Bob Gallagher 1947-2024

[Met Hunter]

Newsweek sports writer Jon Paul Hoornstra published an article acknowledging Bob's passing last August. You can find the article. I couldn't find a link. In the sports autograph world his mail was being returned to collectors marked ‘deceased' since October which I believe prompted the writer to locate the info out of respect for Bob going unrecognized.

[G-Fafif]

Aug. 14, 2024, in Santa Cruz, Calif, per the article MH references.



https://www.newsweek.com/sports/mlb/former-red-sox-mets-outfielder-dies-sought-privacy-post-baseball-life-death-2040236https://www.newsweek.com/sports/mlb/former-red-sox-mets-outfielder-dies-sought-privacy-post-baseball-life-death-2040236



Bob's one of the last Mets I remember being lent out to another organization's farm club, playing for Triple-A Iowa in the Cub system in 1975 while still technically Met property.



I was excited that we got him. As with Jack Heidemann and Gene Clines that same year, I learned not everybody I recognized from baseball cards was necessarily going to thrive as a Met.

[Edgy MD]

It just makes no sense that a guy folks are sending mail to, asking for autographs, is also a guy whose death is so overlooked — sometimes by those same persons.

[Marshmallowmilkshake]

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcS3tjt9z29qEx6qhiwTO01ZSpSdIqnbO8y-r1hxLwebn3wzVSghUmEKS_jcO2poFPSmhaVJP9vpcK4QwUngc9U52ajGfm8w1rWPy8B7AiSCad8p626snTUDnw>



My only memory of Bob as a Met is his airbrushed 1975 card.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Just the practice of having portraits shot from under the chin was weird, then they go and paint them.



I miss that ragged production value in today's world

[Benjamin Grimm]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: Just the practice of having portraits shot from under the chin was weird, then they go and paint them. I miss that ragged production value in today's world

I wonder, did they take an under-the-chin photo for all (or most) players just in case they ended up on another team? Or did they just do it for guys who are in the journeyman category. In 1975, for example, there was probably little chance of Tom Seaver or Joe Morgan or Willie Stargell changing teams. But maybe they took those photos anyway. Interesting... I never thought about that before.



I have an in-law (actually a de facto-in-law-in-law) named Bob Gallagher. Not the same guy!

[stevejrogers]

On the side profile as well. Which helps when you are now with a team with the same cap color, even if your side profile no longer looks the way it did in the photo!



https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/70/70-40Fr.jpg>

https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/58526/58526-1Fr.jpg>



https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/72/72-240Fr.jpg>



Which is pretty funny given the sandwiched year's card



https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/71/71-650Fr.jpg>



I have a feeling that shot goes all the way back to the photo shoot Topps did for Allen's 1966 base card



https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/65/65-80Fr.jpg>

[batmagadanleadoff]

On the side profile as well. Which helps when you are now with a team with the same cap color, even if your side profile no longer looks the way it did in the photo! https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/70/70-40Fr.jpg> https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/58526/58526-1Fr.jpg> https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/72/72-240Fr.jpg> Which is pretty funny given the sandwiched year's card https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/71/71-650Fr.jpg> I have a feeling that shot goes all the way back to the photo shoot Topps did for Allen's 1966 base card https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Cards/Baseball/65/65-80Fr.jpg>

I don't see no images. Is this a prank?

[Benjamin Grimm]

It looks like Steve didn't preview his post before submitting.



I used to post baseball card images from http://www.tcdb.comwww.tcdb.com -- it's a great source -- but not so long ago they did something that causes it to no longer work.

[stevejrogers]

On the side profile as well. Which helps when you are now with a team with the same cap color, even if your side profile no longer looks the way it did in the photo!



https://deanscards.blob.core.windows.net/thirdparty/5371955f.jpg>



https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/FI8AAOSweo5kZoMX/s-l400.jpg>



https://i.psacard.com/cardfacts/1972-topps-240-rich-allen-36208.jpg?h=1000>



https://www.si.com/.image/t_share/MTY4MjYxMzc1MzAxOTg1NDQ1/dick-allen.jpg>



Which is pretty funny given the sandwiched year's card



https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/CHQAAOSwaXNnGF~I/s-l400.jpg>



I have a feeling that shot goes all the way back to the photo shoot Topps did for Allen's 1966 base card



https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/f6cAAOSwJB9g676z/s-l1200.jpg>

[Cowtipper]

Edgy MD wrote: It just makes no sense that a guy folks are sending mail to, asking for autographs, is also a guy whose death is so overlooked — sometimes by those same persons.

