MLB Deaths: remembering all around the game that we lost in 2018

January (22)

January 3 – A defensive stalwart for 9 seasons in the majors, Robert Picciolo spent most of his career with the Athletics organization. He then spent over 25 years in coaching when his playing career was done, 16 of those seasons in the San Diego Padres organization. He passed away of heart attack at age 64.

January 4 – An impressive football and baseball player at the University of Miami, Carmen Cozza chose to pursue baseball first, but it didn’t work out for him, and he left the game after two seasons in the minors. He retired in 1996 after 30+ years as the football coach at Yale with the most football wins in the Ivy League. He passed away at 87 years old.

Senichi Hoshino was one of the best pitchers in Japan for the decade of the 1970s. He managed in the NPB off and on over the next 28 years, eventually being elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2017.

January 6 – Though he played minor league baseball for a decade, Wayne Norton’s baseball contributions were strong as a scout for multiple decades in Canada. He was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of fame in 2016.

January 7 – Dick Young only got two brief cups of coffee in the major leagues, but he spent 15 years as a player, amassing 61 career home runs in the minor leagues. He passed away just a few months short of 90 years old.

January 9 – The son of a former big leaguer, Bob Bailey was a bonus baby, receiving the biggest bonus the Pirates had ever paid in 1961 when he received $135K. He didn’t live up to that billing, but Bailey did have the first hit in Montreal Expos franchise history.

January 12 – Known primarily for his work in college football, Keith Jackson was a very good baseball broadcaster as well, broadcasting multiple All-Star, playoffs, and World Series games.

Cuban Rudy Arias signed with the White Sox in 1953 and spent the rest of the decade building up to his major league debut, but he picked a good time, as he was part of the 1959 White Sox club to make it all the way to the World Series before falling to the Dodgers. It would be his only season in the majors.

January 13 – In the modern era, whenever someone speaks of umpire excellence, the first name that comes to mind is typically Doug Harvey. Harvey retired in 1992 having worked over 4,500 National League games. He worked five World Series and six All-Star games, two of them behind home plate. He was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010.

January 14 – While he spent just one year in the minor leagues, Ramon Montoya spent 17 seasons playing in Mexico as an outfielder. He passed away in January at age 77.

While he never played in the major leagues, Ray Bellino impacted the game in many ways. He was a defensive wiz for a decade and a half on the field in the minors before moving into managing and coaching before moving into a role as a scout, primarily with the Detroit Tigers.

January 15 – Bob Barton closed out the final game of his first taste of the big leagues with a solid 3-4 performance, but that didn’t solidify his spot for the following season as he would spend the 1966 and 1967 seasons between the minors and majors. Barton played one season as a full-time regular, hitting .250/.317/.346 as the backstop for the 1971 Padres, but most of his 393 games over a decade of major league play were spent coming off of the bench.

Bursting on the Panama baseball scene at just 15 years old, Emilio Castro would go on to represent his country proudly multiple times on the world stage. He was also a four-time MVP of Panama’s league and regarded as one of the elite Latin players in the 1970s.

January 16 – A true baseball pioneer in the modern day, Syed Khawar Shah founded the first Pakistan baseball league in 1992. He helped to guide the league for the better part of two and a half decades. He was 68.

January 20 – With a tough decision coming out of high school as a legit three-sport star, Bill Johnson chose to sign with the Phillies. Traded in May of 1983 to the Cubs, he finally got his first big league shot in that same year with the Cubs. He ended up tallying 14 major league appearances in his career. He was just 57.

While he had time as a big league player and a manager, Moose Stubing neither had a hit as a big leaguer nor a win as a manager. He was a stocky man who passed up a chance to play football at Penn State and beat the snot out of the ball in the minor leagues, but his major league experience was limited to an 0-5 line with 4 strikeouts.

He worked his way up the coaching and managing ladder in the minor leagues to the point of the Angels third base coach for six seasons, including an interim stretch as the team’s manager in 1988 to close out the season, where the team lost its final 8 games under his direction.

