Official Baseball In Memoriam Thread

[Grinch]

Don Mincher, 1Bman on WS champ 72 A's

RIP

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/Don-Mincher-former-All-Star-first-baseman-dies-030512

[owned]

Longtime MLB umpire Harry Wendelstedt dead at 73
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_yl...rrywendelstedt

[owned]

[Erik]

Former Phillies, Mets, Red Sox and Angels LHP Dennis Bennett, 72.

He almost didn't have a career after nearly being killed in a car crash.

[TyWebb004]

Former Red Sox LHP Mel Parnell died after a long battle with cancer. He was 89.

http://news.yahoo.com/former-red-sox-lefty-mel-parnell-dies-89-134349324--mlb.html

[revo]

Bill “Moose” Skowron, the hulking and popular Yankee first baseman of the 1950s and ‘60s and the hero of their come-from-behind 1958 World Series triumph over the Milwaukee Braves, died early Friday morning at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, Ill., from congestive heart failure. Skowron had also battled lung cancer for several years. He was 81.

Skowron, an eight-time All-Star, was the Yankees’ regular first baseman from 1955-62, averaging 21 homers and 75 RBI and finished his career with a .282 average, 211 homers and 888 RBI. He was especially lethal in the World Series in which he compiled a .293 average, eight homers and 29 RBI in 39 games over eight Fall Classics.

[revo]

Sad story, another loss to diabetes, the disease that killed my father. RIP.

"Kevin Hickey was described perfectly by former White Sox general manager Roland Hemond as "a South Side kid made good." Hickey, 56, a native of the Brighton Park neighborhood who was signed out of a tryout camp despite not playing high school baseball and reached the major leagues, died Wednesday at Rush University Medical Center.

Hickey was found unresponsive in his hotel room April 5 and taken to Parkland Hospital in Dallas after he had missed the Sox's workout before the season opener against the Rangers. Hickey, a diabetic, was transferred to Rush less than a week later but never regained consciousness. "I'm saddened by the loss, but he'll always be remembered," Hemond said. Hickey served as a pregame instructor for the Sox since 2004 and pitched for the Sox for the first three of his six major league seasons (1981-83, 1989-91)."

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-05-16/sports/ct-spt-0517-hickey-white-sox-chicago--20120517_1_kevin-hickey-sox-teammate-softball-league

And another pitcher from the 1980s gone:

Former Tulane and De La Salle standout and Major League pitcher Frank Wills was found dead Friday in his apartment in New Orleans. Wills, 53, worked for Carey Limousine and did not show up for work Friday morning, according to his sister, Katie. When repeated attempts to contact him by phone were unsuccessful, his employer went to the manager of the apartment to check on Wills, who was discovered on his bed.

At Tulane, Wills was a punter for the football team and an ace pitcher for the baseball team. He was selected first-team Sporting News Collegiate All-American in 1980 and subsequently picked 16th overall by the Kansas City Royals in the first round of the 1980 Major League draft. Wills made his Major League debut for the Royals in 1983 and also played for the Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians and Toronto Blue Jays before retiring in 1991.

He was the player the Mets acquired for Tim Leary in 1985.

[revo]

CINCINNATI (AP) — Pedro Borbon, a relief pitcher who helped the Cincinnati Reds win back-to-back World Series titles in the 1970s, died on Monday at his home in Pharr, Tex. He was 65.

The cause was cancer, his son, Pedro Jr., said.

Borbon was with the Reds for 10 years and was a key member of the bullpen on Cincinnati’s 1975 and 1976 championship teams, winning 13 games during those two seasons. He also pitched for the Angels, the Giants and the Cardinals.

[revo]

Dave Boswell won 20 games to help take the Minnesota Twins to an American League division championship in 1969. He pitched in a World Series when he was only 20. But for many he is most remembered as a combatant on the list of Billy Martin’s greatest fights.

Boswell, who died on Monday at 67 in Joppa, Md., was flourishing in the summer of ’69, having won 12 games under Martin, who was the Twins’ manager. Then came a fight on Aug. 6 at a Detroit bar after a Twins game against the Tigers. Boswell then got into a fight outside the bar with Bob Allison, a Twins outfielder, who, as Martin told it, was trying to calm him. Martin said that when he got outside, Boswell hit him as well, at which point Martin’s peacemaking efforts collapsed, as did Boswell.




One week after the death of former Mariners general manager Hal Keller, the organization has lost another one of its seminal figures. Roger Jongewaard, their long-time scouting director, died Monday of a heart attack, according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale on Twitter. He was 76.

[revo]

former Indians and Phillies pitcher and current Padres bullpen coach Darrel Akerfelds, 50, died of pancreatic cancer on Friday.

[revo]

Bob Myrick, former pitcher for the New York Mets, died Thursday after suffering a heart attack in Hattiesburg, Miss. He was 59.

He pitched for the Mets from 1976-1978.

[revo]

It sucks that all these guys from my youth, whose cards I probably had 20 of at a time and flipped away, are starting to die off. And what a great name, too:

Former Tiger Champ Summers has died in Ocala, Fla. He was 66.Summers' wife, Joy, told the Associated Press that he died Thursday after a 2 1/2-year battle with kidney cancer.

Starting in 1974, Summers played 10 seasons in the majors for six teams.His wife told the AP that "his favorite team was Detroit. He stayed there the longest, and he loved the fans." Summers was traded from the Cincinnati Reds to Detroit in May 1979. He hit .313 that season with the Tigers, with 20 homers, 77 hits and seven steals. He played the next two seasons for Detroit before being traded to San Francisco. He hit .293 in Detroit.Summers also played for Oakland, the Chicago Cubs and San Diego and finished his career with a .255 average, 54 home runs and 218 RBIs. He later was a hitting coach for the Yankees.

[Bob Kohm]

Damn, don't really know why but "Champ Summers" was always the name I used when I needed a "generic" baseball player name. You're right, there was one year when it seemed like EVERY pack of cards had a Champ Summers in it, lol. This makes me sad.

[revo]

Damn, don't really know why but "Champ Summers" was always the name I used when I needed a "generic" baseball player name. You're right, there was one year when it seemed like EVERY pack of cards had a Champ Summers in it, lol. This makes me sad.

In looking at his stats, I saw that he started his career late-- 25 in the minors, 28 in the majors. I didn't know why until I found another board tonight which said he was a Vietnam Vet. Makes sense, we forget about these things today.

[Don Quixote]

Damn, don't really know why but "Champ Summers" was always the name I used when I needed a "generic" baseball player name. You're right, there was one year when it seemed like EVERY pack of cards had a Champ Summers in it, lol. This makes me sad.

I remember him from his Reds days with the Big Red Machine. Good team guy, never made waves. One sportswriter tried to stir the pot one time, asking Summers about his lack of playing time, and Summers' reply was something along the lines of, "Uh, have you looked at who starts at the positions I play?" (Tony Perez at 1B, George Foster in LF, Ken Griffey Sr. in RF)

Sparky Anderson (RIP) loved all his players, but Summers was a special favorite of his.