Baseball Passings 2022

[G-Fafif]

Larry Biittner, whose every card in a lengthy big league career looked a little like a typo, 75.

[MFS62]

I remember him as being a good hitter and bad fielder.

One writer described him as "two i's, two t's, no hands."



RIP



Later

[G-Fafif]

Jim Corsi, ten seasons a reliever (primarily for Oakland and Boston), 60, from liver cancer.

[G-Fafif]

Eddie Basinski, 1940s Dodger and musical icon for a couple of reasons. One, he played the violin. Two…

Basinski had another brush with the baseball world when he was among some three dozen old-time major leaguers whose names provided the lyrics for the jazz pianist and singer Dave Frishberg's 1969 song “Van Lingle Mungo” (Its title is the name of fastball pitcher with the Dodgers and the New York Giants in the 1930s and '40s). Basinski was the last survivor of that group. The closing stanza goes: John Antonelli, Ferris Fain Frankie Crosetti, Johnny Sain Harry Brecheen and Lou Boudreau Frankie Gustine and Claude Passeau Eddie Basinski, Ernie Lombardi, Hughie Mulcahy, Van Lingle … Van Lingle Mungo.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/14/sports/baseball/eddie-basinski-dead.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/14/sports/baseball/eddie-basinski-dead.html

[Frayed Knot]

=G-Fafif post_id=84614 time=1642217940 user_id=55] Basinski was the last survivor of that group.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

David Green.



He was the Nicaraguan outfielder compared to Willie Mays with a better am, Andre Dawson with more speed, etc when he was on the way up. Key figure in the trade for not one but two Hall of Famers when he went from the Brewers system to the Cardinals' for Ted Simmons and Rollie Fingers.



There he played an important part in Mets history: the Cardinals needed to make room for him in the outfield, so they traded Keith Hernandez and put George Hendrick at 1st. All that and then he drank himself into obscurity.

[stevejrogers]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: David Green. He was the Nicaraguan outfielder compared to Willie Mays with a better am, Andre Dawson with more speed, etc when he was on the way up. Key figure in the trade for not one but two Hall of Famers when he went from the Brewers system to the Cardinals' for Ted Simmons and Rollie Fingers. There he played an important part in Mets history: the Cardinals needed to make room for him in the outfield, so they traded Keith Hernandez and put George Hendrick at 1st. All that and then he drank himself into obscurity.

Also was added to replace an injured Jack Clark for the Red Birds 1987 postseason run.

[Edgy MD]

I like how Whitey Herzog put him and Andy Van Slyke in the lineup more often than not, but in a different position every day.



Worry about finding a way to make your bat work in the majors, and then we'll find a regular spot for you on defense. It's a pretty good principle.

[G-Fafif]

Jeremy Giambi, 47.



https://www.tmz.com/2022/02/09/ex-mlb-player-jeremy-giambi-dead-dies/https://www.tmz.com/2022/02/09/ex-mlb-player-jeremy-giambi-dead-dies/

[Edgy MD]

Wow. Awful.



I always kind of thought he was safe, too.

[Edgy MD]

Jeez, now it's reported that Giambi's death was a suicide.

[The Hot Corner]

Edgy MD wrote: Jeez, now it's reported that Giambi's death was a suicide.

In the home of his mother.

[Edgy MD]

I hope deeply that his being portrayed as a buffoon in Moneyball didn't contribute to his spiral.

[G-Fafif]

Ron Mazzola, 61. Heckuva Mets fan I had the pleasure of meeting up with at Citi Field over the years. Well-loved in his community. Very sad to hear about this.

You need something, ask Ron. That's all. Ron Mazzola was the man with the answers, with the connections, with the willingness to help any way he could. Always and unselfishly. That's Ron. Need someone to make a phone call, no problem. Texts and emails – they got answered within minutes. He was an institution for decades, first in Old Bridge from Little League up to the high school teams. Then, he got involved on the region and state levels with NJSIAA wrestling and gymnastics, running tricky tournaments and seeding meetings to optimal clockwork. Everybody knew Ron. Now, there'll be a void in New Jersey high school sports. Mazzola died Monday, according to a Facebook post from his sister. She noted that information about the services will be released. He was 61.

https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/sports/high-school/2022/02/21/old-bridge-nj-ron-mazzola-dies-61/6885795001/https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/sports/high-school/2022/02/21/old-bridge-nj-ron-mazzola-dies-61/6885795001/

[G-Fafif]

Julio Cruz, Mariners and White Sox infielder from 1977 to 1986, 67.


https://twitter.com/morenojosea/status/1496325953471012870

[Edgy MD]

Went back to the 1977 debut year with the Mariners.



