Baseball Passings 2014

[Edgy MD]

An old SI account of Welch becoming one of the first players to seek treatment for alcoholism during his career.

[seawolf17]

Edgy MD wrote: An old SI account of Welch becoming one of the first players to seek treatment for alcoholism during his career.

His book, Five O'Clock Comes Early, came out shortly after my mom came out of rehab. It hit me very hard then, and I've been a fan of his ever since.

[Edgy MD]

Raising a soft drink in the hope that he died sober.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Heart attack, Internets say. 57 years old

[G-Fafif]

Jim Brosnan, 84, Redlegs pitcher and Bouton before there was a Bouton when it came to the ballplayer diary.

[smg58]

The nine-month-old son of Brewers shortstop Jean Segura.

[Edgy MD]

I'm bouncing that out of the NBF into the baseball passings thread. How terrible.

I guess it may explain the rough season that Segura has had. The Brewers have been playing their worst ball the last two weeks too.

[MFS62]

G-Fafif wrote: Jim Brosnan, 84, Redlegs pitcher and Bouton before there was a Bouton when it came to the ballplayer diary.

I have his two books and still can remember passages from them (especially the first one - The Long Season.)
They were the first "inside the clubhouse" baseball books and still probably the only one actually written by the ballplayer (as mentioned in the linked second article.). Later ones, like Jim Bouton's Ball Four were dictated, then actually written by other writers.
RIP, Broz.

Later

[G-Fafif]

Frank Torre, 82.

[Edgy MD]

Bid farewell to 1955 Dodger George Shuba, who accidentally made a giant leap forward in civil rights merely by shaking a black dude's hand.

Such was the messed-up state of baseball and culture in 1946.

[Zvon]

Edgy MD wrote: Bid farewell to 1955 Dodger George Shuba, who accidentally made a giant leap forward in civil rights merely by shaking a black dude's hand. Such was the messed-up state of baseball and culture in 1946.

Look at that 1946 minor league crowd!

[G-Fafif]

Brad Halsey, 33, pitcher Mets lit up in Subway Series game in 2004; were shut down by him a year later when he was a Diamondback. One more year after that, with Oakland. No cause mentioned.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/100571592/former-big-league-lefty-brad-halsey-dies-at-33

Edited November 5, 2014 by Guest

[Edgy MD]

Reportedly a climbing accident, but they're ordering an autopsy. Appears to be some concern it may have been a suicide.

[G-Fafif]

Alvin Dark, 92, shortstop of the 1951 National League and 1954 World Champion New York Giants, manager of the 1974 World Champion Oakland A's, skipper amid cultural discontent on the powerhouse San Francisco Giants of the mid-1960s. Also helmed Cleveland, which is where I first met him on his 1970 Topps card. Rumored at the peak of his powers as the Mets' next manager, but Casey Stengel gave way to Wes Westrum who gave way to Gil Hodges (by way of Salty Parker) so he was never one of ours.

Also worth noting it was the 1949 trade of Dark and future Met minor league director Eddie Stanky to the Giants from the Braves (the famous "back up the truck" swap) that turned the Giants into the contenders they'd become in the 1950s. "My kind of team" was how Leo Durocher termed what he had once had those two.

Edited November 13, 2014 by Guest

[MFS62]

Its funny (there must be a better word) that the article notes that Dark had a wide range of relationships with minority players, but I recall that his nickname in his playing days was "Blackie". I don't think he'd be called that today.
RIP Alvin.

Later

[G-Fafif]

Allen Ripley, 62, gave up the Steve Henderson Homer of June 14, 1980.

http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/ex-boston-and-pawtucket-red-sox-player-allen-ripley-of/article_0dc18b6c-69da-11e4-bfcc-7be7d1783b1a.html?mode=print