RIP Don Sutton
Posted: January 20, 2021 Filed under: 20th Century, 21st Century | Tags: All-Star Game, Atlanta Braves, Baseball, California Angels, Don Sutton, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, MLB, National Baseball Hall of Fame, Oakland Athletics 3 CommentsDonald Howard Sutton was born on April 2, 1945 in Clio, Alabama. In a career that spanned 23 years, Sutton had a career record of 324-256 and an ERA of 3.26 while pitching for the Dodgers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, and California Angels. 58 of his wins were shutouts, five of them one-hitters, and 10 were two-hitters. He is seventh on baseball’s all-time strikeout list with 3,574, and he was named to the All-Star team four times.
Sutton entered broadcasting after his retirement as a player. He worked in this capacity for a number of teams, the majority of which were with the Atlanta Braves. Sutton was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998 with 81.61% of the vote. Sutton was also inducted into the Braves Hall of Fame in July 2015 for his work as a broadcaster.
According to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Sutton died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, after a long struggle with cancer. He was 75 years old.
Rest in peace.
Sutton in 2008 (Wikimedia Commons)
RIP Phil Niekro
Posted: December 28, 2020 Filed under: 20th Century, 21st Century | Tags: All-Star Game, Atlanta Braves, Baseball, Brian Piccolo Award, Gold Glove Award, Lou Gehrig Award, Major League Baseball, Milwaukee Braves, MLB, National Baseball Hall of Fame, Phil Niekro, Roberto Clemente Award, sports 3 CommentsPhil Niekro pitched for 24 seasons in Major League Baseball, spending 20 of those seasons with the Braves, both in Milwaukee and Atlanta. Niekro’s 318 career victories are the most by a knuckleball pitcher and rank 16th on MLB’s all-time wins list. He won the NL Gold Glove Award five times, was selected for five All-Star teams, and led the league in victories twice and in ERA once.
Niekro also earned the Lou Gehrig Award, the Roberto Clemente Award, and the Brian Piccolo Award for his humanitarian service off the field. He also served on the Hall of Fame’s Board of Directors since 2009. Niekro was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997.
Phil Niekro died December 26, 2020 after a battle with cancer. He was 81 years old.
Wikipedia
RIP Dick Allen
Posted: December 12, 2020 Filed under: 20th Century, 21st Century | Tags: All-Star Game, American League, Baseball, Chicago White Sox, Dick Allen, Major League Baseball, Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award, MLB, National League, Philadelphia Phillies, Rookie of the Year, sports 5 CommentsI am well behind on this one. Dick Allen passed away this past Monday, December 7, 2020 at the age of 78.
Richard Anthony Allen was born March 8, 1942 in Wampum, Pennsylvania. During his fifteen-season Major League Baseball career, he appeared primarily as a first baseman, third baseman, and outfielder, most notably for the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago White Sox. Allen was named to the All-Star team seven times. He won the 1964 NL Rookie of the Year Award and the 1972 AL Most Valuable Player Award. He also led the AL in home runs for two seasons, led the NL in slugging percentage one season and the AL in two seasons, and led each major league in on-base percentage, one season each. He finished his career with a .292 batting average and a .534 slugging percentage.
The Philadelphia Phillies retired Dick Allen’s number 15 on September 3, 2020. He was also inducted into the Baseball Reliquary’s Shrine of the Eternals in 2004.
Rest in peace.
Dick Allen, c. 1965 (Wikipedia)
RIP Joe Morgan
Posted: October 12, 2020 Filed under: 20th Century, 21st Century | Tags: All-Star Game, Baseball, Cincinnati Reds, Gold Glove Award, Houston Astros, Joe Morgan, Major League Baseball, Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award, MLB, National Baseball Hall of Fame, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, Silver Slugger, sports, World Series 2 CommentsLegendary second baseman Joe Morgan played Major League Baseball for the Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, and Oakland Athletics from 1963 to 1984. Over the course of his career, Morgan won two World Series championships with the Reds in 1975 and 1976 and was also named the National League MVP in each of those years. Morgan was also a ten-time All-Star, a five-time Gold Glove winner, and won the Silver Slugger award in 1982. Morgan was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990, and he has also been inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame and the Astros Hall of Fame.
Joe Morgan died on October 11, 2020 in Danville, California at the age of 77.
Rest in peace.
Joe Morgan, 1973 (Baseball Hall of Fame)
RIP Whitey Ford
Posted: October 10, 2020 Filed under: 20th Century, 21st Century | Tags: All-Star Game, Baseball, Cy Young Award, Major League Baseball, MLB, New York Yankees, sports, Whitey Ford, World Series Leave a commentEdward Charles Ford, better known as “Whitey,” was born October 21, 1928 in Manhattan. Ford spent his entire 16-year career with the Yankees, beginning in 1950 and playing until he retired after the 1967 season. He appeared in 498 career games, compiling 236 wins and a 2.75 ERA. Ford won the 1961 Cy Young Award, was named to 10 All-Star Games, and was a member of six World Series-winning teams. He also won two ERA titles and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting in 1950 behind Boston Red Sox first baseman Walt Dropo. Ford was selected into the Hall of Fame in his second year on the ballot, in 1974, receiving 77.8 percent of the vote. The Yankees retired his No. 16 jersey that same year.
