***Official RIP Dead Ballplayers Thread -- Yer Out! (1 Viewer)

'Eephus said:

Enzo Hernandez 12 February, 1949 – 13 January, 2013He defrauded 129 bases.

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'Eephus said:

Enzo Hernandez 12 February, 1949 – 13 January, 2013Apologies for auto-translation weirdness

"in recent months he had received treatment for a depressive box..."

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Fred Talbot, a right-hander from Virginia who pitched eight seasons in the majors for the Yankees, A’s, White Sox, and Pilots from 1963-1970, passed away last week at age 71.

Talbot had a 38-56 record and 4.12 ERA in 854 career innings despite playing in the pitcher-friendly 1960s.

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(Bouton...)and his Seattle Pilots teammates pulled on Fred Talbot after the pitcher hit a grand slam during the team's "Home Run for the Money" promotion.

And yet, here Bouton was on Friday, gleefully giggling over the phone about how Talbot fell hook, line and sinkerball for the fake telegram sent by Bouton, purporting to be Donald Dubois of Gladstone, Ore.

Talbot's slam had won $27,000 for Dubois, and Bouton's telegram offered to send a $5,000 prize to Talbot out of gratitude. As "Ball Four" readers are well aware, no money ever came, to the growing consternation of Talbot and the amusement of the Pilots.

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'Eephus said:

Fred Talbot: 1941-2013

Fred Talbot, a right-hander from Virginia who pitched eight seasons in the majors for the Yankees, A’s, White Sox, and Pilots from 1963-1970, passed away last week at age 71.

Talbot had a 38-56 record and 4.12 ERA in 854 career innings despite playing in the pitcher-friendly 1960s.

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Talbot's baseball legacy is his supporting role in Jim Bouton's Ball Four.

(Bouton...)and his Seattle Pilots teammates pulled on Fred Talbot after the pitcher hit a grand slam during the team's "Home Run for the Money" promotion.

And yet, here Bouton was on Friday, gleefully giggling over the phone about how Talbot fell hook, line and sinkerball for the fake telegram sent by Bouton, purporting to be Donald Dubois of Gladstone, Ore.

Talbot's slam had won $27,000 for Dubois, and Bouton's telegram offered to send a $5,000 prize to Talbot out of gratitude. As "Ball Four" readers are well aware, no money ever came, to the growing consternation of Talbot and the amusement of the Pilots.

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Bouton also described an insult contest between Pilots' catcher Merritt Ranew and Talbot. Ranew said Talbot looked like a perch with a square head, bulging eyes, and hardly any nose.

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'Raider Nation said:

Guess we can rename this ***Official RIP Dead Marginal Ballplayers Thread

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'Eephus said:

'Raider Nation said:

Guess we can rename this ***Official RIP Dead Marginal Ballplayers Thread

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They were big leaguers

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'Raider Nation said:

'Eephus said:

'Raider Nation said:

Guess we can rename this ***Official RIP Dead Marginal Ballplayers Thread

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They were big leaguers

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I was referencing the separate thread for Stan.

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'Eephus said:

'Raider Nation said:

'Eephus said:

'Raider Nation said:

Guess we can rename this ***Official RIP Dead Marginal Ballplayers Thread

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They were big leaguers

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I was referencing the separate thread for Stan.

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Musial deserves it

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'Raider Nation said:

'Eephus said:

'Raider Nation said:

'Eephus said:

'Raider Nation said:

Guess we can rename this ***Official RIP Dead Marginal Ballplayers Thread

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They were big leaguers

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I was referencing the separate thread for Stan.

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Musial deserves it

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I'm a conformist.

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'Raider Nation said:

Can't we get a list of current/former ballplayers who will deserve their own thread when they go to the great diamond in the sky? I want to get a jump on things.I'll start:Mike SchmidtPete RoseJohnny BenchDerek Jeter

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'KingPrawn said:

'Raider Nation said:

Can't we get a list of current/former ballplayers who will deserve their own thread when they go to the great diamond in the sky? I want to get a jump on things.I'll start:Mike SchmidtPete RoseJohnny BenchDerek Jeter

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I believe Pete Rose has a lifetime ban from the great diamond in the sky.

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'Eephus said:

'KingPrawn said:

'Raider Nation said:

Can't we get a list of current/former ballplayers who will deserve their own thread when they go to the great diamond in the sky? I want to get a jump on things.I'll start:Mike SchmidtPete RoseJohnny BenchDerek Jeter

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I believe Pete Rose has a lifetime ban from the great diamond in the sky.

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He'll be stuffed and sold at that memorabilia store at Caesar's.

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'RnR said:

Possibly the saddest thing I witnessed in 2012. Walked right in there on vacation, and sure enough, there was Pete sitting at a card table wearing a fedora and a Charlie Sheen bowling shirt fiddling with his iPhone waiting on someone to come in and pay $75 to meet him. There was no line...

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Earl Williams, the 1971 National League Rookie of the Year with the Atlanta Braves, died Monday night. The Newark native and longtime Montclair resident was 64.He died at his home in Somerset surrounded by his wife of 33 years, Linda, and stepdaughter, Raquel West. He is also survived by a granddaughter, Ruquayyah Williams. He was diagnosed with acute leukemia last July.Williams played on four teams, including two stints with the Braves, in his eight years in the major leagues. He made his debut as a September call-up for the Braves as a 21-year-old in 1970. The next season he slugged 33 home runs and compiled 87 RBI on his way to being named the senior circuit's top rookie. He did so playing catcher for the first time in his life, a position the Braves asked him to play because they were desperate to include his bat in the lineup when there was a logjam at first and third base -- his usual positions. "He had to learn from scratch," Williams' 83-year-old mother, Dolores Reilly, recalled in a phone interview. "He used to tell me that if he could've he would've used two gloves to catch Phil Niekro's knuckleball."Williams hit 28 home runs in 1972 and impressed Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver enough to say, "Give me Earl Williams, I'll win the pennant." Weaver got his wish when the Orioles traded four starters, including former Mets and current Nationals manager Davey Johnson, for Williams and another player before the 1973 season. But Williams struggled as an Oriole. He earned the nickname "Big Money" for routinely hitting home runs in clutch situations in Atlanta, but teammates quickly coined him "Small Change" in Baltimore as he struggled to adjust to spacious Memorial Stadium, said Don Baylor, then Williams' roommate on road trips. Defensively, he had trouble behind the plate and the team's veteran pitchers, such as Jim Palmer, were reluctant to trust him. Pressure mounted. Fans turned against him. He and Weaver clashed often and publicly. By June, Weaver had suspended Williams for a game for "a reluctance on Williams' part to listen without interruption.""They got into it all the time," Don Baylor said in a phone interview. "They're probably getting into it right now."

