Official Baseball In Memoriam Thread

[revo]

Legendary Yankees Hall of Famer Whitey Ford died at age 91. RIP.

[rhd]

Legendary Yankees Hall of Famer Whitey Ford died at age 91. RIP.

3rd in career winning percentage in modern baseball history at .690 (minimum 1000 IP) behind only Spud Chandler (.717) and Clayton Kershaw (.697).

[Judge Jude]

Whitey had the hardest time vs Tigers (21-13), while going 32-10 against the Twins (and 0-0 vs the Yankees).

[chancellor]

Whitey had the hardest time vs Tigers (21-13), while going 32-10 against the Twins (and 0-0 vs the Yankees).

And used a cut fastball. Well, not like today's cut fastball, but still....and I think his nickname remains one of the greatest ever.

[The Feral Slasher]

And used a cut fastball. Well, not like today's cut fastball, but still....and I think his nickname remains one of the greatest ever.

I have never particularly liked getting called "Whitey" but to each his/her own.

[chancellor]

I have never particularly liked getting called "Whitey" but to each his/her own.

LOL...dunno about that, but Chairman of the Board is pretty cool.

[revo]

I met Whitey Ford at a dinner I hosted for prospects and clients back when I was with TD Ameritrade, probably around 2004. Great guy. I have a pic with him somewhere on my computer, but can't find it. Rest in peace chairman.

[onejayhawk]

I had to come pay my respects.

Mickey Mantle was a childhood hero, so I became familiar with the Mantle, Martin, Ford trio. Billy Martin was current news as a manager, which helped. The fact that Whitey was a lefty was cool to a primary school kid. I didn't figure out til later that he had been retired for decades. Whitey was always the third of three for me, so it's sort of fitting that he is also the third to leave.

J

[Judge Jude]

a college friend of mine had a father who helped all of those classic Yankees, including Whitey, build houses just across the GW Bridge in New Jersey in the 1950s. so all of the guys mentioned above used to come by his house all the time (as did legendary boxer Rocky Marciano) while my friend was growing up, though they had retired by then.

but my friend's favorite of them all was "Uncle Yogi," who got him first row/first base line tickets to the 1973 World Series (he was the Mets manager). pal has a pre-game photo of him sitting in the dugout with Mets owner Joan Payson.

I still find it unfathomable for any kid to have been that lucky.

then his neighbor across the street, famous sportswriter Dick Young, got my pal tickets to the 1986 World Series - and I have mentioned before how that landed me in the loge section behind home plate for Game 7.

this left other pals finding it unfathomable that I could be that lucky.

[Pauly]

Joe Morgan passes at 77 years old.

https://www.nj.com/yankees/2020/10/hall-of-fame-second-baseman-joe-morgan-dead-at-77.html

[revo]

Joe Morgan passes at 77 years old.
https://www.nj.com/yankees/2020/10/h...ead-at-77.html

My god, he's the 5th baseball HOFer to pass in the last month.

[Judge Jude]

and Al Kaline in the spring

[Judge Jude]

flat out stolen from Baseball Think Factory but at least I'll credit the author

32. Steve Balboni's Personal Trainer Posted: October 12, 2020 at 03:26 PM (#5982618)
On a different note, is this the most Hall of Famers to die in one calendar year? I took a quick look at it via baseball-reference, and although I couldn't easily sort it within the site, I was able to do a quick count with some Excel help. It appears this is how it breaks down:

Most Hall of Famers to die in a calendar year:

2020 and 1972 - 6
1948 and 1993 - 5
1951, 1954, 1963, 1971, 1984, 1989, 1999 - 4
20 years have seen three HOFers pass away, most recently 2017.
21 have seen 2 pass away, most recently 2018.
48 have seen one pass away, most recently 2019.
2008 was the last year to not have a HOFer pass away. Actually, from 2004 to 2009, a total of only three Hall of Famers passed away. That appears to be the quietest stretch since the 1930s.

There are now 68 living Hall of Famers.

I decided to list the players who passed away in the four years that had 5 or more HOFers pass away. Before I did this, I thought it would be clear that 2020 would have the most "star-power lost" of any year, if you will. I would argue that 2020 has had the most evenly-impressive group...but when you look at the list below, you may agree with me that it actually not so clear:

2020: Seaver, Morgan, Ford, Brock, Kaline, Gibson
1972: Clemente, Jackie Robinson, Zack Wheat, Gabby Hartnett, Pie Traynor, Dave Bancroft
1948: Babe Ruth, Hack Wilson, Three-Finger Brown, Herb Pennock, Joe Tinker
1993: Gehringer, Bill Dickey, Roy Campanella, Johnny Mize, Don Drysdale

[madducks]

[madducks]