January 24 – The victim of the political situation of his native Venezuela, Marcos Carvajal passed away at 33 due to complications from pneumonia because he could not get the medications needed in his country. Carvajal pitched just two seasons in the major leagues, but spent 6 years in the minor leagues and continued playing for a number of years in the Venezuelan Winter League.

A player with a number of unique attributes to his career, Julio Navarro spent just six seasons as a major league pitcher over his 20 years playing professional baseball, but he and his son Jaime are the only father/son combo to ever both record a save in the majors, and Navarro is the only player in MLB history from Vieques, a tiny island just east of Puerto Rico.

January 30 – Playing for farm teams of his hometown club, Ron Debus never made it to the major leagues with the Kansas City Athletics, topping out in AAA over a 9-year minor league career where he hit 60 home runs.

One of the more notable names lost to baseball in 2018 was former General Manager Kevin Towers. Towers was a minor league player in the Padres organization that pitched for 7 seasons in the Padres system before being hired as a scout in 1990. He worked his way up the system to scouting director and then the role of general manager from November of 1995 through October of 2009.

Towers then moved on in 2011 to the Arizona Diamondbacks as their General Manager. New team management came in to Arizona in 2014 and relieved Towers of his duties. He passed away at the age of 56 due to thyroid cancer.

January 31 – After getting a season in the minor leagues, John Alusik then left to serve in World War II, serving in France and Germany in field artillery. He struggled in his return to baseball after the war and left baseball behind. He had a brother George play in the majors and two brothers, Joe and Steve, play in the minors.

Known as much for his impressive afro as much as his incredible raw power, Oscar Gamble was a flashy player who knew how to play to the crowd well and could absolutely crush a ball, with legends of his balls traveling well over 500 feet.

Gamble spent 17 seasons in the major leagues, hitting 200 home runs. Incredibly, Gamble was traded six times over his career. One of those trades brought Bucky Dent to the Yankees before he became known for his big home run on the final day of the season in 1978.

February (19)

February 2nd – Well known in the Puerto Rican baseball circles, Jaime Mercado was the center fielder in multiple international competitions and hit .300 or better 11 times in his career in Puerto Rico.

February 3rd – Originally signed as a teen, Roy Dietzel had a world of talent, but he had incredibly unfortunate luck. Dietzel suffered three broken legs in a period of three seasons in the minor leagues, which erased what was once excellent defense and speed. He got a big league call in 1954 for 9 games for his only big league time.

February 4th – Signed by his hometown St. Louis Cardinals, Don Choate was traded to the Giants before 1960. Choate made a positive impression over just 8 innings in 1960, but as he was attempting to win a job in 1961, he blew out his arm, and he never pitched again in the majors, instead becoming a firefighter for nearly 30 years.

A two-sport star, Laurin Pepper was drafted out of Southern Miss by both the Pirates and Steelers, making an interesting bidding war between two Pittsburgh professional teams. The Pirates won the bidding, but the bonus rules of the time probably ruined Pepper’s career, as he was forced to spend his first two seasons in the major leagues, and he wasn’t ready for that level yet. He never quite developed and retired after a decade in the majors and minors to become a coach and athletic director near his home in Mississippi.

February 7th – Blessed with a big arm from the left side, Ralph Lumenti got a number of opportunities in the 1950s in spite of his struggles with control. He was the youngest player for two seasons in the late 1950s with the Washington Senators.

February 9th – Arguably known comically for his impressive unibrow on his baseball cards, Wally Moon was a tremendous defender and a very good overall player, hitting 142 major league home runs. He’s a player who likely would be appreciated even more today, as he drew plenty of walks, with a .371 career OBP.

February 10th – One of the early elite arms in Puerto Rico, Ismael Vargas became known for his impressive performance in the 1953 Amateur World Series when he shut out Guatemala with a two-hitter.

Not quite as successful as cousin Bert Cueto, Remberto Concepcion came to the Washington Senators from Cuba, playing both ways. He played just one season, struggling both ways, and he chose to return to Cuba after that season.

A tragic end, Ryan Owens was just 39 when he passed due to a heart attack. He was a 7th round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1999 and played 9 years in the minor leagues, but never made the major leagues.