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Cuban pitcher Yadier Pedroso Gonzalez was killed in a car accident in Cuba, according to the director of sports for the territory of Artemisa, Cuba (via Caribbean Journal).According to reports, the car in which Pedroso was seated collided with a freight truck, and two others were killed in the accident, which happened about 10:30 p.m. local time Saturday.Pedroso, 26, was one of the best pitchers in Cuba and just took part in the World Baseball Classic. Per Baseball-Reference.com, Pedroso's best season was 2008-09, when he went 9-3 with a 1.91 ERA.He was 76-45 with a 3.15 ERA in his career and competed in 10 international competitions.Pedroso appeared in two games in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, allowing four hits and an earned run in 1 2/3 innings of action.

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Virgil Trucks, the only Tigers pitcher other than Justin Verlander to throw two no-hitters, died on Saturday evening at his home in Calera, Ala., according to the Detroit News. Trucks was 95."We are deeply saddened by the passing of Virgil Trucks," Tigers owner Mike Ilitch said in a statement. "Virgil will forever be remembered for his significant contributions in Tigers' history. He won a World Series with the Tigers in 1945, and he fired two no-hitters in the same season in 1952. Virgil remained a friend to the Club following his career and will be greatly missed by those of us who had the pleasure of knowing him. The entire Detroit Tigers organization and Marian and I extend our sincere condolences to Virgil's family." The right-handed Trucks enjoyed a 17-year career in the big leagues, playing for five teams, though his daughter Carolyn told the News that "he used to say he played with the Detroit Tigers and four other teams."According to the report Sunday, Trucks was admitted to the hospital Thursday morning with what the doctors said was pneumonia. He had five children, several grandchildren and great-grandchildren and is survived by his fourth wife, Elizabeth Ann.Trucks was famous for throwing two no-hitters in 1952, a year in which the Tigers finished eighth in the American League. Remarkably, he went just 5-19 that season before winning a career-best 20 games the following season.He finished his career with a 177-135 mark (114-96 with Detroit, for whom he played 12 seasons) and a 3.39 ERA. He pitched 2,682 1/3 innings in his career, striking out 1,534 batters. He also spent time with the White Sox (three years), the Kansas City A's (two), the Yankees (one) and the St. Louis Browns (one). He was twice an All-Star (1949 and 1954) and finished fifth in the MVP voting in 1953.

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'Eephus said:

Virgil Trucks 1917-2013

Virgil Trucks, the only Tigers pitcher other than Justin Verlander to throw two no-hitters, died on Saturday evening at his home in Calera, Ala., according to the Detroit News. Trucks was 95."We are deeply saddened by the passing of Virgil Trucks," Tigers owner Mike Ilitch said in a statement. "Virgil will forever be remembered for his significant contributions in Tigers' history. He won a World Series with the Tigers in 1945, and he fired two no-hitters in the same season in 1952. Virgil remained a friend to the Club following his career and will be greatly missed by those of us who had the pleasure of knowing him. The entire Detroit Tigers organization and Marian and I extend our sincere condolences to Virgil's family." The right-handed Trucks enjoyed a 17-year career in the big leagues, playing for five teams, though his daughter Carolyn told the News that "he used to say he played with the Detroit Tigers and four other teams."According to the report Sunday, Trucks was admitted to the hospital Thursday morning with what the doctors said was pneumonia. He had five children, several grandchildren and great-grandchildren and is survived by his fourth wife, Elizabeth Ann.Trucks was famous for throwing two no-hitters in 1952, a year in which the Tigers finished eighth in the American League. Remarkably, he went just 5-19 that season before winning a career-best 20 games the following season.He finished his career with a 177-135 mark (114-96 with Detroit, for whom he played 12 seasons) and a 3.39 ERA. He pitched 2,682 1/3 innings in his career, striking out 1,534 batters. He also spent time with the White Sox (three years), the Kansas City A's (two), the Yankees (one) and the St. Louis Browns (one). He was twice an All-Star (1949 and 1954) and finished fifth in the MVP voting in 1953.

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ETA: Trucks is the uncle of Butch Trucks from the Allman Brothers Band

