MLB history: Who was lost to baseball in 2017

June deaths

2) Herm Starrette – The North Carolina native had some very solid minor league seasons in the Baltimore system, but it was 5 years before he could finally crack his way to the majors in the bullpen, only lasting 3 seasons at the major league level, in spite of a 2.54 ERA over 27 games combined. After one more season of an 8.57 ERA in AAA, he was out of pro ball. He was 80 years old.

3) Jim Piersall – Known as much for “Fear Strikes Out” as for his playing career, Piersall did have an extensive major league career, playing 17 years for 5 different organizations. Most know him from his time with the Red Sox, where he made two All-Star games and won the first of his two Gold Gloves.

Piersall battled bipolar disorder in a time when he really did not receive the treatment that would have allowed him to properly manage his symptoms. He was able to work in broadcasting, even being paired with Harry Caray doing White Sox broadcasts. He was 87.

5) Hector Wagner – Wagner passed away at 48 after complications from stomach cancer. He was originally signed out of the Dominican in 1986. He worked his way up the Royals minor league system, making it to the majors in 1990 and 1991 for a total of 7 starts, but he posted a 7.83 ERA. He struggled with injury after that, missing all of 1992. He did return to independent ball after 6 years away from the game, pitching for Newark in 1999 and 2001.

12) Bob Zick – Originally signed out of college by the Philadelphia A’s, Zick made his major league debut two seasons after being acquired by the Chicago Cubs in the minor league draft, but he posted an 8.27 ERA over 8 appearances. He played one more minor league season and was out of baseball as a player.

27) Anthony Young – Young had one of the most hard-luck stories of this entire year’s group. While still a young man at 51 years old when he did as result of a brain tumor, Young’s on-field life was marked with hard luck as well. Young holds the major league record for losing 27 consecutive decisions from May of 1992 to July of 1993. In a little larger sample (April 1992 to May 1994), Young also lost 27 consecutive starts without recording a win. He pitched to 13 quality starts during the latter streak, including game scores as high as 75, but he never got the breaks at the right time to get a win.

Young finished with a career record of 15-48 in 181 games (51 starts) with the Mets, Cubs, and Astros, but his other numbers look fairly solid with a 3.89 career ERA, 1.39 WHIP, and even 20 saves over 460 innings.