Official Baseball In Memoriam Thread

[revo]

Vintage Drafting fave Gus Zernial passed away last week:

"Gus Zernial, the former slugging outfielder for the White Sox and Philadelphia Athletics who was a huge supporter of the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies, passed away on Thursday due to congestive heart failure at the age of 87.

Zernial was one of the best power hitters in the game during the 1950s; he .280 with 29 home runs and 93 RBIs for the White Sox in '50, homering four times in a doubleheader on the last day of the season. The following year, after being traded to the Athletics on April 30 in a mammoth three-team trade that also involved the Indians, Zernial batted .268 while leading the American League with 33 home runs and 129 RBIs.

From 1950-57, Zernial hit 220 home runs, the most in the AL during that eight-year stretch. He was selected as an All-Star in '53 for the only time while hitting a career-high 42 home runs."

[Erik]

LHP Woodie Fryman, 70. Four one-hitters, twice an All-Star.

[revo]

LHP Woodie Fryman, 70. Four one-hitters, twice an All-Star.

I'd swear I got his card in every Topps pack.

[Erik]

Greg Goossen, 65, who played for eight years in the '60s and '70s, was involved in the infamous Curt Flood trade, was prominently featured in Ball Four, and who after baseball became a bodyguard and trainer for Gene Hackman, among others.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/04/sports/baseball/04goossen.html?_r=1&hpw

[Don Quixote]

That's where I got my too-frequently-used line, "consider the source", usually referring to my own recommendations.

[Judge Jude]

I always thought Goossen would have been quite a player if he didn't stubbornly insist on using those tiny souvenir bats at the plate as depicted above.

Ironically, Goossen also used the biggest mitt in baseball history, as per this Topps card:

http://compare.ebay.com/like/380081439249?ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&rvr_id=215565921747&crlp=1_263602_304662&UA=WXF%3F&GUID=45afb0681270a03660e5adc5ffcfeee4&itemid=380081439249&ff4=263602_304662

[revo]

Awww, this one sucks. I had so many Mitchell Page rookie cards. And what a rookie season: .307/21/75/42.

He was also the hitting coach for the Cardinals as recently as 2004:


"Mitchell Page, an outfielder for the Oakland A's in the late '70s and early '80s, died Saturday night of unknown causes. He was 59 years old.

Nicknamed "The Swingin' Rage" by then-A's broadcaster Monte Moore, Mr. Page was a revelation when he broke into the big leagues in 1977, with people commenting that he had the deepest voice they'd ever heard.

He was part of an eclectic roster in his rookie season, featuring Manny Sanguillen, Dock Ellis, Bob Lacey, Earl Williams and Dick Allen, among others. It was Allen, playing his last big-league season, who pegged Mr. Page as "a future star with a ton of talent" after he hit .307 with 21 homers and 75 RBIs and won the Sporting News AL Rookie of the Year award."

[Erik]

^^^ I had that exact card.

[revo]

Former Texas Ranger and Aiken County baseball legend Tommy Dunbar died Wednesday in Aiken. He was 51.

The Graniteville native was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 1979 but chose to head to Middle Georgia College instead. He was drafted by Texas in 1980 and made his Major League debut with the Rangers in 1983. He played three seasons in Texas, batting .231 with three home runs and 31 RBIs.




Marty Marion, the St. Louis Cardinals’ celebrated slick-fielding shortstop, who was known as the Octopus for his long arms and uncanny range in gobbling up ground balls, died on Tuesday in St. Louis. He was 93 and lived in Ladue, Mo.

The Brooklyn Dodgers of the 1940s and ’50s had Pee Wee Reese at shortstop, and the Yankees had the Scooter, Phil Rizzuto, both future Hall of Famers. Marion did not make it to Cooperstown, but he was regarded as among the era’s finest fielders at his position.

[revo]

Mel Queen, 69, who pitched for the Angels and was an outfielder and pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds before working for the Toronto Blue Jays in a variety of roles, including pitching coach, died Friday, the Blue Jays announced. No other details were given.

Queen played for the Reds from 1964 to 1969 and the Angels from 1970 to 1972.

In his four seasons as pitching coach, Toronto pitchers won three Cy Young Awards: Pat Hentgen in 1996 and Roger Clemens in 1997 and '98. Queen was the team's interim manager for the final five games of the 1997 season. He returned to the Blue Jays in 2008 as a senior advisor to the player development department.

[Moonlight J]

Paul Splittorf and Harmon Killebrew will be in this thread in the coming days

[chancellor]

Marty Marion, the St. Louis Cardinals’ celebrated slick-fielding shortstop, who was known as the Octopus for his long arms and uncanny range in gobbling up ground balls, died on Tuesday in St. Louis. He was 93 and lived in Ladue, Mo.

Noticed this after seeing MJ's latest post. Great guy, but anyone really familiar with StL baseball knew Marty as "The Blade". He even did autographs that way.

[revo]

Former Rangers OFer Bobby Thompson died at age 57 in late April.

[Don Quixote]

Paul Splittorf and Harmon Killebrew will be in this thread in the coming days

Paul Splittorff, all-time wins leader for the Royals and long-time broadcaster for the team, passed away today at age 64--

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-obit-splittorff

Never top-notch, but very steady and durable. Pitched 15 years in the bigs.

[dslaw]

Yesterday Jose Pagan, key hit in game 7 of 1971 series, today Jim Northrup, key hit in game 7 of the 1968 series. RIP.