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Gus Triandos was famously slow ballplayer. There’s a difference between been a regular old slow ballplayer and a famously slow one. The first might go somewhat unnoticed, especially if he tries hard enough. Raul Ibanez is very slow, he will be the first one to tell you that. But he always runs it out and so people don’t notice it much.But the famously slow ballplayer — he has nowhere to hide. And that was Gus Triandos.Triandos could hit with power. Man, could he hit with power. At 17, he hit .323 with 18 homers in just 92 games for Class C Twin Falls. The Yankees were generally unimpressed and put him right back in Class C the next year. He hit .435 with 10 homers in 28 games. You would think that might catch their attention. It really didn’t. After a brief move up, they put him BACK in Class C, where he hit .363 with 11 homers in in 74 games. It was as if the Yankees couldn’t believe someone that heavy-footed could hit baseballs that hard. Bill James has written that if Triandos had been established as a big league catcher at a young age, he might have hit 400 or 500 homers.The Yankees never did believe — they traded Triandos to Baltimore in a 17-player dump that netted the Yankees Don Larsen and Bob Turley. The Orioles got Gus Triandos and, well, they got Gus Triandos. He immediately became one of the better hitting catchers in baseball. He was a regular in Baltimore for seven or so years, and he posted a 111 OPS+ in that time. He hit as many as 30 home runs (only Rudy York among American League catchers had ever hit more) and he also had seasons of 25 and 21 homers. He played in three straight All-Star games, starting two of them.In Baltimore, he was beloved. He was a self-effacing man, good natured, who understood his place in the world. Outside of Baltimore, yeah, he was known as a famously slow ballplayer. This was especially apparent in 1959, when (as memorialized in the classic NSFW “Which man would you have sex with so you could sleep with the Olsen twins” scene in “The Wire”) the Orioles decided to make knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm a starting pitcher. He started 27 games that year, 11 more the next, and that was it for him as a starter … he started four more games the rest of his career.So that was fortune of Gus Triandos: To be the starting catcher the year and a half when Hoyt Wilhelm was a starting pitcher. And, it’s quite possible that Wilhelm threw the nastiest knuckleballs in baseball history during that time. He led the American League in 1959 with a 2.19 ERA. He threw 13 complete games. Wilhelm’s second start that year was April 21, 1959 in Fenway Park. Wilhelm and the Orioles won 5-2. Triandos hit two homers.* He also had three passed balls.*Triandos killed the ball at Fenway Park. He was a classic pull-hitter, who smashed the ball to left field. In his career, he hit 17 homers in 73 games at Fenway.Five days later, on April 26, Wilhelm threw a complete game at Yankee Stadium. Triandos had four passed balls.On August 30 of that year, Wilhelm started against the Red Sox. Triandos had four passed balls in the first two innings. He had 28 passed balls total in 1959 (backup catcher Joe Ginsberg had 21 more). Up to that point, passed balls had not been a particular problem for Triandos. He was a big and solid catcher. But after Wilhelm, passed balls haunted him. He led the American League in passed balls three times — one of those years in Detroit after he had left Wilhelm behind.And really, few things in baseball are more humiliating than a passed ball. It should be the most basic of all things. The snapshot of Triandos was not of the massive home runs he hit, that big wide stance of his, the wicked cut he would take at the ball. Instead it was the image of this big, slow and proud man watching a ball flip of his glove and then lumbering after it as fast as he could. Triandos took it all in stride. He once said that heaven is a place where no one throws knuckleballs.On this day — the day after Gus Triandos died at the age of 82 — it is worth remembering a different moment, the moment Gus Triandos hit an inside-the-park home run. It happened toward the end of the season in 1957 at old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. That Orioles team was perfectly mediocre — 76-76, scored nine more runs than they allowed — and actually had TWO Hall of Fame third baseman (George Kell exiting the stage and Brooks Robinson entering).It was the fifth inning, a scoreless game, and Triandos smashed a vicious line drive to right field — that was classic Triandos. When he hit the ball hard, he hit the ball HARD. He actually was on the old “Home Run Derby” show once — facing **** Stuart — and I remember it because he ripped three or four line drives that hit the top of the fence and bounced back in. This line drive also whacked off the left field wall, but he hit it so hard that it caromed off shot right past the left fielder, who was completely overwhelmed by the bounce. The left fielder then began chasing after the ball. The left fielder that day was Ted Williams.While Williams tried to run down the ball, which had rolled a 100 feet away, Triandos chugged around the bases. The ball was hit so hard and rolled so far away from Williams, that Triandos saw the third base coach waving him in.And that’s a good way to remember Gus Triandos, an Orioles star when there were no Orioles stars. That very same day, the Orioles pitcher was Hal Smith, who, yes, was a knuckleball pitcher. In the ninth inning, Hal Smith threw a knuckleball to Ted Williams and, yes, it got by Gus Triandos. A passed ball. But on that great day it didn’t matter at all. While Ted Williams ran after the ball, Triandos rounded third, headed for home. He scored standing up.