Did he have a 1977 card? I feel like his was the first Mariner face I ever saw.

[seawolf17]

Nope, rookie card was 1978 Topps.

[Edgy MD]

We were shocked to find these players from brand new teams we'd never heard of in our packs. We'd never heard the term "Mariner," and read the word as "Ma-REEN-er."

[Willets Point]

Yes! I called them Mareeners based on my 78 Topps cards.

[G-Fafif]

https://twitter.com/cst_soxvan/status/1496560884021436419

[The Hot Corner]

Thanks for the nice story from Ron Kittle about Julio Cruz. I lived within "earshot" of the old Comiskey Park from 1981-1985. That story brings back some fond memories of my time in Chicago. We could see the fireworks from the "exploding scoreboard" and hear the crowd roar whenever the Sox hit a homerun. We saw quite a few fireworks with Kittle, Greg Luzinski, Harold Baines, and Pudge Fisk in the line up. In the days before PEAs, they hit a lot of home runs.



Just reminiscing about the White Sox of the early 80's and looking at their roster, I completely forgot that Jerry Koosman (at age 40) was the 5th starter for the 1983 pennant winning team. I attended 4-5 games that season and I don't believe I ever saw him pitch. I did however get to see Tom Seaver pitch in 1985, before I left Chicago.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Edgy MD wrote: We were shocked to find these players from brand new teams we'd never heard of in our packs. We'd never heard the term "Mariner," and read the word as "Ma-REEN-er."

Me too. I guess I'd never heard of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner when the Mariners debuted.

[G-Fafif]

Odalis Perez, 44.



https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/03/odalis-perez-passes-away.htmlhttps://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/03/odalis-perez-passes-away.html

[Edgy MD]

Man, I loved that guy. He had one really good year as a kid and hung on for what seemed like 15 meh years based on that. Always good enough to hang on in the back end of somebody's rotation, but capable of pitching one or two terrific games a year just when you're about to get sick and jettison him.



Broad across the chest, full of emotion, and often seemingly pitching on not much more than the adrenaline.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Conflate him with Omar Oliveras

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, he was pretty much a lefty Omar Oliveras.

[Edgy MD]

Wasn't Odalis Perez part of the Benson Bunch?

[MFS62]

The "toughest pitcher" Ted Williams ever faced - Joan Joyce - 81

https://www.mlb.com/news/joan-joyce-softball-legend-dies-at-81https://www.mlb.com/news/joan-joyce-softball-legend-dies-at-81



Later

[G-Fafif]

John Ellis, caught and played first base for 3 AL clubs from 1969 to 1981, 73.

John Ellis, a New London High School graduate who had a Major League Baseball career and went on to found the Connecticut Cancer Foundation, has died at the age of 73. Ellis, a cancer survivor himself, died Wednesday after a second bout of the disease, according to his wife, Jane, and Jim Smith, who wrote the book “Baseball's Greatest Players: The Story of John Ellis and the Fight Against Cancer.” He died at Yale New Haven Hospital, former Day Publisher Reid MacCluggage said. Ellis was born in New London in 1948; his father, Louis Ellis, was a Coast Guardsman. John was a high school star athlete in football, basketball and baseball. He was drafted by the Yankees in 1966 and joined the team in 1969 after three years in the minor leagues, Smith wrote. He retired from the major league after the 1981 season with a lifetime batting average of .262 and went into real estate in New London, building his fortune. John and Jane Ellis established the Connecticut Cancer Foundation after he was first diagnosed with cancer in 1986; his older siblings Richard and Molly both died of the disease, Smith wrote in an obituary. Besides his wife, Ellis is survived by his daughter, Erika; his son, John; and his brother, Dave.

https://www.theday.com/article/20220406/NWS01/220409652https://www.theday.com/article/20220406/NWS01/220409652

[G-Fafif]

Joe Horlen, stalwart of the White Sox staff in the '60s (19 wins in 1967), 84.