Former MLB manager, coach, catcher Pat Corrales dies at age 82

Corrales was a backup catcher with four teams over a nine-year career in the majors, but he was more notable as MLB’s first manager of Mexican-American descent when he took over the Rangers for the final game of 1978 season.

Corrales was fired by the Phillies in 1983, even though the team was tied for first place in the NL East. General manager Paul Owens replaced Corrales and guided the Phillies to the World Series, where they lost to the Baltimore Orioles in five games.

Corrales’ managed the Rangers for two full seasons after his one-game interim stint, finishing with a record of 160-164 in Arlington.

He was hired as the Phillies manager in 1982, going 89-73 in his only full season with the team. Corrales was let go with Philadelphia at 43-42 the following year, but he wasn’t out of work for long.

Finishing out the season as Cleveland’s manager, he would guide the AL team then known as the Indians over five seasons. After a 102-loss campaign in 1985, Cleveland bounced back to an 84-78 mark the following year.

Detroit Tigers radio announcer Jim Price, role player for 1968 World Series team, dies

Former Detroit Tigers catcher Jim Price, who was a radio analyst and color commentator for much of the last 30 years for the team, died on Monday. He was 81.

Price was All-Star Bill Freehan’s backup from 1967-71, and played 64 games in 1968, when the Tigers won the World Series.

After his playing career, he shifted to broadcasting. He became the Tigers’ color analyst for games on PASS in 1993 and shifted to the radio booth in 1998.

Former Rockies broadcaster George Frazier dies at 68

Former Colorado Rockies television broadcaster George Frazier has died at age 68.

Frazier was a fixture on Rockies TV broadcasts from 1998 to 2015, working most of his tenure alongside Drew Goodman. He retired from the booth after the 2015 season.

“For a generation of Rockies fans, George Frazier was synonymous with Rockies baseball,” the team said on Twitter. “Our thoughts are with George’s wife, Kay, and his four kids, Matt, Brian, Parker and Georgia, during this time.”

Before television, the long, lanky right-hander had a 10-year MLB career as a pitcher, including stints with the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins. He made a World Series appearance with the Yankees in 1981 and won a ring with the Twins in 1987.

Longtime Orioles pitcher Dick ‘Turkey’ Hall dies at age 92

Longtime Baltimore Orioles pitcher Dick “Turkey” Hall, a member of the team’s Hall of Fame, died Sunday at the age of 92.

The Orioles announced his death on Monday. Hall was inducted into the Orioles’ Hall of Fame in 1989.

Hall began his career as an outfielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1952 before evolving into a two-way player in 1955. He became a full-time pitcher two years later, earning the nickname “Turkey” for his unusual pitching motion.

Hall was traded to the Orioles ahead of the 1961 season and would pitch in 342 games (22 starts) for the club across two stints—1961-66 and 1969-71.

Don Hood Passes Away

Former major league pitcher Don Hood passed away last Saturday, according to an obituary from a South Carolina funeral home. He was 73 years old.

A native of Florence, South Carolina, Hood was a first-round pick of the Orioles in the 1969 draft. He reached the majors within four years, debuting during his age-23 season. The left-hander started four of eight appearances for Baltimore as a rookie. He’d make 20 appearances (18 in relief) the next season.

After the 1974 campaign, the O’s dealt Hood alongside former MVP Boog Powell to the Indians for catcher Dave Duncan. Hood would spend the bulk of his career in Cleveland, pitching there for four-plus seasons. His best year came in 1977, when he pitched to an even 3.00 ERA over 105 innings. He worked mostly in long relief for the Indians but twice started 19 games in a season, including a career-high 154 2/3 frames during the ’78 campaign.

Halfway through the 1979 season, Cleveland flipped Hood to the Yankees for first baseman Cliff Johnson. Hood posted a 3.07 ERA in 67 1/3 frames during his only partial season in the Bronx. He bounced around late in his career via free agency, signing with the Cardinals and Royals. He closed his career with a personal-best 2.27 ERA in 47 2/3 frames for the 1983 Royals.

Bobby Bolin, former Giants pitcher, dead at 84

Bobby Bolin, a former Giants pitcher who was one of the original inductees to the team’s Wall of Fame, died June 2 at 84, according to an online obituary.

A cause of death was not given.

Bolin was a right-handed starter and reliever in the majors for 13 seasons with the Giants, Brewers and Red Sox.

A reliable pitcher, Bolin finished in the top 10 in the National League three times for ERA and twice for shutouts and winning percentage.

“I was never classified as a starter or as a reliever, so I mostly sat on a tarp between the bullpen and the dugout because I didn’t know which one I’d be doing,” he once said.