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Bob Turley, a Cy Young-winning, right-handed pitcher whose blazing fastball bore in on baffled hitters like a dissolving aspirin and lifted the Yankees to a come-from-behind victory over the Milwaukee Braves in the 1958 World Series, died in Atlanta on Saturday. He was 82. Turley, who lived in Alpharetta, Ga., died in hospice care at Lenbrook, a retirement community in Atlanta. The cause was liver cancer, his son, Terry, told The Baltimore Sun. On a Casey Stengel team loaded with legends — including Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Hank Bauer, Moose Skowron and Elston Howard — Turley was a mainstay of a pitching staff led by Whitey Ford and Don Larsen, whose perfect game in the 1956 World Series symbolized a golden era of Yankee dominion. They called him “Bullet Bob,” and if any proof were needed beyond the 1,265 strikeouts and 101 wins he racked up in 12 seasons in the American League, it was provided early in his career by a Du Mont cathode-ray oscilloscope, whose photoelectric eye clocked his fastball at 94 to 98 miles an hour. He was no herky-jerky tangle of arms and legs like Dizzy Dean or Cleveland’s fireballing Bob Feller, with whose fastball his was sometimes compared. Like the great Walter Johnson, he pitched with practically no windup, and had a remarkably smooth delivery for his 6-foot-2, 215-pound frame. He had a curve, a slider and a change-up, but the fastball was his magic. To a batter’s naked, unflinching eye, it was an intimidating marvel to behold: the ball perfectly hidden as Turley looked in for the sign, paused to inspect the crowd, and let fly — an incoming rocket, a white blur barely visible for just over four-tenths of a second, and then — smack! — gone into the catcher’s mitt. “Man!” Roy Campanella, the Brooklyn Dodgers’ catcher, exclaimed after Turley struck him out three times in succession in a 1956 game. “When you see me take three swings at three fastballs and not even foul tip one, the fellow throwing ’em must have something. Maybe he was using a little gun to fire that ball up there.” Turley, a popcorn-gobbling Midwesterner with a ski-jump nose like Bob Hope’s and personal habits — no drinking, smoking, womanizing or sideburns — that would have made George Steinbrenner proud, played eight years with the Yankees, from 1955 to 1962, winning three World Series rings and building a win-loss record of 82-52, with 58 complete games, 909 strikeouts and an earned run average of 3.64. But his best year by far was 1958, when he won a league-leading 21 games with only 7 losses, including 19 complete games and 6 shutouts, while striking out 168 and compiling a 2.97 E.R.A. And all that was just the season’s prelude to a World Series that baseball fans still talk about as one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the game. To set the stage: The Milwaukee Braves were the defending world champions, having beaten the Yanks in the 1957 Series on the strength of three complete-game victories by Lew Burdette. The Yankees, winners of 7 of the previous 11 World Series, were burning for revenge. But besides Burdette, the Braves had Warren Spahn on the mound and the sluggers Henry Aaron, Eddie Mathews and Joe Adcock. After four games, New York trailed 3 games to 1, and the Yankee prospects looked bleak. Only the 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates had come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a seven-game Series. With the Yankees just one game from elimination, Turley went to work. He threw a shutout in Game Five, picked up a 10th-inning save in Game Six and won his second in three days in Game Seven, giving up only two hits in 6 2/3 innings of shutout relief. Turley was overwhelmed with honors. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the Series, won the $10,000 diamond Hickok Belt as the year’s top professional athlete, took the New York Baseball Writers’ Mercer Award as player of the year, and became the third to win the Cy Young Award as baseball’s best pitcher. (Starting in 1967, it was given to one pitcher in each league.) The Yankees gave him a $7,000 raise, increasing his 1959 pay to $32,000. He rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, and was lionized and hounded for autographs at banquets all winter long. “Thirty-five dinners so far, and only ten to go,” he told Arthur Daley, the sports columnist of The New York Times, in January. “Unlike most heroes who hit the mashed potatoes and rubber chicken circuit, however, Turley hasn’t piled on the suet,” Daley wrote. “He probably worried off the weight because speechifying fills him with dread. He’s just a simple country boy with no sham or pretense in him.” Robert Lee Turley was born on Sept. 19, 1930 in Troy, Ill., and grew up in East St. Louis, Ill., where he starred on the Central High School baseball squad. The St. Louis Browns’ scouts spotted him and he was signed for $600 as an amateur free agent in 1948. He played only one big-league game with the Browns in 1951 before going into the Army. He rejoined the team in 1954, when it moved east and became the Baltimore Orioles. In a single season with Baltimore, Turley won 14 games and lost 15, but led the league with 181 strikeouts. Rivals, including the Yankees, were impressed. “It isn’t just that his ball is fast,” the Yankee coach Bill Dickey said. “It’s live. It darts and jumps when it gets near the batter.” The Yankees acquired Turley and Larsen from Baltimore in a celebrated 17-player trade that was so good for the Yanks that the New York newspapers called it grand larceny. In his debut with the Yankees, Turley struck out 10 and beat the Boston Red Sox, 5 to 4. He went on to win 17 games that season. After his World Series triumph, Turley had a series of declining seasons with the Yankees. He was traded to the Los Angeles Angels after the 1962 season and ended his playing career with the Angels and the Red Sox in 1963. He was a pitching coach for the Red Sox in 1964 before leaving baseball for a career in finance and insurance. He and others founded A. L. Williams & Associates, which sold life insurance. He later became a senior national sales director of Primerica Financial Services, an investment marketing company based in Duluth, Ga. Turley retired in 2001. He is survived by his second wife, Janet; two sons, Terry and Donald, two stepchildren and many grandchildren

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'Raider Nation said:

As an aside, Triandos is the player Herc said he would blow in one episode of The Wire.

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Grady Hatton Jr., who played in the majors from 1946-60 and later managed the Houston Astros, passed away Thursday from cancer-related causes, his daughter-in-law told the Beaumont Enterprise. He was 90 years old.

Hatton, primarily a third baseman, had his best seasons right away after arriving in the majors with the Reds as a 23-year-old in 1946, hitting .271/.369/.422 with 14 homers and 69 RBI in 436 at-bats as a rookie and .281/.377/.448 with 16 homers and 77 RBI as a sophomore in 1947.Those turned out to be the highest marks of his career, though he remained a solid regular through 1950. Ironically, his one All-Star Game came in 1952, his worst year as a starter. He ended up hitting .212/.319/.312 in 433 at-bats that year.

Hatton was essentially done at age 33, but he came back four years later in 1960 and hit .342 in 38 at-bats for the Cubs. He finished his career with a .254/.354/.374 line, 91 homers and 533 RBI in 4,206 at-bats.After his playing career, Hatton spent time as a coach and manager. He managed the Astros for three seasons in 1966-68, going 164-221. Despite his poor record, he remained with the club afterwards, first as a scout and then back on the field as a first-base coach.

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Former Hankyu Braves reliever Brad “Animal” Lesley, whose outsized personality and antics on the mound made him a fan-favorite and provided the springboard for a second career in Japanese television and later Hollywood, died on Saturday at the age of 54.

U.S. website TMZ first reported the death of the right-hander, who had suffered from kidney problems over the last several years.

Lesley’s ex-wife, Chiho Svimonoff, told the website Lesley had been rushed to a hospital in Marina Del Rey, California, on Saturday night and later died.

Lesley played two years in Japan beginning in 1986, and was 7-5 with 24 saves in 60 appearances for the Braves, who in later years became the Orix BlueWave and ultimately, following a merger with the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes, the Orix Buffaloes.

Lesley’s best season in Japan was his first, when he finished 5-3 with 19 saves and a 2.63 ERA in 42 appearances.

He was embraced by Braves fans, who took a liking to his enthusiastic celebrations and demeanor. Animal could sometimes be seen playing air guitar in the outfield before games, and would launch into an exuberant explosion of gyrations and screams after saves, sometimes even giving his catcher a hard smack on the mask afterward.

Instead of his surname, he wore “Animal” on the back of his uniform. Lesley also dabbled in music, recording his theme song “Champion Animal” in 1986.

Lesley starred in a few television commercials during his playing days, then transitioned into acting after his career was over. He had a stint on the Japanese show “Fuun! Takeshi Jo,” and later made his Hollywood debut in the 1992 film “Mr. Baseball, “which starred Tom Selleck and centered around a former major leaguer coming to Japan to extend his career.

Lesley’s most famous role may have been as John ‘Blackout’ Gatling in the 1994 film Little Big League. Lesley also had a brief appearance in the movie “Space Jam,” which starred Michael Jordan.

Lesley was born Sept. 11, 1958, in Turlock, California. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds with the ninth pick of the 1978 amateur draft and made his MLB debut July 31, 1982 at age 23.

