Official Baseball In Memoriam Thread

[Don Quixote]

Andy Pafko, 5-time All-Star who played for the Cubs' last NL pennant winner - in 1945 - made it to age 92

http://voices.suntimes.com/sports/an...er-dead-at-92/

One of those very good but forgotten players.

BTW, the caption for the picture in that article is wrong. The last three are Smith, Sutter, and Pafko. And how the he** is Mark Grace on that All-Century team? The only things he really excelled at were looking smug and making semi-witty remarks to the writers.

[Judge Jude]

and slump-busting

[revo]

Longtime ump Wally Bell, who worked last week's Cards-Pirates series and was behind the plate in Game 2, died of a heart attack today at age 48.

[revo]

MLBPA Director Michael Weiner died today of brain cancer at age 51.

[revo]

Former Orioles All-Star CFer Paul Blair, who had a 17-year career and won 8 Gold Gloves, died yesterday at age 69.

[Don Quixote]

Former Orioles All-Star CFer Paul Blair, who had a 17-year career and won 8 Gold Gloves, died yesterday at age 69.

Terrific defender and adequate hitter for those great Orioles teams between the mid-Sixties and mid-Seventies, yet somehow best remembered by many as the guy sent out to right field when Yankee manager Billy Martin pulled Reggie Jackson mid-inning for not hustling after a pop fly.

[Judge Jude]

and Mike Hegan, one of the Seattle Pilots, RIP

these milquetoast Topps cards must seem odd to modern fans now that they have digital photos

http://www.amazon.com/Mike-Hegan-AUTO-Topps-Pilots/dp/B009GNN162

[chancellor]

and Mike Hegan, one of the Seattle Pilots, RIP

Wow...he was incredibly well-liked in Milwaukee. Not only was he a good player, he was also a very good broadcaster.

If I remember right, he's the only modern-era ballplayer to both broadcast and be active for a game. He was on radio fro 3-4 innings, but I don't know if he actually played later in the game that he broadcast.

[revo]

Wow...he was incredibly well-liked in Milwaukee. Not only was he a good player, he was also a very good broadcaster.

If I remember right, he's the only modern-era ballplayer to both broadcast and be active for a game. He was on radio fro 3-4 innings, but I don't know if he actually played later in the game that he broadcast.

Nice one!

"But perhaps Hegan’s most unusual distinction in baseball came on July 18, 1973, when his playing and post-playing careers coincided. A reserve player for the Oakland A’s, he was told by his manager, Dick Williams, just before that day’s game against the Baltimore Orioles that one of the regular announcers was ill. Williams told him to change out of his uniform and report to the broadcast booth. Hegan did. He announced three innings of the game. Then he put his uniform back on and returned to the dugout."

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/27/sports/baseball/mike-hegan-baseball-player-and-broadcaster-dies-at-71.html?_r=0

[Don Quixote]

Wow...he was incredibly well-liked in Milwaukee. Not only was he a good player, he was also a very good broadcaster.

If I remember right, he's the only modern-era ballplayer to both broadcast and be active for a game. He was on radio fro 3-4 innings, but I don't know if he actually played later in the game that he broadcast.

He didn't play in the game--

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK197307180.shtml

Jim Palmer outpitched Ken Holtzman, Merv Rettenmund of all people hit home runs in the first and second innings, and Baltimore beat the A's 5-2. Oakland, of course, had the last laugh, beating the the O's in the LCS and then the Mets to win the second of their three consecutive World Series titles.

Hegan, who had hit an extreme outlier .329 for the A's WS title team in 1972, wasn't around for the celebration in '73, as the A's sent him back to his original team, the Yankees, that August.

[rhd]

Former Orioles All-Star CFer Paul Blair, who had a 17-year career and won 8 Gold Gloves, died yesterday at age 69.

AS a long-time O's fan, I'll always have fond memories of Blair. Considered one of the greatest CFers of all-time. He played shallower than practically anyone. And he seemed like a very amiable and all-around good guy. RIP Paul.

[revo]

Padre HOF broadcaster and former Yankee 2B Jerry Coleman died today at age 89.

[Don Quixote]

Padre HOF broadcaster and former Yankee 2B Jerry Coleman died today at age 89.

A legend in SD as a broadcaster, sometimes for losing his bearings on what the he** was going on in the game.

[Friarfan]

Very, very sad about the passing of Jerry Coleman. He truly was the voice of many San Diegan's summers. He began as the Padres lead announcer the year I was born (1972) and was there ever since. It'll be strange not hearing him anymore. Listening to his long-time broadcasting partner, Ted Leitner, announcing his passing on the radio yesterday brought tears. He was a good man and a hero to our country. He flew over 100 missions as a Marine Pilot (Lieutenant Colonel) in WWII and Korea.

All jokes aside about the Padre baseball franchise (and the wishy-washy, laid back, "hey, dude" fans), Jerry Coleman is as much an institution to this town as Jack Buck was to St Louis, Harry Carry to Chicago, etc.

RIP Mr. Coleman

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/KFrhlvpVy74" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[madducks]

Ralph Kiner age 91, former Hall of Famer player for the Pirates, Cubs, and Indians. And also a long time Mets TV and radio announcer.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/pit/...&vkey=news_pit

As a kid, i enjoyed watching him on the Mets TV broadcasts back in the late 70's and early 80's. RIP Mr Kiner.