In 1968, a season known as The Year of the Pitcher, Bolin went 10-5 with a 1.99 ERA in 34 appearances, including 19 starts, with six complete games and three shutouts.

Hall of Fame baseball writer Rick ‘The Commish’ Hummel dies at 77

Beloved baseball writer Rick Hummel, who captured timeless highlights and countless historic feats with precise, vivid words that will echo alongside those moments forever, died in his sleep early Saturday morning after a short, aggressive illness. He was 77.

Known as “The Commish” at ballparks throughout the country, Hummel covered baseball at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for five decades. In his Hall of Fame career, he dined with Bob Gibson, talked hitting with Stan Musial and helped Muhammad Ali workshop a commencement speech in a Las Vegas hotel room. Hummel was so well-sourced and well-respected that two actual commissioners of Major League Baseball called him by his nickname.

Longtime AL ump Denkinger passes away at 86

Longtime American League umpire Don Denkinger, whose MLB career spanned 30 seasons from 1969-98, has passed away. He was 86.

Denkinger was selected to work four World Series in his career (1974, 1980, 1985, 1991) and notably was behind home plate for the iconic pitchers’ duel between future Hall of Famers Jack Morris and John Smoltz in Game 7 of the 1991 Fall Classic.

Denkinger was, unfortunately, most widely known for his infamous call in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series, when, in the ninth inning of a 1-0 game, with the Cardinals just three outs away from clinching what would have been their ninth championship, he incorrectly ruled the Royals’ Jorge Orta safe on a close play at first base. Kansas City would seal a comeback win on Dane Iorg’s two-run walk-off single later in the inning, and the Royals went on to take Game 7 in an 11-0 rout, effectively cementing Denkinger’s status as a public enemy in St. Louis.

Vida Blue, former AL MVP and 3-time World Series champ, dies

Vida Blue, a hard-throwing left-hander who became one of baseball’s biggest draws in the early 1970s and helped lead the brash Oakland Athletics to three straight World Series titles before his career was derailed by drug problems, has died. He was 73.

The A’s said Blue died Saturday but they didn’t give a cause of death.

“There are few players with a more decorated career than Vida Blue,” the team said in a statement Sunday. “Vida will always be a franchise legend and a friend.”

Blue was voted the 1971 American League Cy Young Award and Most Valuable Player after going 24-8 with a 1.82 ERA, 301 strikeouts and 24 complete games, eight of them shutouts. He remains among just 11 pitchers to win both honors in the same year.

Mike Shannon, longtime St. Louis Cardinals broadcaster, dies at 83

Born and raised in St. Louis, Shannon sign with the Cardinals as an amateur free agent in 1958 and reached the big leagues at age 23 in 1962. He was the club’s starting right fielder during their 1964 World Series championship run before moving to third base in deference to new addition Roger Maris in 1967. Shannon started at the hot corner during the Cardinals’ 1967 World Series run.

In Game 1 of the 1964 Fall Classic, Shannon hit a game-tying two-run home run against New York Yankees lefty Whitey Ford. St. Louis went on to win the game and series.

Shannon’s playing career was cut short by kidney disease. He played his entire nine-season career with the Cardinals from 1962-70 and retired as a .255/.311/.387 hitter with 710 hits and 68 home runs. Shannon finished seventh in the 1968 NL MVP voting and had his best season in 1966, when he slashed .288/.339/.462 and set career highs in homers (16) and stolen bases (eight). He won two World Series titles (1964, 1967) plus another NL pennant (1968).

Following his playing career, Shannon joined the Cardinals front office in 1971 and then moved into the broadcast booth in 1972. He retired following the 2021 season, after 50 years of calling Cardinals games. Shannon also worked NBC’s Baseball Game of the Week and called St. Louis Cardinals NFL games on radio during his career.

Don Leppert, former Pirates player and coach, dies at age 91

Their first-base coach when the Pirates won the World Series in 1971 and also on the day Roberto Clemente collected his 3,000th hit, former Pirates player and coach Don Leppert has died, the team announced Monday. He was 91.

“We are deeply saddened to hear the news on the passing of Don Leppert,” team president Travis Williams said in a statement. “He touched many lives during his more than 40 years in baseball and was a valuable part of the Pirates coaching staff during the 1971 World Series winning season. Our hearts go out to his wife, Daphine, and the entire Leppert family.”

Leppert made his MLB debut with the Pirates on June 18, 1961 and homered on the first pitch he saw, from St. Louis Curt Simmons.

In 67 games with Pittsburgh over two seasons, Leppert hit .266/.313/.417 with eight doubles, two triples, six home runs and 23 RBIs before he was traded to the Washington Senators in December 1962.