February 11th – Jim Napier spent a ton of time in pro baseball, though he never played in the major leagues. He was in the minor leagues for 14 seasons, 11 of them on the cusp of the majors in AAA. He did coach for over a decade after retiring as a player as well.

February 12th – Rudy Regalado finished a college career at Southern Cal and headed into service in the Korean War. He returned to sign with the Cleveland Indians in 1953 and in 1954 had a spring training that is still talked about in Florida, where he hit nearly .500 with 11 home runs in order to earn a job. Unfortunately, he did not have much more success in the majors, with a total of 91 games in the big leagues.

An 18-year veteran in the NPB, Teruyuki Takakura hit 168 home runs over his career. He was a 9-time All-Star over his career before becoming a broadcaster.

February 13th – While Tito Francona spent 15 years in the major leagues as a player, he never once appeared in the postseason. Injuries also kept his playing time down such that he only had one All-Star game to his credit. He hit 125 major league home runs, and of course, he’s known for the success of his major league manager son Terry.

February 15th – Few modern Red Sox fans may recognize the name Tom Brewer, but he was a significant part of the organization for roughly a decade, still ranking in the top 15 in Red Sox history with 91 career wins in a Boston uniform. He was an All-Star in 1956.

February 21st – While Pedro Martinez is considered the greatest Dominican pitcher in the majors, those on the island often say that Jose Joaquin Tineo was Pedro’s superior. Tineo was selected to the Dominican Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. He was 68.

February 22nd – Many know the sad story of Tony Conigliaro, but many forget the name of the pitcher who hit Tony that day, Jack Hamilton. Hamilton had a big arm but control issues, which is why he bounced around the league, but he did toss 611 2/3 major league innings in the 1960s for 6 different organizations.

One of the significant pushes in the development of baseball in his country, Nol Houtkamp was a tremendous pitcher and outfielder for the Netherlands national team in softball. He coached baseball and softball around the country for a number of years.

February 26th – The peak of Jim Dobson’s baseball career unfortunately happened before he became a professional, but that’s not a bad thing, as he was selected the Most Outstanding Player in the 1959 College World Series as just a sophomore. He played just a couple of seasons in the minor leagues before leaving the game.

February 27th – Many baseball writers can bring the game alive. For nearly four decades, Tommy Morales did that in Mexico. He was 85.

March (18)

March 2nd – Living hard on the field and off of it, Sammy Stewart struck out seven consecutive hitters in his debut and had a decade where he challenged for an ERA title out of the bullpen due to the amount of innings he piled up. However, Stewart was a cocaine addict off of the field, and he ended up serving multiple prison terms due to that addiction. He was 63.

The second of the major influencers in the development of the game in the Netherlands to pass in 2018, Theo Vleeshouwer put his stamp on the game for the Dutch with his writing for the national magazine on baseball and softball and in various roles as an executive.

March 3rd – While he had only one major league season, Curt Raydon was darned good in that one year, going 8-4 over 31 games, 20 of them starts, for the Pirates in 1958, with a 3.62 ERA. He developed arm soreness at the end of that season and never could get back to the majors, eventually moving back to his hometown in Illinois to become a policeman.

March 5th – After serving in the Army from 1953-1955, Bob Engel began an umpiring career that would eventually lead to a 25-year career in the National League. He umpired the 1972, 1979, and 1985 World Series. His career was abruptly ended when he was caught shoplifting baseball cards from a Costco in 1990.

March 6th – After 141 minor league home runs and multiple seasons hitting .300+, Steve Stroughter finally got his chance at the major leagues in 1982 at age 30, hitting .170/.235/.255 over 26 games with the Mariners. He struggled in 1983 with the Blue Jays AAA team before heading to Japan for part of a season.

March 13th – One of the best pitchers in the AAGPL, Gloria Cordes had the misfortune of playing with some poor teams over her career, which led to a 49-51 record over 5 seasons, but she had a career 2.82 ERA.

