Baseball Passings 2012

[G-Fafif]

Nyack native Marty Springstead, 74. longtime AL umpire who worked the plate in Games One and Seven of the 1973 World Series. Reported "found dead at his home in Florida," January 17.

(2011 thread here.)

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Andy Musser, who called Phils games with pre-departed boothmates Richie Ashburn and Harry Kalas, 74.

No nonsense kinda announcer, never too exciting but a pro. They let him go when his eyesight went bad.

[Frayed Knot]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: They let him go when his eyesight went bad.

And yet John Sterling soldiers on.

it is high, it is far, IT IS GON ....... no wait, it's off the wall ... and now the umps are calling the batter out so he must have caught it Suzyn. We can't see everything here from the Lowes Home Improvement Booth, but at first it looked like ...

[MFS62]

Frayed Knot wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: They let him go when his eyesight went bad. And yet John Sterling soldiers on. it is high, it is far, IT IS GON ....... no wait, it's off the wall ... and now the umps are calling the batter out so he must have caught it Suzyn. We can't see everything here from the Lowes Home Improvement Booth, but at first it looked like ...

We shouldn't make fun of the afflicted.
John's vision is obscured because his head is so far up his ass that his eyes are blocked.

Later

[Edgy MD]

Passing at 87 is former Mets board member and Jackie O. escort John T. Sargent. I think he was also Nelson's former brother-in-law.

[Edgy MD]

To heck with the Wall Street Journal, the AP obituary is the real homerun here.

Handsome, well-spoken and irresistible to women, Sargent was known as a serious and eclectic thinker and an accomplished reveler who dined out most nights and was equally comfortable with authors, movie stars or socialites. John Sargent Jr. remembered his father�s annual �singles only� Christmas Eve parties, co-hosted with actress Joan Fontaine. �A Salvation Army band would play at midnight and everybody would sing Christmas carols,� Sargent said. �And you had to be single. There was no flexibility in that rule.�

That ain't workin'. That's the way you do it.

Doubleday during Sargent�s time operated under the principle MBP (Management By Party). Gay Talese, whose book �Thy Neighbor�s Wife� was published by Doubleday, remembered attending editorial meetings and watching everyone �get smashed.� �Many of the editors and senior executives were big drinkers,� Talese told The Associated Press. �You�d go up this spiral staircase, into this private apartment, and the meetings were like a fraternity party that went out of hand. And John, elegant as he was, held his liquor with the best of them.�

Money? Nothin'. Chicks? Free.

[Frayed Knot]

Don Mincher - 73

A 13 yr MLB career spanned five AL franchises and included being a member of the final year of both the first and second versions of the Washington Senators. He also played in the one and only year of the Seattle Pilots where his southern good ol' boy persona became one of the more quotable characters in Jim Bouton's 'Ball Four'. So it must have seemed for a while that if you hired Don Mincher your team immediately left town.

His career included stops with the Senators/Twins, A's (twice), Angels, Pilots, Senators/Rangers and tallied exactly 200 HRs and two All-Star team selections.
He later went on the GM his native Huntsville, Alabama AA team and was president of the AA Southern League until just last year.

[stevejrogers]

The Ted McGliney of AL baseball.

[Theoldmole]

Don Mincher was a Twin when I lived out in Minnesota and followed them.

[G-Fafif]

One of my first cards, inherited from my sister; her '67s were from the entire year, but her '68s had low numbers only, indicating to me that she lost interest in her peer-pressured collecting long before sixth grade was over for her and Topps had released its second series. Mincher was No. 75 in the 1968 set, which convinced me he was a star since I caught on pretty quickly that cards ending in 5's and 0's were reserved for the best players. Any other Minchers I came into the rest of my days, I counted myself lucky based on that assessment.

[MFS62]

RIP, Don.
He's in the record books as being one of five teammates to homer in the same inning when he played for the Twins. (The other homers were hit by Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, Rich Rollins and Zoilo Versalles.)
That card takes us back to the days when the card companies would wait for the teams to come to New York to shoot the pics. Note the famous facade atop the pre-renovation Yankee Stadium I in the background.

Later

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Harry Wendlestedt. Umped the 73 and 86 World Series and in my memory every Met game I ever saw as a young kid.

[metirish]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Harry Wendlestedt. Umped the 73 and 86 World Series and in my memory every Met game I ever saw as a young kid.

and I would more associate his son as an ump....his dad did a lot - five no hitters ....cool

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Wendelstedt

[Edgy MD]

Had his own umping school, and (in my mind) advertised it in every sports pub I ever read as a kid.

I'd place him just behind Dutch Rennert among names that pop into my head when I think, "Umpire." Top five:

[*:d8r54h33]Dutch Rennert[/*:m:d8r54h33]
[*:d8r54h33]Harry Wendelstedt[/*:m:d8r54h33]
[*:d8r54h33]Eric Gregg[/*:m:d8r54h33]
[*:d8r54h33]Dana DeMuth[/*:m:d8r54h33]
[*:d8r54h33]Gary Darling[/*:m:d8r54h33][/list:o:d8r54h33]

[Frayed Knot]

Mel Parnell - 89
Pitched for the Red Sox from 1947 - 1956
His 123 wins include a no-hitter and a league-leading 25 win season in 1949

[MFS62]

Frayed Knot wrote: Mel Parnell - 89 Pitched for the Red Sox from 1947 - 1956 His 123 wins include a no-hitter and a league-leading 25 win season in 1949

Mel was always the example that was given to show that lefty pitchers could be winners pitching half their games at Fenway Park.

Later

[Edgy MD]

Moose Skowron, five-time world champ.

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy DC wrote: Moose Skowron, five-time world champ.

That USA Today piece mentions Moose's great nickname but doesn't mention its origin. The standard guess of getting it by being a big burly guy a la the dude in Archie Comics is not correct in this case.

Guesses?

[Benjamin Grimm]

We'll have to ask Valadius to break down the nickname methodology.

[Edgy MD]

Hardly unique. Baseball has had many Meese.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Let me guess... he got the nickname because he had antlers?

[Frayed Knot]

Edgy DC wrote: Hardly unique. Baseball has had many Meese.

Unique?, no. But the origin of his particular one may be.

[Fman99]

While it's not a recent passing, I found out yesterday that a coworker and friend of mine is the great grandson of a former major leaguer. A guy who played with Honus Wagner, Three Finger Brown, Zach Wheat and others, no less.

Pretty frickin cool.

[Theoldmole]

He had a decent career.

[Frayed Knot]

Frayed Knot wrote: Edgy DC wrote: Moose Skowron, five-time world champ. That USA Today piece mentions Moose's great nickname but doesn't mention its origin. The standard guess of getting it by being a big burly guy a la the dude in Archie Comics is not correct in this case. Guesses?

Old Mole gets the right answer (in another thread) --

Moose Skowron was not nicknamed for his resemblance to a moose, but for his resemblance to Mussolini.

[Fman99]

He looks like a damned reincarnated zombie. He's got more spots than a maxipad.

[MFS62]

I liked Moose.
He was a typical first baseman of his era - a big slow guy who would get about .275-25-80 every year.

Later

[G-Fafif]

Pedro Borbon, 65, cancer. Fought with Buzz Capra in the undercard to Rose-Harrelson in 1973 and then took a bite out of a Mets cap he'd mistakenly placed on his head.

He will be missed anyway.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Pinch-hit for by Manny Mota (Mota... Mota... Mota) every time I watch Airplane.

[Guest themetfairy]

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Pinch-hit for by Manny Mota (Mota... Mota... Mota) every time I watch Airplane.

My immediate reaction as well.