Baseball Passings 2024

[Benjamin Grimm]

He was one of the wife-swappers, wasn't he?

[MFS62]

He was one of the wife-swappers, wasn't he?

Yes.
Later

[Chad ochoseis]

I believe the swap worked out for him, but not for Mike Kekich.

[Frayed Knot]

And he remained married to the former Susan Kekich ever since the infamous 'swap'.
The other half of that deal lasted just a short time.

[Cowtipper]

Wayne Schurr:

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/kp ... d=54749609

Chuck Seelbach:

https://obits.cleveland.com/us/obituari ... d=54701051

La Schelle Tarver (played in Mets system from 1981 to 1985; traded by the New York Mets with John Christensen, Wes Gardner and Calvin Schiraldi to the Boston Red Sox for Chris Bayer (minors), Tom McCarthy, John Mitchell and Bob Ojeda):

https://kmph.com/news/local/former-fres ... me-drafted

[G-Fafif]

Ken Holtzman, Cubs and A's stalwart, 78. Won more games than Sandy Koufax, if you get my MOT drift.

Still haven't forgiven him for doubling off Matlack in the World Series.

[MFS62]

Won more games than Sandy Koufax, if you get my MOT drift.

Olevai Shalom.
Later

[Cowtipper]

Odell Jones:

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/m ... 328570007/

Kevin Batiste:

https://www.carnesbrothers.com/obituary/kevin-batiste

Larry Brown:

https://mlb1960s.blogspot.com/2024/04/r ... brown.html

[G-Fafif]

One-two punch of passings.

[Edgy MD]

I celebrated Carl Erskine as alive at 97 just yesterday in the IGT.

I hope this one isn't on me.

[MFS62]

Herzog was as a fleet centerfielder who I saw catch a fly ball next to/ behind the monuments in the original YS.
And I first rooted for "Oisk" when he pitched for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Somewhere in my house, I have the scorecard from one of his no-hitters.

RIP to both of them.

Later

[Edgy MD]

Met legends Whitey Herzog, Roger Craig, Juan Berenguer, Vince Coleman, and Joel Youngblood all throw down in one of the weirdest baseball melees ever captured in black and white. Some hot, steaming side dishes of Ray Burris, Norm Sherry and Clint Hurdle are also on the menu.

Despite the low-res video, players are quickly and easily identified by the lovely font size on their name plates.

Not to make too much out of punch-ups, especially with the "best fans in baseball" tossing shit at the Giants, but Whitey Herzog was consistently one of the best shows in the game in the 1980s.

[metirish]

Keith will have some remembrances of Whitey tonight I'm sure

[G-Fafif]

Oisk addressed our NY Giants Preservation group over Zoom a couple of years ago. Generous with his time, his memories and his graciousness. The phrase “all class” comes to mind.

[ashie62]

I celebrated Carl Erskine as alive at 97 just yesterday in the IGT.

I hope this one isn't on me.

Nah

[batmagadanleadoff]

Sandy Koufax is now the last living member of the WS champion 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers. 1955 was Koufax's rookie season.

[smg58]

I still think Herzog stole two division titles from us in 85 and 87. No way those teams matched the Mets in talent.

[batmagadanleadoff]

I still think Herzog stole two division titles from us in 85 and 87. No way those teams matched the Mets in talent.

Could be. In 1985, Gooden had his season for the history books. Keith was still prime Keith. Carter had his best Mets season. And Strawberry, rate-wise, had the best season of his entire baseball career. The Cards were also terrific. And deep. But they were also Jack Clark and seven singles hitters.

But you can't make anything meaningful out of those standings results. The Mets finished three games behind the Cards in the standings. That difference can easily be explained by simple randomness and luck, especially over 162 games and 18 head-to-head games. The Mets would've had to flip just two head-to-head losses to win the division. Also, that season, the Cards beat the Mets by just one run five times. And factor in that there's way more luck in baseball than in any other sport. Personally, I always thought that the difference between two baseball teams that finished 10 games apart in the standings is tiny. That's why today's game, with 12 playoff teams, is a stupid shitshow.

[Edgy MD]

A FB friend o' mine was lucky enough to interview Erskine as a journalist. Carl had started the first game for the Dodgers in Los Angeles, before a crowd of something like 90,000. Making matters more complicated was that he was without his longtime catcher, Roy Campanella, whose career famously ended in a car wreck the previous off-season.

New catcher Johnny Roseboro sensed that Erskine was un-nerved by the massive crowd and Opening Day atmosphere, so kept firing the ball back to the pitcher, hoping to keep his focus on the task at hand. This, of course, contrasted markedly with the style of the genial Campanella, who liked to return the ball with nice, easy soft-tosses.

Carl finally called time and motioned for Roseboro to come talk with him at the mound. The young catcher asked what was wrong.

"Nothing," Oisk told him. "It's just that the catcher isn't supposed to throw harder than the pitcher."

[Edgy MD]

Two cool Whitey Herzog facts:

1) His full given name was Norrel Norman Elvert Herzog.

2) He and Mary Lou (née Sinn) Herzog were married for 71 years.

[G-Fafif]

Sean Burroughs, 43.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/05/ ... -away.html

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Geez, remember him from the LL World Series.

His dad's 1974 baseball card stuck with me. I pronounced his name BURR-UG-O-HISS

[metirish]

Wow how sad , so young

[Benjamin Grimm]

Tragically, the former Little League World Series hero and No. 9 overall draft pick collapsed while coaching his son’s little league game.

How horrible.

[Edgy MD]

I associate him with Jeff King, and Gregg Jefferies for that matter. Guys who are way too famous coming up and end up spending a good part of their big league career fighting themselves.