March 15th – While he spent a half-decade in the minor leagues, Augie Garrido is known for his work in the college ranks. He was the first coach to win the College World Series at two schools. He was also the winningest coach in college baseball until this past spring when Mike Martin passed his record a few months after Augie passed away.

A lone bright spot during a really bad era for the Kansas City Athletics, Ed Charles struggled to break through for multiple years in the minor leagues in spite of excellent numbers, as he was stuck behind Eddie Mathews in the Braves organization before he was traded to the A’s. He had his best year as a rookie at 29, hitting .288/.356/.454 with 17 home runs in 1962. He won a World Series in 1969 as a part-time player with the Mets in his final year as a major league player.

March 16th – A two-sport star in baseball and football, Ken Garland eschewed opportunities to play professional ball to get his master’s degree and become a teacher and coach in college for many years in both baseball and football.

March 18th – A star for both the University of Missouri’s baseball and football team, Jerry Schoonmaker was signed to a bonus contract with the Washington Senators, which meant that he could not go to the minors. He struggled in the majors without experience in the minors, and once he got to the minors, he ended up suffering an injury to his eye that cost him vision and ended his career.

March 19th – While he pitched for three major league seasons, Dick LeMay is much more well-known in the game due to his work as a scout for the Cubs, Phillies, and Expos. He had two stepsons reach the major leagues, Brad and Brian Holman.

March 21st – Signed out of the University of Kansas, Larry Miller spent 9 years in baseball, 3 of them in the major leagues, with a 4.71 ERA over 145 1/3 major league innings. He pitched his final season in AAA in 1969.

March 23rd – The first owner of the now-Miami Marlins, Wayne Huizenga is a controversial figure in Florida as his financial constraints led to the sell-off after the 1997 World Series championship. He sold the team in 1999 after he was unable to get a stadium for the team.

March 24th – The youngest player in the history of the American League, Carl Scheib made his major league debut at just 16 years old. Incredibly, he was just 27 when he left the major leagues after an 11-year career. Scheib won 45 games in 1070 2/3 innings, all with the A’s.

March 26th – A guy who ended up a local legend in Boston for his work in 1969-1970 in Red Sox, Jerry Moses was an All-Star in 1970 and hit .278 over his Red Sox career. He did spend 9 seasons in the majors, but he only played a total of 386 games.

March 27th – When your brothers are Ramon and Pedro, you may not have much chance to be under-hyped, but the hype Jesus Martinez received really made anything less than elite production a disappointment. He struggled in the Dodgers organization before moving on to four different organizations over four seasons as a reliever, but never reached the major leagues. He was just 44 when he passed of a heart attack.

March 29th – Ed Samcoff had a less-than-impressive major league career, but he did spend six seasons in the minor leagues and hit .291 over 795 games before leaving the game to work with Exxon for the next 30 years. He was 93.

The player with the most seasons in the major leagues that passed in 2018 was Rusty Staub. Sadly, Staub is a guy who has really not received any real consideration for the Hall of Fame, in spite of being one of the most “famous” players of his era, being the jewel of three organizations, anchoring two expansion teams in Houston and Montreal before becoming the face of the post-1969 New York Mets, helping to lead the team to the 1973 World Series.

Staub retired in 1985 with 23 years in the league, hitting .279/.362/.431 with 292 home runs. He made 6 All-Star teams and hit over .300 in 5 seasons.

April (14)

April 5th – Considered a top prospect coming out of Eastern Michigan as a pitcher, Roger Coryell hurt his shoulder and was never able to play professionally. He returned to his alma mater and spent 30 years as head coach after 15 years as assistant coach for the baseball team. He scouted for the Texas Rangers after leaving coaching.

April 10th – A man of many skills, Arnoldo Armenta has seen his talents on the world stage as a player for the Mexican National team. After he finished playing the game, he returned to baseball as a doctor, working with multiple teams in the Mexican League.

April 12th – Len Okrie has a strong family connection to baseball, with his father playing in MLB and his brother playing in the minors. After WWII service, Okrie worked his way up the minors for the Washington Senators, getting a few cups of coffee in the late 1940s and early 1950s, totaling 42 games.

