Baseball Passings 2023

[Frayed Knot]

Jim Poole, LH reliever for eight teams over 11 seasons from 1990 - 2000, noted mostly for surrendering the 1995 WS HR to David Justice which proved to be the winning margin in Atlanta's clinching win.
57, ALS

[G-Fafif]

Jim Caple, longtime writer for ESPN.com, especially the highly literate Page 2 section, 61. He may have been the first online writer for a name outlet I exchanged emails with, shocking me that a writer of his stature would directly (and engagingly) respond to a reader.

https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/38 ... er-dies-61

Rushin on Caple, a great eulogizing a great.

In the last couple of years, as Jim began slipping deeper into dementia, words and memories and identities began to abandon him, until he could no longer recognize his closest friends. And yet he could still unfailingly summon three names: “Willie Mays,” “Novak Djokovic” and “Sue Bird.”

Why those three? What did they mean, this trio of GOATs?

“Willie Mays?” Jim was a Giants fan growing up because they were the nearest team to Longview, Wash., before the Mariners arrived in Seattle, and he heard Mays described on KSFO radio out of Candlestick Park. Mays was an uppercase Giant until Jim was 10, and a lowercase giant ever after. To Jim, Mays was childhood and baseball, two of life’s greatest gifts. He wore a Giants cap this summer while smiling on his deck, receiving dear friends—fellow baseball writers Jayson Stark and Jerry Crasnick—the week of the All-Star Game in Seattle. If Jim no longer recognized them, he enjoyed their company nonetheless.

“Novak Djokovic?” Jim wasn’t a tennis fan until Vicki patted the empty cushion next to hers on the couch, sat Jim down and implored him to watch this young Serbian who captivated her in one of his early Grand Slam appearances. As a kid in Clara City, Minn., Vicki watched “Breakfast at Wimbledon,” Bud Collins interviewing John McEnroe and Björn Borg and Chris Evert on NBC, and now she sold Jim on the charms of championship tennis. Soon after, and for years to come, Jim and Vicki were at the French Open or Australian Open or just watching on TV, and Jim was trying—with limited success, for an ESPN piece—to emulate Djokovic’s fanatical diet.

As for “Sue Bird,” the Seattle Storm point guard and Emerald City icon? Much as she’d done with tennis, Vicki had nudged Jim toward Minnesota Lynx games when they lived in Minnesota, and to Storm games after the couple moved to Seattle in 2000. Jim often covered the team at what is now Climate Pledge Arena and visited Vicki in the stands at halftime. The couple traveled to Moscow to have sushi with Bird and Diana Taurasi for the rollicking profile Jim wrote on the WNBA stars and college teammates playing professionally in the former Soviet Union. Like any of us in the sportswriting racket, Jim covered plenty of louts, but as Vicki said the other day: “Sue Bird was just so nice.”

https://www.si.com/mlb/2023/10/10/love- ... -jim-caple

[G-Fafif]

Jim’s nephew Christian followed him into the business and remembered him beautifully.

Jim covered the Twins when I was a kid, and I thought his job sounded like just about the coolest damn thing in the world. When I was 16, he invited me to shadow him at a Mariners game, from the press box to the clubhouse. Let me tell you: there are few things that could have impressed 16-year-old me more than seeing Dave Freaking Niehaus greet my uncle like they were old pals.

There was no ego, no gatekeeping. Those old writers who joke that the best advice for aspiring journalists is “don’t do it” — Jim would never. He was thrilled that I admired him, and was never too busy to read whatever dogshit story I’d sent him to look over, never failing to offer encouragement in return. Before he filed a big story, Jim might email me two different versions of the lede, asking which I liked better. He was a night owl, and we’d sometimes exchange messages until 2 a.m., discussing the craft or simply exchanging jokes.

I got to see him work up close in the summer of 2009, when I covered the Mariners as an intern for MLB.com. The job didn’t pay that year, so Jim and Vicki invited me to stay at their house, rent free. I declined at first, not wanting to impose. Jim called me the next day. “I insist,” he said.

The next three months were like a coming-of-age movie with no conflict. I drove my uncle’s car to and from the ballpark, and would deconstruct the day’s happenings when I arrived home, usually after midnight, Jim still typing away in his office. He’d make three different phone calls for three different stories one day, and catch a flight to St. Louis or Los Angeles or New York the next. Jim and Vicki included me in their social life, too, inviting me along to outdoor movies or to meet friends at a bar somewhere in Seattle. They were always on the go, always having fun, always in search of the next adventure.

Late in my internship, Jim asked if I wanted to get lunch before a Mariners game. After we sat down, he said: “Hey, I just wanted to tell you what a great job you’re doing. Just keep showing up.”

A few years later, when I worked at The (Tacoma) News Tribune, I’d cover the occasional Mariners game so Bob Dutton, the beat writer, could take a day off. Sometimes, Jim would show up at the park, too, to interview a player or manager or simply work in the press box, just because he liked being at the game.

We’d chat in the clubhouse and eat lunch together. Then I would go write, and he would go write, and it occurred to me only recently that these were some of my favorite days, my uncle and I showing up to the same place to do the same job, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

A few years ago, Jim did some freelancing for The Athletic, overlapping with my time there. I took a screen-shot of the Seattle site’s home page one day. Our bylines were right next to each other.

https://www.onmontlake.com/p/remembering-jim-caple

[Gwreck]

That was fabulous.