Animal spent three seasons with the Reds, then joined the Milwaukee Brewers in 1985. He played in 54 games in his MLB career and was 1-3 with six saves and a 3.86 ERA, before moving to Japan to join the Braves.

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On Tuesday, the Angels announced that Dr. Lewis Yocum, the team’s physician for the past 36 years and one of the sport’s most renowned orthopedic surgeons, passed away this weekend at the age of 66. He had been battling liver cancer. From the Angels’ official statement:The Angels family and MLB have lost one of baseball’s finest gentlemen and truly outstanding professionals with the passing of Dr. Yocum.His talents extended the careers of countless professional athletes, and he extended quality of life for so many others he advised, treated and operated on during his distinguished career. His contributions and impact in the medical field will long be remembered across the country. He represents the standard for others in his profession to attain.After receiving his medical doctorate from the University of Illinois in 1973 and completing his internship and residency at Northwestern University, Yocum joined the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in Los Angeles, where he was a protege of Dr. Frank Jobe, who performed the original ulnar collateral ligament replacement surgery on Tommy John. ”His work has not only followed in the footsteps of Jobe and Robert Kerlan, but he’s helped oversee the expansion of the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic and its influence,” wrote Will Carroll at Baseball Prospectus in 2010, when he ranked Yocum as the sport’s number two “super surgeon” behind Dr. James Andrews.Like Andrews, Yocum was one of the sport’s most trusted doctors, one whom players consulted for second opinions regardless of their team affiliation, and one who extended the careers of many. Yocum himself performed the Tommy John surgeries of the Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmerman, the Diamondbacks’ Daniel Hudson, the Twins’ Francisco Liriano, the Indians’ Vinnie Pestano, the Royals’ Joakim Soria, the Mets’ Billy Wagner and the Rangers’ C.J. Wilson, to name just a handful. He also operated on the Red Sox’ Dustin Pedroia (foot), Jacoby Ellsbury (ribs), the Angels’ Kendrys Morales (ankle) and the Cubs’ Ted Lilly (knee), among others. Earlier this month, he was in the news for providing the Phillies’ Roy Halladay with a second opinion on his shoulder prior to surgery.Last fall, Yocum found himself in the middle of a controversy regarding the Nationals’ handling of Strasburg. At the time of the surgery in September 2010, Yocum had advised Washington to limit Strasburg’s innings the following season, just as they had for Zimmermann the year before. Yocum initially said last September that he wasn’t asked about whether to shut down Strasburg, but he soon clarified by saying that he had been in contact with Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo throughout the season. “While the final decision was up to the team, as is standard practice, I was supportive of their decision and am comfortable that my medical advice was responsibly considered,” he told the Los Angeles Times.

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Stanley Edward Lopata died Saturday from heart complications at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania at age 87.

Stan played for the Phillies from 1948 to 1958, accumulating a .257 batting average with 25 triples, 116 home runs and 395 RBI in 822 games.

His biggest year was 1956 when he had 33 doubles, seven triples, 32 homers, 95 RBI and a .267 batting average. He was selected to the National League All-Star team in 1955 and 1956.

Among Phillies catchers, he holds the single-season records for triples (7) and homers (32), both set in 1956.

Stan was a member of the famous "Whiz Kids" team of 1950, which won the Phillies' first National League pennant since 1915. Stan was sharing the catcher's spot with Andy Seminick that season and batted .209 in 58 games. The team lost four straight to the New York Yankees in the World Series.

Stan's death leaves four survivors from the Whiz Kids: pitchers Curt Simmons and Bob Miller, infielder Putsy Caballero and outfielder Jack Mayo.

"Stan was one of my dearest friends - great family," Miller said. "We were together in American Legion Ball and together 10 years later with the Phillies."

Both Miller and Lopata grew up in Detroit. Stan graduated from Southwestern High School in Detroit in 1943 with the nickname "Babe." He entered the Army that fall and fought through France in World War II. He received a Bronze Star for valor and a Purple Heart for wounds.

The Phillies signed him to a $20,000 bonus before the 1946 season and assigned him to Terre Haute, Ill. The following season, he hit .325 at Utica and was named the Eastern League's Most Valuable Player. After spending most of the 1948 season in Triple-A ball in Toronto, he joined the Phillies for 15 games in September.

He remained with the Phillies through the 1958 season and then was traded to the Milwaukee Braves with Ted Kazanski and Johnny O'Brien for Gene Conley, Harry Hanebrink and Joe Koppe. He played a total of 32 games over two seasons in Milwaukee, plagued by injuries, and retired in 1960.

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"Frank Castillo died on Sunday in a drowning accident while with his family at a lake near his home. Frank was a wonderful son, terrific brother, and an extraordinary father to his two beautiful girls.

"Everyone who knew Frank loved Frank . We are devastated by this loss.

"It is impossible to express in words the level of sadness we feel due to this tragedy.
All of those who counted Frank as a personal friend, and to all those wonderful fans
who cheered for him during his major league career, we genuinely appreciate your prayers and kind words during this extremely difficult time.

"While we may not be able to thank each of you in person, it is very comforting to know that you are with us in spirit.

"We will provide information about the funeral once we are ab le to make all of the arrangements

Castillo Family"

Castillo was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1987 and played for them for seven years starting in 1991. He also played for Colorado, Detroit, Toronto, Boston, and Florida.

He had a career 4.56 ERA and a record of 82 wins and 104 losses.

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George "Boomer" Scott, a three-time All-Star first baseman during the 1960s and 1970s who slugged 271 career homers, has died. He was 69. Washington County coroner Methel Johnson confirmed Scott died on Sunday in Greenville.

Scott spent most of his 14-year career with the Boston Red Sox and Milwaukee Brewers. He hit 27 homers during his rookie season with the Red Sox in 1966 and had his best year with the Brewers in 1975, when he hit 36 homers and had 109 RBI.

Scott was a big man, listed at 6-foot-2 and over 200 pounds in his playing days, but surprising nimble in the field. He won eight Gold Gloves, playing primarily first base.

