Baseball Passings 2021

[G-Fafif]

Rennie Stinnett, stalwart second sacker for those great Pirate teams of the 1970s and author of a 7-for-7 day at Wrigley Field, 72, from cancer.



https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN197509160.shtmlhttps://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN197509160.shtml

Edited May 18, 2021 by Guest

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

Rennie Stinnett, stalwart second sacker for those great Pirate teams of the 1970s and author of a 7-for-7 day at Wrigley Field, 72, from cancer. https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN197509160.shtmlhttps://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN197509160.shtml

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51nlna7e3JL._SR600%2C315_PIWhiteStrip%2CBottomLeft%2C0%2C35_SCLZZZZZZZ_FMpng_BG255%2C255%2C255.jpg>







I was forever getting this card in my 1973 packs!

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

That guy could really prevent balls from rolling into dugouts.



No, I'm reading the new Dave Parker bio. Parkway often mentions Stennett fighting through knee injuries. Pittsburgh had an embarrassment of talent in the 70s yet too few crowns to show for it.

[Edgy MD]

Was part of the first all-African-American/Afro-Latin lineup, if I am not mistaken.



Secondbaseman on your All-Time Panamanian Major Leaguer Team.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: That guy could really prevent balls from rolling into dugouts..... Pittsburgh had an embarrassment of talent in the 70s yet too few crowns to show for it.

The Pirates won as many WS as the Big Red Machine did. And (in the 70s), one more than the O's. How many do you think they were supposed to win? Only the A's won more WS than Pitt. in the 70s. I'm not even sure that the Pirates were better than the Phillies of the second half of the decade, although in the 70s, the Pirates were awesome for longer.



I don't remember that Stennet card and I collected the 1973 set heavily. It's not a high card which I could see not getting, so maybe I didn't complete that series.



Or forgot that I had it.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I stand corrected on their title count. Seems like the 70s were a Dodger-Reds decade and less a Pirate decade, to me. Anyway, tremendous talent. And lots of John Milner Content in the book

[batmagadanleadoff]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: I stand corrected on their title count. Seems like the 70s were a Dodger-Reds decade and less a Pirate decade, to me. Anyway, tremendous talent. And lots of John Milner Content in the book

Maybe I'll get that Parker book. I was a huge fan of his and was sorry to see him decline so rapidly for a few years in the early 80s.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

You feel like you get to know Parker, that's for sure. There's a little too much play-by-play that you kinda forget (having written a book with too much pbp I know).

[batmagadanleadoff]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Seems like the 70s were a Dodger-Reds decade and less a Pirate decade, to me. Anyway, tremendous talent.

Often, when I think of the powerhouse NL 70s teams, I try and imagine what Tom Seaver would have looked like in those We are Family Japanese mix 'n match Pirate uniforms of the late 70s. Seaver's '77 list of the teams he'd accept a trade to were comprised of the four perennial 70s NL contenders -- Pitt., Phila., Cin. and LA.



And if Zvon were around, he'd have a pic of Seaver in those Mizunos within an hour of this post posting.

[dinosaur jesus]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Seems like the 70s were a Dodger-Reds decade and less a Pirate decade, to me. Anyway, tremendous talent. Often, when I think of the powerhouse NL 70s teams, I try and imagine what Tom Seaver would have looked like in those We are Family Japanese mix 'n match Pirate uniforms of the late 70s. Seaver's '77 list of the teams he'd accept a trade to were comprised of the four perennial 70s NL contenders -- Pitt., Phila., Cin. and LA. And if Zvon were around, he'd have a pic of Seaver in those Mizunos within an hour of this post posting.

He would have looked like a clown. And by 1982 he would have grown a Rick Rhoden mustache, as all the Pirates did in those days. At least we were spared that.

[G-Fafif]

I read an early manuscript of Cobra. The Daves (Parker and Jordan) dug deep and delivered in detail.