Rox sign Jaime Moyer to Minor League deal

Fun fact: When the Rockies came into existence, Jaime Moyer was in his eighth Major League season.

The Rockies’ search for a veteran for the starting rotation could take them to the ultimate veteran, 49-year-old left-hander Jamie Moyer.

Colorado and Moyer have agreed to a Minor League deal that includes an invitation to Spring Training, the club announced on Wednesday. The agreement is pending a physical.

Moyer underwent Tommy John surgery on his throwing elbow in 2010 and didn’t pitch last season. The lefty worked as an analyst for ESPN in 2011 but stated that he intended to try to pitch again in ‘12.

Moyer went 9-9 with a 4.84 ERA for the Phillies in 2010.

Former American League umpire Marty Springstead is dead at age 74

Marty Springstead, who at the age of 36 in 1973 became the youngest umpire crew chief in World Series history, has died. He was 74.

Major League Baseball said Wednesday that Springstead was found dead at his home in Florida on Tuesday night.

A native of Nyack, N.Y., Springstead was an American League umpire from 1966-85. Among his three World Series were 1978 and 1983, and he also was an umpire at the All-Star game in 1969, 1975 and 1982 and at five AL championship series.

After retiring from the field, he became the AL’s executive director of umpires, then worked as an umpire supervisor for MLB after umpire staffs from the leagues merged.

He retired from his management position before the 2010 season.

“For a quarter-century, Marty mentored a new generation of our umpires, not only in the major leagues but around the world,” Commissioner Bud Selig said. “Marty was an avid teacher, a great storyteller and a friend to countless people around our game. Like so many of my colleagues, I always appreciated his wonderful sense of humor and the pride he had for his profession.”

Thanks to Rod Nelson.

Don Carter, USBC and PBA Hall of Famer, dies at age 85

Farewell to “The Babe Ruth of Bowling”...

Don Carter, one of the most prominent and successful players in the sport of bowling, died at his home in Miami on Thursday night. Carter, who had recently been hospitalized with pneumonia complicated by emphysema, was 85.

...Born in St. Louis, Mo., on July 29, 1926, Carter was more interested in baseball and football while in high school. After graduation, he served two years in the Navy before signing a baseball contract with the Philadelphia Athletics. He was sent to the minor league team in North Carolina.

In a Bowlers Journal interview in 1970, Carter said he hit .304 and did pitch some games, but the team played 128 games in 112 days and he lost 30 pounds from his 180-pound frame.

“I got $150 a month plus room and board,” Carter recalled. “Riding that bus all over the countryside to games was too much. I quit after a season.”

That would lead Carter back home to St. Louis and the start of his career in bowling.

Minor league stats

Former Major Leaguer Howie Koplitz passes away at 73

What is there to say…

Andy Carey, helped preserve Larsen’s perfecto, dies

RIP,

Andy Carey, a former Yankees third baseman who helped preserve Don Larsen’s 1956 perfect game, passed away on Dec. 15 in Costa Mesa, Calif., his family announced. He was 80.

A career .260 hitter, Carey played in 11 Major League seasons from 1952-62, beginning with the Yankees at age 20 in ‘52 and spending nine seasons wearing pinstripes.

Born on Oct. 18, 1931, in Oakland, Calif., Carey signed with the Yankees after spending a summer playing semi-pro ball in Weiser, Idaho. As New York’s everyday third baseman in ‘55, Carey led the league with 11 triples and was known as a solid defender and clutch hitter.

Carey played on four Yankees World Series teams, winning rings with the 1956 and ‘58 squads. He is remembered as playing a key role in Larsen’s Oct. 8, 1956, perfecto against the Dodgers at Yankee Stadium.

Ted Beard, 90. Played for Pirates, White Sox.

Ted Beard 90, professional baseball player and WWII veteran, passed away December 30, 2011 with his family by his side. Ted, voted most popular player for the Indianapolis Indians in 1948 and 1951, began his professional career in 1941. His career was interrupted to serve in the Pacific Theatre in WWII.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/beardte01.shtml.

St. Louisian Don Mueller, former big-league star, dies

Don Mueller...

St. Louis native Don Mueller, who led the majors in hits in 1954 and roamed the outfield with Willie Mays of the New York Giants, died on Wednesday. He was 84.

Mueller, who played at CBC, was signed by the Giants in 1944 and made his big-league debut four years later.

At age 23, he became a starter for the Giants in right field and hit .291 in his first full season.