[G-Fafif]

Willie Hernandez, 1984 AL Cy Young and MVP winner, 69.

[Benjamin Grimm]

He's my go-to Tiger/Phillie in Immaculate Grid.

[G-Fafif]

He's my go-to Tiger/Phillie in Immaculate Grid.

I alternate him with his trade partner Glenn Wilson.

[Edgy MD]

I associate him with a mid-career name adjustment, asking that he be referred to as "Guillermo."

That 1984 Cy Young Award (and MVP!) was well earned. A closer who threw 140 innings. Only one Mets starter cleared that number in 2023.

[MFS62]

Ron Hodges has passed away - 74.
https://apnews.com/article/ron-hodges-d ... ac20f63451
Later

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Dead Ron Hodges deserves his own thread

[MFS62]

Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Levi Walker Jr, the only Native American to have portrayed controversial Atlanta Braves mascot "Chief Noc-A-Homa," died at 80, his family announced.

Later

[Cowtipper]

Danny Morris:

https://www.odharrisfuneralhome.com/obi ... kh4UAna5Sw

Bob Priddy:

https://www.youngfhinc.com/obituary/Robert-Priddy

Casey Cox:

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituar ... x-11483176

[Cowtipper]

Preston Hanna:

https://www.fcfhs.com/obituaries/Presto ... ributeWall

Rob Belloir:

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/na ... d=53615423

Lou Skizas:

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/ch ... k5ODg0NzM5

Dave Stenhouse:

https://turnto10.com/news/local/rhode-i ... er-11-2023

Dennis Higgins:

https://www.millardfamilychapels.com/ob ... d=29813397

Dick Drago:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/11/ ... -away.html

Bobby Guindon:

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/na ... d=53456977

[Edgy MD]

Preston Hanna was a 1978 Brave, one of my favorite unsuccessful teams.

Probably could have put together a stronger career if he went into full palindrome mode and added an H at the end of his name.

[Cowtipper]

Tom Walker:

https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press ... tom-walker

Rob Gardner:

https://www.pressconnects.com/obituaries/pnys0606377

Ed Winceniak:

https://www.sheehyfh.com/obituaries/Edw ... d=29639307

Pete Ladd:

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/m ... 274313007/

Leo Burke:

https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/obituaries/phag0598429

[G-Fafif]

Vic Davalillo, 84.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/12/ ... -away.html

Vic and Manny Mota teamed up for some serious pinch-hitting in the postseason.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxe ... 0070.shtml

[MFS62]

Vic Davalillo, 84.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/12/ ... -away.html

Vic and Manny Mota teamed up for some serious pinch-hitting in the postseason.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxe ... 0070.shtml

Vic was one of my favorite players because he had been a pitcher and I wanted to see him do dual duty (Ohtani light) in the majors. But he never got the shot.
Later

[G-Fafif]

Vic Davalillo, 84.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/12/ ... -away.html

Vic and Manny Mota teamed up for some serious pinch-hitting in the postseason.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxe ... 0070.shtml

Vic was one of my favorite players because he had been a pitcher and I wanted to see him do dual duty (Ohtani light) in the majors. But he never got the shot.
Later

Two shots against the Mets in the same series. Less Ohtani than Derek Bell.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/play ... &year=1969

[Cowtipper]

Dan Dobbek:

https://obits.oregonlive.com/us/obituar ... AxMTA0NjQ4

Dave Wehrmeister:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/262 ... ehrmeister

Mike Corkins:

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/pr ... d=53766262

Jeff Peterek:

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/na ... d=53317015

Wayne Comer:

https://www.whsv.com/2023/10/04/former- ... omer-dies/

Guys from the late '70s and '80s are starting to die like crazy.

[Cowtipper]

Larry Miggins:

https://josephjearthman.funeraltechweb. ... tuary.html

Tom Harrison:

https://www.baseball-almanac.com/player ... =harrito01

Lee Richard:

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/wa ... d=52667655

Dave Skaugstad:



John Glenn:

https://www.moultrieobserver.com/sports ... dadc9.html

Joe Gaines:

[MFS62]

I remember him as Lee "BB" Richard, infielder for the ChiSox.
Later

[Edgy MD]

Ryan Minor, most famous for playing third base for the Orioles on the day Cal Ripken finally sat, has passed at just 49.

[Frayed Knot]

The call to end the Ripken streak was always going to be Cal's. But apparently that didn't occur to Minor because
when he arrived at the park and was told that he was going to be that night's starting 3Bman his initial reaction
was "Does Cal know that?"

Other Minor tidbits:
- his name should have been Major cuz he was Yuge: 6' 7" / 225
- he was drafted in the 1st round by the Philly 76ers and played briefly with them in a training camp
- he had an identical twin: Damon
- he played just parts of four ML seasons [1998-2001] as did Damon [SFG 2000-2003, 2004]
- both twins were drafted by the Mets though neither one signed

[Edgy MD]

I knew there was a Mets connection, but I couldn't remember what. I didn't remember Damon at all.

[Cowtipper]

Bob Allen:

https://www.crawfordacrim.com/obituarie ... !/Obituary