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Former Milwaukee Braves great Johnny Logan died Friday night at Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center at 86. Logan, who often paid visits to Miller Park and was there recently, was inducted in the Walk of Fame there last month. At the time, he was in failing health and attended the ceremony in a wheelchair. Logan, who had several health issues and was wheelchair-bound, entered the hospital Tuesday with circulation problems in his legs and feet. He developed an infection that eventually spread and led to his death. Logan’s three sons, Jimmy, John Daniel and Jeff, were at his side when he died. “He was a fighter,” said Jimmy. “He lasted a long time. He was suffering a little bit but went peacefully at the end.”

The Brewers issued this statement about the passing of Logan:

“Johnny Logan was a longtime friend to Milwaukee baseball. His connection to both the Brewers and the Braves and the Milwaukee community was very strong. Virtually every person associated with the Milwaukee Brewers has been touched by Johnny through his many visits to the ballpark and terrific stories about his time in the game. We will miss Johnny deeply and will never forget his colorful character and personality.”

Logan played for the Milwaukee Braves from 1953 to June 15, 1961, when he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Gino Cimoli. He played for the Pirates through the 1963 season. In a 13-year career, Logan batted .268 with 93 home runs, 547 runs batted in, 651 runs scored and 1,407 hits in 1,503 games. He was a four-time all-star, including three years in a row from 1957-'59.
Logan was at shortstop on April 14, 1953 when the Braves debuted at County Stadium. The Braves won in electric fashion, beating St. Louis, 3-2, on a home run by Billy Bruton in the bottom of the 10th inning. "What an exciting start we had," Logan said in an interview in 2001. "The fans went crazy that day."

Logan played next to Hall of Fame third baseman Eddie Mathews, and both were known for their feisty nature on the field. Logan once charged Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale for throwing pitches at him but was intercepted before he made it to the mound. Mathews was right behind him, however, and connected with several punches to Drysdale. "I would start the fights and he would finish them," Logan once said. "We could always handle ourselves."

Logan was on first base on Sept. 23, 1957 when Hank Aaron socked an 11th-inning home run off St. Louis' Billy Muffett to clinch the NL pennant. The Braves went on to upset the favored New York Yankees in seven games in the World Series, bringing Milwaukee its only championship. "We knew we were going to our first World Series," Logan said in an interview years later. "It was a big deal."

Logan led the National League by playing in all 154 games in 1954 and 1955, and also topped that circuit with 37 doubles in '55. He finished his professional career in 1964 with the Nankai Hawks of the Japanese League.

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Raider Nation said:

I'll test my powers tomorrow. I'll ask if he has any Boone Logan jerseys.

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In the fourth inning of most games, baseball’s best pinch hitter began preparing for his big moment with an almost nightly ritual.

Gates Brown summoned the clubhouse boy to his seat, reached into his pocket for a few dollars and ordered two hot dogs with ketchup and mustard. He did not like paying for his hot dogs but the Tigers were cheap under older president Jim Campbell and there were no freebies. Brown not only made clutch hits for the Tigers but Brown was one of the Tigers’ all-time great characters. He ate during games, talked to teammates about his days in prison and bragged about what a great fielder and athlete he was even though he was not a great fielder or athlete. He left everybody laughing, whether it was teammates during the Tigers’ 1968 World Series run or fans who came to Comerica Park to talk to the Gator and get his autograph. He loved talking to fans and often greeted people with the same phrase: “Hi, I am the Gator.”

The laughs ended Friday morning when Brown, 74, died of a heart attack in a local nursing home. His death ended years of misery. Brown suffered from diabetes and a bad heart. Part of his foot had been amputated to keep him alive. He was missing some of his teeth. “Sometimes God knows best,” former teammate Willie Horton said. “I don’t feel like talking about this. I been hit hard by this. That is 54 years of friendship.”

Horton introduced William James “Gates” Brown to his wife Norma in the summer of 1961 when Brown came up to Detroit to visit. They were like brothers and often hung out together because they were two of the few black players in the clubhouse. Brown served time at Mansfield State Reformatory after being convicted of robbery at age 18. A prison guard encouraged him to play catcher and the Tigers signed him to a $7,000 contract after he turned down offers from the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Indians.

Brown played for the Tigers from 1963 to 1975 and received a second World Series ring in 1984 as hitting coach.

Brown was moved from catcher to the outfield and the Tigers looked to trade Brown before the 1968 season because of weight issues. He was short and stocky, standing 5-foot-10 and weighing at least 220 pounds. But he was even bigger in 1967 when a wrist injury caused him to gain weight.

No one wanted him and he began the 1968 season as the backup pinch hitter to Eddie Mathews. But Brown began mashing the ball and made a name for himself. He only batted 92 times that season but hit .370 with six home runs and 15 RBIs. He led the league in pinch hits as he did in 1974. His 107 career pinch hits and 16 pinch hit home runs set MLB records.

“What made him great is he had very quick hands and I mean he could adjust them in a nano second,” pitcher Denny McLain said. “He loved hitting situations. He loved to be the guy who could make a difference in a ballgame.”

I was at Tiger Stadium when Brown won both games of a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox. The stadium shook when he won Game 1 with a pinch-hit home run in the 14th inning. In the second game he knocked in Mickey Stanley with a single in the bottom of the ninth. The Tigers were known as the comeback kids and Brown was often the hammer that brought the house down.

“I liked being in those situations,” Brown said. “Here is the thing that irks me about ballplayers today. When you get a fastball you turn on that sucker and you hit the (bleep) out of it. I see these guys waiting on pitches and I am like, ‘What the hell are they doing?’ Sometimes you only get one chance and you have to take advantage of it.”

Brown was a staple at Comerica Park, greeting fans. This summer he visited with fans who wanted the autographs of some of the old players. Brown did not want to go because he was so sick. He used a wheelchair to get around and an oxygen bag was his constant companion. It was painful even to get out of bed but he went and had the time of his life. “I love being around the fans,” Brown said. “They are what keep me going.”

If Brown has a vice it was food. He ate what he wanted and when he wanted. Friends encouraged him to change his diet but Brown refused. “The food thing was quite a big thing for Gates,” Stanley said. The last time I saw Brown he was in a back room at Comerica Park talking to old teammates Al Kaline and Stanley. He sat in a wheelchair in great pain talking about the old days with the Tigers. “It is tough being the Gator,” he said. “I am just in so much pain man. So much pain. I can’t take it sometimes.” Brown lived for the moment, whether eating hot dogs on the bench or getting a winning hit. “I regret some of the things I did but what can I do now?” Brown asked.