[batmagadanleadoff]

dinosaur jesus wrote: Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Seems like the 70s were a Dodger-Reds decade and less a Pirate decade, to me. Anyway, tremendous talent. Often, when I think of the powerhouse NL 70s teams, I try and imagine what Tom Seaver would have looked like in those We are Family Japanese mix 'n match Pirate uniforms of the late 70s. Seaver's '77 list of the teams he'd accept a trade to were comprised of the four perennial 70s NL contenders -- Pitt., Phila., Cin. and LA. And if Zvon were around, he'd have a pic of Seaver in those Mizunos within an hour of this post posting. He would have looked like a clown. And by 1982 he would have grown a Rick Rhoden mustache, as all the Pirates did in those days. At least we were spared that.

I wonder what that says about today's baseball aesthetics when every MLB team wears mismatched tops and bottoms?

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

You can't help but be impressed with all the hitters the Pirates developed and acquired in that era, and to hear Parker tell it, several guys you never heard of who were just as good. Somehow the Mets wind up with their dregs (Hebner and Taveras) while they reload with even better guys and fleece the Mets in deals for Foli and Milner

[Edgy MD]

I didn't get Foli. His Pirate teammates swore that he was a steal and a key cog of that 1979 championship, but with a gun to my head, I'd say that Taveras brought more to the table.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: You can't help but be impressed with all the hitters the Pirates developed and acquired in that era, and to hear Parker tell it, several guys you never heard of who were just as good. Somehow the Mets wind up with their dregs (Hebner and Taveras) while they reload with even better guys and fleece the Mets in deals for Foli and Milner

Hebner gets this terrible, terrible rep that comes only from Mets fans viewing things parochially, through their Metscentric worldview. Hebner played for the 1979 Mets, maybe the saddest NL team that ever was throughout Hebner's entire MLB career, where he had an off year playing for a team that had hit rock-bottom in a city he didn't want to be in.



But before the Mets, with the powerhouse Pirates, and then after the Mets, with the powerhouse Phillies, Hebner was a terrific player who more than pulled his own weight as an everyday player for pennant contending teams.

[Edgy MD]

I agree with you, thougt the Phils came before the Mets in Hebner's timeline. He went to Detroit after. And hit there too.



And even with the 1979 Mets, he co-led them in RBI despite playing in only 136 games.



A big part of the problem with Hebner was what we've frequently seen since:



(1) He wasn't a part-timer before he came to the Mets, but neither was he quite a full-timer, but he was coming over as the firstbaseman of a defending division champion with a stacked lineup, so he seemed to have high-end pedigree if you squinted.

(2) He batted cleanup.

(3) He was traded for the indifferently talented but popular Nino.

(4) He was over-sold. A Met team that wasn't bringing in anybody brought in a cleanup hitter.

(5) When he wasn't a superstar, he was booed.

(6) Coming from a pennant winner to an under-resourced basement dweller, and getting rewarded with boos, he grumbled.

(7) Those grumbles were interpreted as "Hebner hates us" and so he was booed some more.

(8) The cycle fed off itself.

[dinosaur jesus]

Edgy MD wrote: I didn't get Foli. His Pirate teammates swore that he was a steal and a key cog of that 1979 championship, but with a gun to my head, I'd say that Taveras brought more to the table.

Foli chose that one year to be a decent major league player. It was kind of infuriating to see it happen. But they were generally pretty comparable in value—Taveras a slightly better hitter, Foli a better fielder. I think the perception that Taveras was better was an illusion based on his stealing all those bases, and from his mostly being on better teams. The Pirates might have seen through that, or they might simply have decided that on a team with plenty of hitting, they wanted the glove man. And then he went and hit .291 for them.

[batmagadanleadoff]

And very view baseball players have this in their pedigree:



[FIMG=300]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71oyBwJliKL._AC_SY606_.jpg[/FIMG]

[G-Fafif]

Mudcat Grant, 85.



https://www.mlb.com/news/mudcat-grant-dies-at-85https://www.mlb.com/news/mudcat-grant-dies-at-85

[Frayed Knot]

In my younger days I'd conflate him and Bluemoon Odom.