...A career .296 hitter, Mueller became known as “Mandrake the Magician.” He finished his career with two seasons with the White Sox in 1958 and 59.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 12-28-2011

Milwaukee Journal, December 28. 1911:

[Red Sox manager] Jake Stahl says that he is sure he has no more dead players on his list. Since he discovered Lockwood, the dead Vancouver man on the list, he has been over it very carefully.

Cross him off, then.

CBC: Alberta shooting victim’s baseball-themed funeral draws 600

Farewell to the ballplayers…

The mother of Mitch MacLean — a ballplayer from P.E.I. who was killed in an Alberta murder-suicide last week — read her poem called Last Time at the Plate during her son’s funeral that was attended by hundreds.

Cars were lined up along the road by Winsloe United Church, just north of Charlottetown, for the service. An overflow room was set up for those who could not get one of the 220 seats in the chapel. An estimated 600 attended.

A former girlfriend of MacLean’s, Melia Thompson, said after the service it was “exactly what Mitch would’ve wanted.”

MacLean was a promising young baseball player, and the sport played a prominent part in the service.

The poem read by his mother was one she had written herself. His casket left the church to the tune of Centerfield by John Fogerty.

Deadspin: Legendary Columnist Bill Conlin Resigns Over Forthcoming Philly Inquirer Bombshell

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s top investigative reporter, Nancy Phillips, has written a story containing what we’re told are allegations of child molestation against sportswriter Bill Conlin, a longtime columnist at the rival Daily News. Conlin resigned just moments ago, according to a source at the Daily News.

Conlin, who turns 78 this May, won the Ford C. Frick Award last May. The story supposedly will drop soon (the newspapers publish under a joint-operating agreement, sharing some resources and a website but otherwise competing for the same readers). Conlin has hired an attorney to defend himself against the piece. We’ll have more details on this. For now, we can tell you that Conlin is at his condo in Largo, Fla.

And Bill Conlin’s articles on BTF...

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 11-25-2011

Milwaukee Journal, November 25, 1944:

Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, commissioner of baseball since 1921, died at St. Luke’s hospital Saturday morning at 5:35.  He was 78 years old.
...

Landis, a gruff speaking old man with shaggy white hair, battered hat and keen wit, became a legend in his lifetime.  He was noted for his fairness and as a man who always gave the underdog a break.

Unless they had too much melanin.  In which case they were screwed.

In all seriousness, though, the linked article is an excellent obituary.

On The Passing Of Greg Halman

I don’t even feel right referring to Greg as a baseball player. Obviously he was a baseball player, and that was how we knew him, but I don’t feel right giving him that label, that identity. Still, while “baseball player” wasn’t Greg Halman’s full identity, it was a part of it, so it’s worth noting how much Halman achieved, and what he came to represent. He wasn’t just a Mariners prospect on the brink of a big league career. He was the first Dutch-born, Dutch-raised, and Dutch-developed player in Major League history, and from the bottom of Geoff Baker’s piece:

[Coach] Chlup said Halman was surprised that so many fans in the Czech Republic seemed to know who he was. Other than [Prince] Fielder, Chlup said, Halman got the loudest reception of any player introduced to the crowds.

“He knew that, for a lot of Dutch kids, he was the one who got it done.”

Halman was one of the faces of European baseball. In one sense, he was trying to make it. In another sense, he already had…

Greg Halman was born in Haarlem in 1987. He learned four languages. He graduated from college. He signed with the Seattle Mariners in 2004. He represented his country in 2009. He made the Major Leagues in 2010. He hit his first Major League home run in 2011. All the while he comported himself with an eagerness and a joie de vivre sufficient for envy. This is a paragraph summary of Greg Halman’s life, and I hate it. I hate that it’s insultingly brief, and I hate that it had to be written.

Daily Mail: Seattle Mariners’ Halman [fatally] stabbed

Ugh.  Just ugh.

Seattle Mariners baseball star Gregory Halman has been killed in a stabbing in Rotterdam.

Dutch national TV station NOS-TV said the family of Halman, 24, had confirmed his death.

Yes, we can all agree that he’s not a star.  That makes this no less horrific.  RIP, Greg.

Update: Reuters reports Halman’s brother has been arrested in connection with the stabbing.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 11-21-2011

Milwaukee Sentinel, November 21, 1911:

The proposed deal which is said to involve the transfer of the Boston Rustlers to a company headed by Henry Killilea of Milwaukee and Charles Baird of Kansas City is off.
...

Should the present owners of the Rustlers come down a little in the price quoted there many be some chance of the deal going through.

That seems unlikely, because…

Boston Evening Transcript, November 21, 1911:

William Hepburn Russell, president and chief owner of the Boston Baseball Club of the National League, died this morning at his home.

That tends to throw a monkey wrench into negotiations.