David Arthur Roberts, a left-handed pitcher who played for eight Major League teams including the 1979 World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates, has died of lung cancer. He was 64.
Roberts’ wife Carol and stepdaughter Kristy Rogan say he died at his home in Short Gap early Friday morning.
They say he developed lung cancer from asbestos exposure as a young man. During the off seasons, he worked as a boilermaker and was regularly exposed to the cancer-causing material.
Roberts had a 12-year career in Major League Baseball, beginning in 1969 with the San Diego Padres and ending in 1981 with the New York Mets.
In between, he played with the Pirates, Houston Astros, Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, San Francisco Giants and the Seattle Mariners.
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1. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: January 09, 2009 at 04:44 PM (#3047552)*-yep, they were. 486 runs scored. .291 OBA. .233 team batting average. Wow.
Sorry to hear about this- my condolences to his family.
I misread it as the current Dave Roberts as well--and for a brief moment was excited by the prospect of the Giants not having to pay him $6.5M in 2009...
Yes, I'm going straight to hell.
Asbestos-related cancer is an awful way to go; I feel for his family and feel compelled to link to this organization.
That seems really awful, but I wonder if there haven't been a lot of 500-AB seasons with that few RBI?
The lowest # of RBI by anyone fitting the search terms?
Enzo Hernandez, 1971 Padres.
Cancer is awful, here's to peacefully dying in your sleep at 82 or so.
Looking it up on BBRef... yep, in 2000 he had 4 RBI in the 1st half (260 AB), but was off to the races in the 2nd half with 13 RBI (279 AB).
I'd always presumed Koosman was Jewish, but then someone on this site told me he wasn't.
Provided, of course, that you're not behind the wheel of a car at the time.
Would they still have to pay that money? I mean, is it still a guaranteed contract, even in the event of a player's death? What happened to the rest of (for instance), Darryl Kyle's contract? I'm sure this seems like an insensitive subject considering the circumstance but now I'm honestly curious.
In Kile's case, I believe that St. Louis paid out the remainder of his contract to his family. I'm not sure if that was St. Louis just being thoughtful (or PR-aware), or if it's actually required as a term of the contract. I'm guessing it's the former.
I'm sure a dead player is in violation of more than a few of his obligations under the contract.
RIP, Dave.
If a player dies, then the contract is null and void. Depending on the circumstances, the player's survivors are entitled to certain pension and death benefits, but are otherwise SOL.
The Cards were under no legal obligation to pay Kile's wife the balance owed on his contract.
Could they write it off as a charitable donation?
Man, I wish Koosman was a member of the tribe. I'd have loved writing that entry.
Seeing as how Kile's wife wasn't a registered charity, probably not.
On the other hand, if Albert Belle had passed away, Angelos would have cut off his estate immediately.
And had Manny Ramirez passed away while still with the Red Sox, not only would Boston have withheld the balance of his paychecks, they would have seen to it that his body was wrapped in his soiled hand towels.
Times were different not so long ago. Roberts was signed in 1963 at age 18 and was a fine prospect at age 20 in 1965, reaching double A and succeeding there. It did take a while for him to make it to the Show. And working as a boilermaker in the off-seasons.
Roberts was a pretty effective pitcher, good breaking ball pitcher, but not a very hard thrower. He never had more than 135 strikeouts in a season. I don't remember him that well from the '79 Pirates, but a check of his numbers show that he was very effective for them out of the bullpen that year. He was a throw-in in the Bill Madlock deal the Bucs made with the Giants in the middle of that season.
That entire Pirate bullpen was outstanding in '79. Their top five relievers all had ERA's under 3.00: Roberts and Grant Jackson from the left side, Enrique Romo and Jim Bibby from the right side, with Tekulve closing. They were some strange looking guys, too. Roberts had a scraggly beard, Romo was hairy and overweight, and Tekulve was so thin that he looked sickly. But they could pitch.
There's an interesting subject for research. (I can't imagine 4 would be a record, though. I mean, there were 2 Steve Ontiveroses ... Ontiverii? ... at the same time, no?)
I know the NBA has had, what, about 73 Dee Browns ...
(No, that's not a euphemism for anything. I don't think.)
Not at the same time. But not all that far apart.
I agree that it's the unusual name coincidences that are more fun than the Dave Robertses, Bobby Browns, Joe Morgans, Dave Smiths etc.
There were two Bob Sadowskis. At the same time.
There were two Don Lepperts, at almost the same time.
There was a Scott Service, and a Scott Servais.
I mean this is interesting stuff.
Also, I seem to have misread BBRef earlier; looks like one of the 4 Pat Kellys was a career minor leaguer.
Crap. You're right.
By god, though, I know that Brian Hunter & Brian Hunter had more or less concurrent careers.
I'm pretty sure Bobby Jones & Bobby Jones were pitching around the same time, too.
Possibly Bob Miller & Bob Miller as well.
I distinctly remember the day in 2000 (?) when the Mets put pitcher Bobby Jones on the DL (or maybe sent him to the minors) and activated, of course, pitcher Bobby Jones.
Possibly Bob Miller & Bob Miller as well.
Uh, yeah. Teammates with the '62 Mets. Though conveniently, for reasons known only to him, Casey Stengel resolved the confusion by routinely calling one of the Bob Millers "Nelson."
Bob L. Miller and Hal R. Smith were teammates with the Cardinals for several years, so it's a certainty that they were batterymates, probably many times.
luckily, there was only one Chris Canzoneri
I went to a game in '01 (I think) where both pitched for the Padres.
In 2006 they had both the bad Alex Gonzalez (TBAG) and the good Abraham Nuñez. For all the good it did, they should have just hired both Abraham Nuñezes or both Alex Gonzalezes, or all four, to give Jayson Stark something to write about.
"Good night, Roberts. Sleep well. I'll most likely kill you in the morning."
I don't get it.
EDIT: nevermind, figured it out :)
Back in 1994, the Braves dropped Greg Olson and brought in Gregg Olson.
Hal R. Smith was forced to retire in 1961 due to a heart condition. In 1965, he was coaching for the Pirates under Harry Walker when all three regular catchers - Jim Pagliaroni, Del Crandall, and Ozzie Virgil - were hurt. Smith volunteered to go on the active roster, started one game and subbed in three others, and then returned to the coaching lines for good.
-- MWE
EDIT: And the Pirates kept all three of the injured catchers active, too; Jose Pagan was sent down to make room for Smith. I wonder if any team since has had four catchers on the active roster at the same time before September 1.
Actually Greg Harris (L) and Greg Harris (R) were not only teammates, they were the same guy!
Later on, someone figured out that Stengel had seen one of the Bob Millers talking to Lindsey Nelson, the Mets' broadcaster, during pregame workouts. So naturally, in Stengel's mind, one of the Millers became Lindsey and the other became Nelson. Makes perfect sense, right?
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