utility player Dodgers All-Star in 1992 than the minor leaguer who died in an early-morning single-car crash on I-15 in Las Vegas on May 26, 1996. After his death, ...
Harry Kalas and Steve Carlton and Richie Ashburn
In commemoration of Harry Kalas’s death, here’s an anecdote from September 1983, with the New York Times reporting on Kalas’s indirect connection to Steve Carlton’s 300th win: The Phillies’ ace left-hander, Steve Carlton...
Some Notes on the Passing of Mark Fidrych
News of the death of Mark Fidrych today prompted me to hunt down some stories about the years after his heyday in 1976. In mid-March 1979, Thomas Boswell caught this glimpse of the man: “In the Detroit Tiger locker room, Fidrych is the same, ho...
Floyd Caves “Babe” Herman
Babe Herman died just after the 1987 Thanksgiving, on November 27. His foibles with the Dodgers are famous, but he also hit for the cycle twice in a single season, and is one of two players to do that three times in a career. He hit the first night g...
Ted Kluszewski
Angels owner Gene Autry responded to the death of Ted Kluszewski on March 29, 1988, by recalling Klu hitting two home runs and driving in five runs when the Los Angeles Angels, an American League expansion team playing its first game, defeated the Ba...
The Strange Case of Johnny Mostil
To the extent Johnny Mostil’s known today, it’s from this event, as described in the Los Angeles Times of March 9, 1927, reporting from Shreveport, Louisiana: “Johnny Mostil, Chicago American outfielder, slashed his throat so severely l...
Lena Blackburne
Russell (Lena) Blackburne, who died on Leap Day, 1968, spent 1910 through 1919 as a baseball player, but his time in the big leagues was very sporadic: Blackburne was with the White Sox in 1910 for a half-season, in 1912 for five games and one at-bat...
Van Lingle Mungo
Van Lingle Mungo died on February 12, 1985. He’d spent 1931 through 1945, with the exception of a year in the Army in 1944, playing for New York N.L. teams, the Dodgers until 1943, and then the Giants. On the 14th, the New York Times obituary s...
Red Ruffing’s Death in 1986
On February 17, 1986, three years to the day before the death of once-Yankee teammate Lefty Gomez, Red Ruffing died. A New York Times obituary said: At 6 feet 2 inches tall and 200 pounds, the brawny Ruffing was regarded as an overpowering natural pi...