Lots of times people just assume they stop signing—not because they died, but because they got tired of being inundated by mail.



Unless a relative writes a note back saying they died (or the post office finds out they died and RTS's the letter with "deceased"), collectors often have no way of knowing. Few are brave enough or have the desire to write specifically to ask if someone died.



Often we get suspicious when someone who is a great signer just randomly stops. But still, unless there is a public record of their death or a notice online, it can be hard to find out. People who are cremated often get overlooked.

[Edgy MD]

I amn't indicting autograph collectors specifically, just the sad societal irony that somebody is important enough for his signature to be collectable, but still insignificant enough for his passing to go un-noted.

[stevejrogers]

Edgy MD wrote: I amn't indicting autograph collectors specifically, just the sad societal irony that somebody is important enough for his signature to be collectable, but still insignificant enough for his passing to go un-noted.

Gene Hackman and his wife were dead for at least week. No one related to either of them bothered to even text or some other method of a welfare check on them. Even more alarming considering Hackman's age and state of cognitive decline.



Bob Gallagher's widow posted on Facebook at the time of his passing, by all accounts the man preferred as much anonymity as a former and unknown utility baseball player could get, and his surviving family members accommodated that desire.



Really isn't any sort of sad societal irony with that. Especially in comparison with wondering how the hell does one of the greatest actors of our time, still very much known to mass mainstream audiences be apparently that estranged and isolated from his OWN FAMILY MEMBERS that no one knew that his wife was dead for week before he died. Never mind no one knew he was deceased for a week, and only was found due to maintenance workers making a scheduled appointment.



So yeah, Hackman is probably the better example to use of a noted person's demise, though not through the fault of falling through the cracks due to choices, personal demons, bad luck, transient life, etc, not getting any sort of notice at the time it actually did occur.

[batmagadanleadoff]

I don't think that the circumstances surrounding Hackman's death are so unusual -- at least in this sense: about 9,000 people die in the US every day. The odds are that on occasion, somebody's death will slip through the cracks and go unnoticed for longer than what is ordinary or expected. It happens --- usually to a decedent living alone -- this time to a married couple who each died close in time to each otber.



Its just that this incident received worldwide attention because of Hackmqn's celebrity.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I have a Gene Hackman signed Bob Gallagher card.

[Frayed Knot]

That two people died in the same house a week apart without it getting reported is pretty unusual.

[stevejrogers]

=batmagadanleadoff post_id=186932 time=1741630702 user_id=68]
I don't think that the circumstances surrounding Hackman's death are so unusual -- at least in this sense: about 9,000 people die in the US every day. The odds are that on occasion, somebody's death will slip through the cracks and go unnoticed for longer than what is ordinary or expected. It happens --- usually to a decedent living alone -- this time to a married couple who each died close in time to each otber.



Its just that this incident received worldwide attention because of Hackmqn's celebrity.

[MFS62]

=stevejrogers post_id=186940 time=1741636129 user_id=57]
No one connected, or known to them personally, and being very noted persons, especially in Hackman's case, did a check of any kind for that long is the sad part,

[Edgy MD]

I am certain that Hackman's and Arakawa's families were notified before a public announcement was made.

[stevejrogers]

Edgy MD wrote: I am certain that Hackman's and Arakawa's families were notified before a public announcement was made.

That is besides the point I was making.



The point I was making is that since they were both dead for at least a week, her longer, many personally connected or known to them were unaware of their condition until what you are are describing, or worse when the public information was released.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Frayed Knot wrote: That two people died in the same house a week apart without it getting reported is pretty unusual.

It's certainly not typical. But it happens. People that live alone die and on occasion, nobody notices for days until the mail piles up, overflowing the mailbox and the stench of their decomposing bodies is so powerful, that the rotting smells can be picked up from distances and through walls. Hackman's case happened to get world-wide attention because he's a celebrity -- a Hollywood actor of legendary status.