I'll take black RH AL pitchers with cool/odd nicknames for $600 Alex

[G-Fafif]

[Edgy MD]

That says something that the Twins themselves are trumpeting that story.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Grant was "discovered" by scout Fred Merkle, who I assume, was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle%27s_Bonerthat Fred Merkle.





From SABR's Land of the Free, Home of the Brave: Mudcat Grant's Odyssey to Sing the National Anthem





Excerpt:

Even worse, segregation provided constant intimidation and danger. The family had a trapdoor in the floor, a refuge for when marauding white bands invaded, shooting into houses during what Grant described as “n*****-shooting time.”2 He was verbally and physically harassed by local authorities, and whites pelted him with rocks when he ventured outside “colored” areas. A childhood friend was killed for violating racial protocol.3 As Grant recalled, “As a black person, if you tried to think about the worst thing that could happen to you, it could happen that day. And something worse could happen to you the next day. . . . These became almost everyday things. . . . We were terrorized for 300 years. But we didn't call it terror.”4 [***] Eleven days later in Cleveland, opportunity took a darker turn. Egged on by bullpen teammates and frustrated by obstructed efforts to integrate Southern lunch counters, Grant's tolerance boiled over as he sang along with the anthem. As the song reached its ascending conclusion, Grant ad-libbed, “And this land is not so free, 'cause I can't even go to Mississipp-ee,” or words to that effect.8 Pitching coach and Texas resident Ted Wilks overheard. “If you don't like our country, why in the hell don't you get out,” he thundered. “Well, I can get out of the country,” Grant replied. “All I have to do is go to Texas. That's worse than Russia.” Wilks lit the match: “Well, if we catch your black n***** ass in Texas, we're going to hang you from the nearest tree.”9 Grant threw a punch that dropped Wilks to the ground. Pushing and shoving ensued until teammates separated them. Angered and unable to think clearly, Grant fled the park without alerting manager Jimmy Dykes, for which he was suspended for the rest of the season. Some accounts indicate Wilks apologized. “Are you kidding me?” Grant recently scoffed. “He was a racist. . . . There was no way he was going to apologize because [racism] was too strong back in those days.”10 To the team's credit, it quickly reassigned Wilks to the minor leagues and kept Grant on.11 But letters filled his mailbox, some complimentary, many not. He burned all but one he considered “funny” from a war veteran: “Dear black SOB, you got a lot of nerve,” it read. “After all we've done for you. . . . We ought to ship all you N****** and Jews back to Africa.”12 Grant expected other players to follow his protest, but no one did.

https://sabr.org/journal/article/land-of-the-free-home-of-the-brave-mudcat-grants-odyssey-to-sing-the-national-anthem/https://sabr.org/journal/article/land-of-the-free-home-of-the-brave-mudcat-grants-odyssey-to-sing-the-national-anthem/

[G-Fafif]

Superagent Tom Reich, 82.



https://www.post-gazette.com/news/obituaries/2021/07/02/Tom-Reich-pioneering-agent-who-represented-Pirates-players-dies-at-82/stories/202107020148https://www.post-gazette.com/news/obituaries/2021/07/02/Tom-Reich-pioneering-agent-who-represented-Pirates-players-dies-at-82/stories/202107020148

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

Former Met Dick Tidrow, who also pitched for a lesser New York team.



https://nypost.com/2021/07/14/dick-tidrow-ex-yankees-pitcher-and-giants-exec-dead-at-74/https://nypost.com/2021/07/14/dick-tidrow-ex-yankees-pitcher-and-giants-exec-dead-at-74/

[G-Fafif]

J.R. Richard, 71.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Gary talking about it now. I remember him well.

[Benjamin Grimm]

https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/8670/8670-486803Fr.jpg>

[G-Fafif]

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN197109052.shtmlWhat a debut. Note who he struck out three times.

[Benjamin Grimm]

I'm always surprised to see that Joe Morgan was a Houston Astro in 1971. That was the first year I was paying attention to baseball, but Joe Morgan must have escaped my notice. My earliest memory of him is as a Cincinnati Red.