Whitey Ford passed away a couple days ago, October 8, 2020 on Long Island.
Rest in peace.
Whitey Ford in 2010 (Wikipedia)
RIP Bob Gibson
Posted: October 4, 2020 Filed under: 20th Century, 21st Century | Tags: All-Star Game, Baseball, Bob Gibson, Cy Young Award, Major League Baseball, Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award, MLB, National Baseball Hall of Fame, sports, St. Louis Cardinals, World Series Leave a commentI just heard about the passing of Bob Gibson, pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals for seventeen seasons. Over the course of that career, Gibson collected 251 wins, 3,117 strikeouts, and a 2.91 ERA. He was also a nine-time All-Star, won two World Series championships, and he won two Cy Young Awards and the 1968 NL MVP.
Bob Gibson was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981. The Cardinals retired his uniform number 45 in September 1975 and inducted him into the team Hall of Fame in 2014.
Gibson died in Omaha, Nebraska on October 2, 2020 from pancreatic cancer.
Rest in peace.
Sports Illustrated
RIP Lou Brock
Posted: September 7, 2020 Filed under: 20th Century, 21st Century | Tags: All-Star Game, Baseball, Lou Brock, Major League Baseball, MLB, National Baseball Hall of Fame, National League, St. Louis Cardinals, Ty Cobb 2 CommentsLou Brock spent the majority of his nineteen-year Major League career as a left fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals. Brock was best known for breaking Ty Cobb’s all-time stolen base record in 1977. He was a six-time All-Star, and he led the National League in stolen bases for eight seasons. Brock led the NL in doubles and triples in 1968, and in singles in 1972. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985.
Lou Brock passed away yesterday, September 6, 2020 at the age of 81.
RIP.
Lou Brock as a coach in 2005 (wikipedia)
RIP Tom Seaver
Posted: September 3, 2020 Filed under: 20th Century | Tags: All-Star Game, Baseball, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, coronavirus, COVID-19, Cy Young Award, Major League Baseball, MLB, National Baseball Hall of Fame, National League, New York Mets, Rookie of the Year, Tom Seaver 1 CommentWith a nickname like “Tom Terrific,” you know he was good at his job. Born November 17, 1944, Tom Seaver pitched for twenty seasons in Major League Baseball. Over the course of his career, he played for the New York Mets, the Cincinnati Reds, the Chicago White Sox, and the Boston Red Sox.
Seaver won the National League’s Rookie of the Year in 1967, and during his career, he won three NL Cy Young Awards. He was also a 12-time All-Star, compiling 311 wins, 3,640 strikeouts, 61 shutouts, and a 2.86 ERA. Just to pad the résumé a little, Seaver even threw a no-hitter in 1978.
Tom Seaver was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992. He passed away a few days ago, on August 31, 2020 from complications of Lewy body dementia and COVID-19.
Rest in peace.
Wikimedia Commons
This day in baseball: 1939 All-Star Game
Posted: July 11, 2020 Filed under: 20th Century, This day in baseball | Tags: All-Star Game, American League, Baseball, Bob Feller, Cleveland Indians, Joe DiMaggio, Major League Baseball, MLB, National League, New York Yankees, sports, Yankee Stadium Leave a commentThe 1939 All-Star Game was held on July 11th at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, where the American League defeated the National League, 3-1. Two of the three AL runs were driven in by Yankees players (the third was an unearned run scored on an error), including a DiMaggio home run. Indians pitcher Bob Feller, only twenty years old at the time, threw 3.2 scoreless innings to earn the save.
The box score for the game can be found here.
Bob Feller (Wikimedia Commons)
R.I.P. Al Kaline
Posted: April 7, 2020 Filed under: 20th Century, 21st Century | Tags: Al Kaline, All-Star Game, Baseball, Detroit Tigers, Gold Glove Award, Major League Baseball, MLB, National Baseball Hall of Fame, sports 1 CommentNicknamed “Mr. Tiger,” Al Kaline played the entirety of his 22-year Major League career with the Detroit Tigers. Kaline won ten Gold Gloves as a right fielder and was an eighteen-time All Star. He collected 3,007 hits, 399 home runs, and 1,583 RBIs in his career and finished with a lifetime batting average of .297 in 2,837 games played.
Al Kaline was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980. He passed away yesterday, April 6, 2020, at the age of 85.
Al Kaline in 1957 (Wikimedia Commons)
