Baseball Passings 2011

[G-Fafif]

Woodie Fryman, 70, savior for Tigers down the stretch in 1972. 13-12 vs. Mets in 55 appearances (25 starts) with primarily the Pirates, Phillies and Expos.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Chuck Tanner, 82.

Mainstay of the Pirates when I grew up.

[Valadius]

Tony Malinosky, 101. Oldest living major leaguer. Played 35 games for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1937.

[Edgy MD]

What a bloody day.

It's like they all hung in there to outlast the Mubarak regeime.

Chuck Tanner never made sense on the Braves. Not that Sparky Anderson really made sense running the Tigers.

[G-Fafif]

Fryman and Malinosky died while Mubarak was still hanging on. We just didn't get around to acknowledging them.

I blame our Pro-Living Bias.

[G-Fafif]

Gino Cimoli, 81. He scored the final run at Ebbets Field and was the first major leaguer to bat on the West Coast when the Dodgers faced the Giants at Seals Stadium in 1958.

[Frayed Knot]

Mitchell Page - 59.

Broke in with Oakland at age 25 and finished 2nd in the 1977 AL ROY race (got 9 first place votes) behind Eddie Murray and ahead of Bump Wills.
An OFer who stroked .307/.405/.521 w/21 HRs & 42 steals (some serious stuff in the late 70s) he then proceeded to never have as good a season afterward, slipping somewhat each year until losing his starting job by age 28 and then only playing sparingly after that.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I remember Page. Wore glasses on the field.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Holy crap. I remember a kid in my neighborhood was a big fan of Mitchell Page. That "59" after his name came as a surprise to me. When you go a long time without thinking of someone, you tend to think that they haven't been aging.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Was awarded one of the three outfield rookie cup trophies that didn't go to Steve Henderson.

[Valadius]

Marty Marion, 93. 1944 NL MVP with the Cardinals.

[Theoldmole]

One of the greats.

[Valadius]

Before Ozzie Smith, he was held up as the best Cardinals shortstop of all time.

[Edgy MD]

More than that, he was widely considered the league's standard bearer. For a long time, the instant argument against Phil Rizzuto's Hall of Fame candidacy was that if Marty Marion wasn't in, Rizzuto certainly shouldn't be.

[Theoldmole]

I think he should be. And so should Gil Hodges.

[G-Fafif]

Player development man Lou Gorman, 82, helped rebuild the Mets under Frank Cashen from 1980-1983. Was the opposing GM in the 1986 World Series.

[Edgy MD]

Wow, he probably deserves his own thread.

I think he was big behind the Mazzilli-Darling/Terrell trade. If that wans't a big builder in our championship, he helped us from the other side with the Ojeda-Schiraldi/Gardner trade.

A baseball fixture for a long, long time. Wrote the worst book blurb ever.

[G-Fafif]

Lou Gorman recalled, as only Marty Noble could.

Speaking to Lou on the phone, or, better yet, in person was a delight. His in-person greeting seldom varied -- "Good to see you, Mr. Noble, sir. Good to see you. How are you, Mr. Noble?" Most often, my calls were fact-finding in nature. They were cordial, occasionally fruitful, more often frustrating. General manager Frank Cashen liked his Mets tight-lipped. It was our job -- Danny's, mine and the other guys' -- to loosen those lips. Sometimes, I'd call Lou for no particular reason and just press the talk button. He could fill a notebook faster than anyone this side of Gene Orza, Ron Blomberg or Gary Carter. And Lou's anecdotes were good -- filled with insight and recaps of his favorite baseball episodes. Once in a while, a Mets fact might have slipped through -- don't tell Cashen -- but mostly Lou spoke of players he'd scouted, recommended, signed. The others went unmentioned.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Paul Splitorff. Longtime Royals pitcher and broadcaster, 64.

I didn't know this but he's their all-time victory leader.

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/05/25/2902340/royals-great-paul-splittorff-dies.html

[seawolf17]

I don't think he would have been in my top 50 guesses.

edit: Wow, he leads them in every category. Wins, losses, games started (third in games, behind Quiz and Jeff Montgomery), IP, hits allowed, runs allowed. Second in CG & SHO behind Dennis Leonard.

[Lefty Specialist]

Oral cancer. Don't chew tobacco, kids.

[Edgy MD]

The Royals were really an impressive franchise before 1994 --- an expansion team with a record above .500, a beloved committed ownership group, an urban baseball academy, a stadium that continued to improve while still looking like a relic from the era it was built, a willingness to be aggressive in the free agent market, a couple of giant-killer pennant winners, and a franchise player who was damn near the best player ever at his position.

Yeah there was cocaine, astroturf, and powderblues, but they paved their own way.

[G-Fafif]

Jose Pagan, 76, Giant and Pirate World Series star.

[G-Fafif]

Jim Northrup, 71, Tigers mainstay.

[Edgy MD]

G-Fafif wrote: Jose Pagan, 76, Giant and Pirate World Series star.

And what the hell is Lewy body dementia? Man, I don't wanna get old.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

G-Fafif wrote: Jim Northrup, 71, Tigers mainstay.

I recall this as being one of the first baseball cards I owned. I think there was soemthing about the name NORTHRUP that I found grippingly exotic.

[MFS62]

Northrup and Pagan, game 7 heroes.
RIP, guys.

These things happen in 3's. If I were Bill Mazeroski, I'd watch my ass for the next couple of days.

Later

[G-Fafif]

One of my first:



Didn't quite nail the "Pagan" pronunciation when I inherited it and other '67 Topps from my sister a year after it was issued. I'm guessing I wasn't altogether nimble on "Jose" either.

[seawolf17]

HOF manager Dick Williams, 82.

[TransMonk]

Per Wiki: He and Lou Piniella are the only managers in history to lead four teams to seasons of 90 or more wins.