[Frayed Knot]

Well of course the coverage of Gene Hackman's death is because he's Gene Hackman.

But I'd call the circumstances -- where a couple of differing ages die of completely different causes just a few rooms apart and, most notably, A WEEK apart, and

where the longer survivor either doesn't realize or can't process that the other is dead -- as extremely unusual.

If one of them isn't Gene Hackman then it's merely a local story rather than a (inter)national one. But that certainly doesn't make even remotely a common one.

More like something perhaps the writers for CSI: Santa Fe might make up.

[Edgy MD]

Edgy MD wrote: I am certain that Hackman's and Arakawa's families were notified before a public announcement was made. That is besides the point I was making.

It is in response to a statement you wrote in support of the point you were making.

[stevejrogers]

Edgy MD wrote: Edgy MD wrote: I am certain that Hackman's and Arakawa's families were notified before a public announcement was made. That is besides the point I was making. It is in response to a statement you wrote in support of the point you were making.

You are being way too semantical.



Yes, because it was a police investigation, they would not have revealed Hackman's and Arakawa's names until after next of kin or emergency contacts or whomever have been notified.



The public announcement via press outlet release/social media/etc was not withheld per family request for whatever reason.



My point is still that considering they were discovered by maintenance workers, their demises were most likely literally breaking news to those personally known to them, who most likely should have been aware earlier than hearing it from police investigation officials.

[stevejrogers]

Frayed Knot wrote: Well of course the coverage of Gene Hackman's death is because he's Gene Hackman. But I'd call the circumstances -- where a couple of differing ages die of completely different causes just a few rooms apart and, most notably, A WEEK apart, and where the longer survivor either doesn't realize or can't process that the other is dead -- as extremely unusual. If one of them isn't Gene Hackman then it's merely a local story rather than a (inter)national one. But that certainly doesn't make even remotely a common one. More like something perhaps the writers for CSI: Santa Fe might make up.

I'll add that it really should be considered unusual for time frame and the persons who ended up finding them. These may have been recluses, but they certainly were not a pair of Eleanor Rigbys. They certainly have living loved ones and friends, etc. Yet NO ONE bothered to see how they were!?

[Edgy MD]

=stevejrogers post_id=186959 time=1741646928 user_id=57] You are being way too semantical.

[Frayed Knot]

I'll add that it really should be considered unusual for time frame and the persons who ended up finding them. These may have been recluses, but they certainly were not a pair of Eleanor Rigbys. They certainly have living loved ones and friends, etc. Yet NO ONE bothered to see how they were!?

While a week (nine days?) is a long time to be dead inside your house, it's not necessarily a long time to not hear from a friend or family member.

Lots of things about this story were odd. That one is way down the list IMO.

[Edgy MD]

Yeah, I do not know what is in dispute.

[Met Hunter]

The two things I saw online were a collector receiving his letter back from Gallagher where the USPS returned it marked deceased back in October. The second was a person in December that received a note back from the Mrs stating that Bob had passed. No obituary or memorial could be found online. Last known response was in June. Bob had been good to his fans through the years with mail. My guess is the Newsweek writer picked up on this and for whatever reason decided to contact the family.



On another note, I met Bob at a public signing in 2006 in NJ with other lesser seen Mets Doc Medich and Johnny Stephenson. He seemed like a good guy and told my two kids to study hard in school and pay attention to Mom and Dad. Told me he was a longtime educator.

[stevejrogers]

Frayed Knot wrote: I'll add that it really should be considered unusual for time frame and the persons who ended up finding them. These may have been recluses, but they certainly were not a pair of Eleanor Rigbys. They certainly have living loved ones and friends, etc. Yet NO ONE bothered to see how they were!? While a week (nine days?) is a long time to be dead inside your house, it's not necessarily a long time to not hear from a friend or family member. Lots of things about this story were odd. That one is way down the list IMO.

I was trying to imply it the whole time, but I was trying to make an indictment about their strained relationship with their kids (assuming she had at least one prior to her marriage to Gene). Apparently they hadn't had contact with Gene in 4 months or so.



That's the family part where I coming from, the direct nuclear one, not some random nephew, cousin, etc that you only know from social media posts.

Edited March 11, 2025 by Guest