MLB history: Who was lost to baseball in 2017

November deaths

4) Gene Verble – Verble had an extended career in the game and kept baseball ever-present in his life until passing away at 89 years old. He played primarily shortstop, and he had two seasons in the major leagues in 1951-1952, totaling 81 games with a .202 batting average, but playing 14 years in the minors with a .260 average. Verble managed in the minor leagues for a number of years before returning to his home area in Kannapolis, North Carolina and opening a convenience store that he owned and operated until his passing.

6) Rick Stelmaszek – Stelmaszek had a couple of seasons as a backup catcher in the major leagues, hitting .170 over 60 games, but his big contribution to the game was as a coach, where he made a huge impression in the organization over a 32-year time as a coach in the Minnesota Twins organization. Stelmaszek’s 32 years with the Twins stands as the third-longest tenure for a coach with a single team in MLB history. Pancreatic cancer took his life at age 69, leading to this tweet from Twins pitcher Glen Perkins:

7) Roy Halladay – Stunning the baseball world, former 2-time Cy Young Award winner Halladay was killed in a plane crash at the age of 40. Halladay was a young pitcher who came up with many of the struggles that young pitchers in baseball have, but when he was sent down to the minors after posting a 10.64 ERA over 67 2/3 innings in 2000, he truly rediscovered and redefined himself as a pitcher.

Halladay would go on to 8 All-Star appearances, 3 20-win seasons, and a reputation as one of the elite pitchers in all the game for a decade from 2002 to 2011. He averaged a 17-8 record, 219 innings, a 2.97 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and a 37/170 BB/K ratio over that decade, much of it during some of the heaviest offense eras in the game, and all of it spent with home ballparks that favored offense.

Halladay had two brilliant moments, both of which happened in the 2010 season. In May of that season, he pitched a perfect game against the Miami Marlins. In October, he joined the elite group that have thrown a postseason no-hitter, hurling his gem against the Cincinnati Reds.

8) Don Prince – Prince got a scholarship in college to play baseball and basketball and spent 7 years in professional baseball, making the major leagues for one game in 1962 with the Chicago Cubs, throwing a scoreless inning. Prince operated a real estate and insurance company in Wilmington, North Carolina for many years after his baseball career before retiring to Myrtle Beach, where he passed away at 79.

11) Rance Pless – Pless put in 14 years in professional baseball as a player, but he only had one season in the major leagues, in 1956 with the Kansas City Athletics, hitting .271/.354/.329, but never getting another major league chance in spite of hitting .303 with 153 minor league home runs over his 14 seasons.

13) Jim Rivera – A late bloomer, Rivera didn’t play his first professional game until he was 27, and he was signed by the White Sox after 1951 out of an independent minor league team. The White Sox traded him to the St. Louis Browns before the 1952 season, but they wanted him back, trading for him mid-season, and he would remain in the White Sox outfield until his final year in the league. Rivera brought a blend of power and speed to the outfield, hitting 26 doubles, 11 home runs, stealing 22 bases, and leading the league with 16 triples in 1953. In 1955, Rivera led the league in stolen bases, though with just 25. Getting started late brought a quick decline to his career, as age and injury cut him down starting in 1957, and he never had 500 plate appearances in a season again. He totaled 83 home runs and 160 stolen bases in his major league career. He was 96.

13) Bobby Doerr – The second Hall of Fame player to pass away in 2017, Doerr lived to an amazing 99 years old, experiencing an incredible life in baseball. Doerr was in the heart of his prime when he went to military service, but he had an extended run playing at an elite level at second base, setting a standard at the position that has led to a difficult measure for future second basemen to match up with his impressive defense as well as a .288/.362/.461 line.

He spent 14 years with the Red Sox, totaling 223 home runs and 381 doubles. One of the most underrated parts about Doerr’s career was his impressive defense. He never had a negative dWAR in his 14-year career, but he played before Gold Gloves were able to recognize his defensive excellence.

18) Bob Borkowski – Borkowski was an elite athlete, which allowed him to stick around in the game as a backup outfielder and pinch hitter for 6 seasons. He served in the military before getting his shot at baseball, and once he did, he showed to be a quality performer off of the bench, hitting .251 over his career. He was 91 years old.

23) Miguel Gonzalez – Considered a fairly big signing when the Phillies signed him in 2014 as Gonzalez was a star in Cuba on the mound. He had some age and injury questions that negated his initial contract, but he still signed with the Phillies, and made the major leagues in his first season with the team, his only major league time. He spent just one more season with the Phillies organization active, released due to injuries by the Phillies in 2016 to his native Cuba, where he passed at age 34. Oddly, this was the second Miguel Gonzalez that passed on the season with baseball roots, as 21 year-old Orioles minor league pitcher also passed away from a car accident, two months before the former Phillie.

30) Dick Gernert – Injuries really hurt the chances that Gernert had to be a long-time slugging star for Boston. He debuted in 1952 with 19 home runs in 102 games. The big right-handed hitter only was able to eclipse 500 plate appearances once in his 11 years in the big leagues, 8 of them with Boston. He hit 103 home runs, 101 of them as a member of the Red Sox.

He was ahead of his time as a patient hitter, often walking more than he struck out, but in his era, he was chastised for his, and it even cost him playing time in 1953, his one healthy season, as his manager said that he took too many pitches. Gernert finished with a .254/.351/.426 line with a 363/462 BB/K ratio over 835 games.