Brown contributed one of the Tigers’ great all-time moments in 1968. Usually manager Mayo Smith called on him to pinch hit in the seventh inning or later. But on this occasion Smith needed a pinch hitter in the fifth inning and called upon Brown, who had received his nightly stash of hot dogs from the clubhouse boy. He quickly got up and stuffed the hot dogs in his jersey. Brown hit a double and after sliding into second base he had hot dog and mustard all over his uniform as teammates howled. Smith fined Brown $100. “What the hell are you doing eating on the bench?” Smith howled. “I was hungry,” Brown replied. “Besides, where else can you eat a hot dog and have the best seat in the house?”

Many in Detroit’s black community wanted Brown to play the outfield but he was not the best left fielder around. The speedy Stanley often had to cover for him during difficult fly balls. “You got it Mickey? You got it Mickey,” Brown often called to him. “He wasn’t that bad,” Stanley said. “I was the center fielder and I was supposed to take charge. If I could make his life a little easier I would do it.” Brown said he thought he could be a good outfielder. “I could run faster than anybody on the team,” Brown said. “Nobody knew that.” Brown had a ritual. He arrived at the ballpark at the same time, went through the same routine and ordered his hot dogs at the same time. “He was the most consistent guy I knew,” McLain said. Brown loved talking baseball and he loved talking about his career and accomplishments. But it became more difficult as his health declined.

“It was not fun seeing him the last few times,” Stanley said. “I heard he was not in the best situation the last few weeks. The last few weeks were not too comfortable.”

Brown once told me: “There is nothing wrong with getting old just as long as you have your health.”

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Brown lived for the moment, whether eating hot dogs on the bench or getting a winning hit. “I regret some of the things I did but what can I do now?” Brown asked.

Brown contributed one of the Tigers’ great all-time moments in 1968. Usually manager Mayo Smith called on him to pinch hit in the seventh inning or later. But on this occasion Smith needed a pinch hitter in the fifth inning and called upon Brown, who had received his nightly stash of hot dogs from the clubhouse boy. He quickly got up and stuffed the hot dogs in his jersey. Brown hit a double and after sliding into second base he had hot dog and mustard all over his uniform as teammates howled. Smith fined Brown $100. “What the hell are you doing eating on the bench?” Smith howled. “I was hungry,” Brown replied. “Besides, where else can you eat a hot dog and have the best seat in the house?”

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Andy Pafko, the starting right fielder for the Milwaukee Braves until Hank Aaron arrived in the majors, died Tuesday at age 92 in a nursing home in Stevensville, Mich. Pafko was a Wisconsin native, born in Boyceville, who began his big-league career in 1943 with the Chicago Cubs. The five-time all-star played for the Cubs in 1945, the last year they were in the World Series.

Pafko was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers in the middle of the 1951 season and stood with his back to the wall in left field at the Polo Grounds when the Giants' Bobby Thomson hit the "shot heard 'round the world" that clinched the National League pennant. He later moved to the Milwaukee Braves and was the starting right fielder for his home-state team until he lost the starting job to Aaron in 1955. Pafko played for the Braves until he retired after the 1959 season. In a 17-year career, Pafko batted .285 with 213 home runs and 976 RBI in 1,852 games, playing in four World Series for three different teams.

After retiring, Pafko managed in the minor leaguers and eventually settled in the Chicago area. He was active in the Milwaukee Braves Historical Association until a few years ago, when he was placed in the nursing home in Stevensville.

Pafko was born on Feb. 25, 1921 in Boyceville, a rural community in northwest Wisconsin between Eau Claire and Minneapolis. His parents were born in the city of Vazec in what is now Slovakia and his father went to the United States prior to World War I to get work and prepare for his wife and two oldest sons to join him later. The family eventually settled in Boyceville. Andy, the third child and first born in America, was raised on a 200-acre dairy farm. Pafko often credited milking cows with helping him develop the strong grip which made him a major league hitter. Because Boyceville’s high school had no baseball team, Pafko’s first playing experience was with the Connersville team of the amateur Dunn County League in 1939. The next year he played for Eau Claire of the Northern League and in 1941 for the Green Bay Blue Sox of the Wisconsin State League.

In November 1941, Pafko's contract was purchased by Bill Veeck, then owner of the minor-league Milwaukee Brewers, for $1,000. He later was sold to the Cubs' farm club in Los Angeles and made his debut with the Cubs in '43. In 1945, Pafko established himself as a major league hitter, batting .298 with 110 RBI for the NL champions. The Cubs lost in seven games in the World Series to Detroit. Pafko was traded to the Dodgers in an eight-player deal on the June 15, 1951. In January 1953, the Dodgers traded Pafko to the Braves, who were moving from Boston to Milwaukee and wanted a Wisconsin native to help draw fans to County Stadium. Pafko’s career ended when the Braves released him in October 1959.

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Johnny Kucks, a sinkerballing right-hander who was just 24 when he shut out the Brooklyn Dodgers to clinch the 1956 World Series for the Yankees in the seventh game, died on Thursday in Saddle River, N.J. He was 81. The cause was cancer, his daughter Laura-Jean Arvelo said.

Tall and lanky with a sidearm-to-three-quarters delivery that gave his pitches a downward drive, Kucks threw, in baseball parlance, a heavy ball. At his most effective, he forced hitters to hit the top of the ball, resulting in a lot of groundouts. When he was on his game, his infielders were busy, and his outfielders were not.

Kucks’s big-league tenure lasted six seasons and was mostly undistinguished; he won 54 games and lost 56, with an earned run average of 4.10. But few players of his middling stature have had such a pinnacle experience.

In 1956, Kucks was in just his second season with the Yankees and was not expected to be part of the starting rotation; he went 8-7 the previous year as a spot starter and reliever. But when other pitchers faltered, he became the Yankees’ second-most reliable starter, behind Whitey Ford. He won 14 games before the end of July, making the American League All-Star team, and finished the season 18-9, with a shutout of the Chicago White Sox on 73 pitches on Aug. 24. Still, he was something of a surprise choice to start the seventh game of a World Series. Kucks had faltered in September, and when he had been called on to pitch in relief against the Dodgers in the first two games, both of which the Yankees lost, he had not fared well. Moreover, Ford was available, having won Game 3 four days earlier. But Kucks pitched brilliantly, giving up just three singles as the Yankees clubbed four home runs and won easily, 9-0. Sixteen of the 27 Dodgers outs were recorded on ground balls. Just two fly balls made it to the outfield. Kucks struck out Jackie Robinson to end the game — Kucks’s only strikeout that day — and although no one imagined it at the time, it was Robinson’s final major league at-bat. Traded to the New York Giants afterward, Robinson decided to retire.The game was also the last time Brooklyn would play in baseball’s postseason. After the 1957 season, the team moved to Los Angeles.

John Charles Kucks Jr. was born in Hoboken, N.J., on July 27, 1932. His father was a butcher. He graduated from Dickinson High School in Jersey City and played one year of minor league ball in the Yankees’ organization before serving in the Army. He married the former Barbara Daum in the mid-1950s; she died seven years ago. In addition to Arvelo, his daughter, his survivors include another daughter, Rebecca Gattoni, and four grandchildren. He had lived for many years in Hillsdale, N.J.

In May 1957, Kucks was part of a notorious episode in Yankees history when he joined a coterie of teammates — including Ford, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin and Hank Bauer — who were celebrating Martin’s 29th birthday at the Copacabana nightclub in Manhattan.
After a scuffle broke out at the club between the players and members of a bowling team, Bauer was accused of hitting one of the bowlers. He was eventually cleared of all charges, but the players were fined, and the publicity embarrassed the Yankees, who traded Martin to Kansas City shortly thereafter. In 1959, the Yankees sent Kucks to Kansas City in a trade for Ralph Terry.

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He signed with the Philadelphia Athletics out of college, and Connie Mack, the team’s owner and manager, converted him to an infielder.

Parker played for the A’s during the 1937 and 1938 seasons. He had also been a second-round draft pick of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the N.F.L. in 1937, and he left the Athletics in the late summer of his baseball seasons to attend football training camp. He hit a home run in his first major league plate appearance, but after batting .179 in 94 games over two seasons, he put the major leagues behind him for good.

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KingPrawn said:

'Raider Nation said:

Can't we get a list of current/former ballplayers who will deserve their own thread when they go to the great diamond in the sky? I want to get a jump on things.I'll start:Mike SchmidtPete RoseJohnny BenchDerek Jeter

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I believe Pete Rose has a lifetime ban from the great diamond in the sky.

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Michael Weiner, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, who forged agreements with the club owners that enhanced drug testing and brought years of labor peace to the game after decades of strife, died on Thursday at his home in Mansfield Township, N.J. He was 51.

Mr. Weiner, whose death was announced by the players association, had brain cancer. He announced in August 2012 that he had a brain tumor but continued in his post through the union’s representation of players implicated this year in the Biogenesis drug scandal.

Tony Clark, the union’s director of player services and a former major league first baseman, was promoted to the newly created post of deputy executive director in late July, becoming the second in command, a week after Mr. Weiner held a news conference during the All-Star break to discuss the Biogenesis case and his medical condition. He had lost the ability to walk and to use his right arm. “What I look for each day is beauty, meaning and joy,” Mr. Weiner said, “and if I can find beauty, meaning and joy, that’s a good day.”

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Limp Ditka said:

Eephus loves this thread......

HAHA! Outlived another one!

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Eephus said:

Limp Ditka said:

Eephus loves this thread......

HAHA! Outlived another one!

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A 51 year old guy dying of a brain tumor is sad and scary

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Lou Brissie, who suffered devastating leg wounds in World War II but went on to become an All-Star pitcher with the Philadelphia Athletics and a symbol of perseverance for the disabled, died on Monday in Augusta, Ga. He was 89. The cause was cardiopulmonary failure, his wife, Diana, said.

Leland Victor Brissie was born June 5, 1924, in Anderson, S.C. He pitched for six full seasons in the major leagues. Brissie had a 14-10 record in 1948. He was 16-11 in 1949, his best season, and pitched three innings in the All-Star Game at Ebbets Field. After three years with the Athletics, he was traded to the Cleveland Indians in April 1951 and appeared with them mostly in relief. He retired after the 1953 season with a 44-48 career record.

On the morning of Dec. 7, 1944, he was slogging through the Apennines in northern Italy with his platoon when a German shell exploded beside him. Fragments broke his right foot, injured his right shoulder and shattered the shinbone of his left leg into more than 30 pieces. As he recalled it long afterward, “My leg had been split open like a ripe watermelon.”

Brissie was evacuated to a hospital in Naples, where an Army surgeon, Dr. Wilbur K. Brubaker, told him he would probably have to amputate his leg, which had become infected.
Brissie explained that he hoped to pitch in the major leagues. Dr. Brubaker wired the shattered bone fragments together and put Brissie on the new “wonder drug” penicillin. His leg was saved, but over the next two years he underwent 23 operations.

Mack encouraged Brissie to hold on to his dream, and in the spring of 1947 he sent him to the Athletics’ minor league team in Savannah, Ga. Brissie wore a metal brace to protect his leg, but he was a sensation, winning 23 games and losing 5. In September, Brissie made his major league debut for the Athletics, starting for them at Yankee Stadium. He was beaten, 5-3, but he had achieved an ambition that hardly seemed imaginable.

Brissie pitched a complete-game four-hitter to defeat the Boston Red Sox, 4-2, in a doubleheader at Fenway Park opening the 1948 season. But he endured a frightening moment when Ted Williams hit a line drive that caromed off his brace.

“I hit a ball back to the box, a real shot, whack, like a rifle clap,” Williams recalled in his memoir “My Turn at Bat” (1969), written with John Underwood. “Down he goes, and everybody rushes out there, and I go over from first base with this awful feeling I’ve really hurt him. Here’s this war hero, pitching a great game. He sees me in the crowd, looking down at him, my face like a haunt. He says, ‘For chrissakes, Williams, pull the damn ball.’ ”

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