April 16th – Drafted four times in two seasons by four teams, Ken Hottman finally signed after being selected in the second round of the 1968 June draft. He worked his way up the minor leagues quickly, hitting very well, especially in 1971, when he hit 37 home runs and slashed .302/.391/.621 for Asheville before getting 17 plate appearances with the White Sox. He would never appear in the majors again, leaving baseball after the 1974 season to play in Mexico.

April 18th – Coming up with the Pirates in the early 1990s, John Hope had an appropriate name, though, like the Pirates brief run at glory, Hope’s career didn’t live up to his name, as he finished with just 73 2/3 major league innings and a 5.99 ERA. Tragically, Hope passed away at just 47.

April 19th – Though he outpitched many future big leaguers who shared the same team with him, John Duffie had just one brief stint in the major leagues in 1967, getting two starts and acquitting himself well, with a 2.79 ERA. He would go on to pitch two more seasons in the minor leagues before leaving professional baseball.

April 20th – George Alusik, whose brother John passed away in January of 2018, joined his brother as a former ballplayer that passed on in 2018 on April 20th. Alusik played 5 seasons in the majors, never getting more than 252 plate appearances, but putting up 23 home runs in his limited major league experience.

April 21st – One of the key people in the promotion of the game of baseball in Canada, Ron Hayter helped to develop the official Canadian baseball rule book and was active in the sport for decades. He was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.

April 23rd – Before cancer took him at 73, Dave Nelson lived a very full life. He was one of the fastest players in the game in the mid-1970s, once stealing second, third, and home in the same inning. He then went on to coach for 25 years for various organizations around the game. He was very passionate about charities, including a boarding house for orphans in South Africa from the AIDS epidemic.

A player who was discriminated against by his own home fans due to his mixed heritage (his father was an African-American soldier), Sachio Kinugasa turned his focus into an incredible resilience to be on the field. He retired with 2,215 consecutive games played, the first to truly break Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games streak as a professional. Kinugasa was a 13-time All-Star in the NPB and was elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996. He remains in the top 10 in NPB history in home runs.

April 24th – Marv Rackley only played in 185 games as a major leaguer, but he succeeded when he did play, hitting .317 as a speedy center fielder. He passed away at 97, though remarkably, that made him only the 3rd-oldest former major leaguer to pass away in 2018.

April 28th – Tutoring hosts of future major league players, Amaury Ochart was a coach and manager in Puerto Rico for 15 years, including coaching the Puerto Rican team that took Bronze in the 1979 Pan American Games.

April 30th – Coming up late in the 1957 season, Frank Ernaga made a tremendous impact, hitting .314/.455/.686 over 20 games and 44 plate appearances. He would only get 8 plate appearances after that season in the major leagues, and he left pro baseball after the 1959 season.

One of the premier names in Australian baseball, John Ostermeyer served as the Secretary General of the International Baseball Association two different terms and is credited with strengthening the game strongly “down under’.

May (7)

May 5th – After four years in the military, Roy Wright returned to find he had been traded from the Cardinals organization to the Giants while he was overseas. He made his only major league appearance in his first season with the Giants, taking the loss in his only game pitched.

May 8th – At just 19, Al Stanek made his major league debut, tossing 11 games for the Giants out of the bullpen. He would return to the minor leagues in 1964, and by 1967, he was done with the game at just 23. He passed at 74 years old.

May 9th – Tom Fletcher began a major league legacy that led to one son spending a long time in the major leagues while another son spent years in the minors. Fletcher showed well all the way until he got up to the majors for his debut in 1962. He dealt with a blood clot in his shoulder that kept him from ever returning to the major leagues.

May 14th – After a brief playing career for the Minnesota Twins that saw him get a start in the World Series, Frank Quilici made his mark as one of the youngest managers in the history of the game when he was hired by the Minnesota Twins at the age of 33. He won 280 games as the Twins’ skipper, but he never finished higher than 3rd and was let go after the 1975 season.

May 22nd – For nearly 20 years, Dave Garcia played in the minor leagues, nearly a decade of that time spent as a player/manager. He never reached the majors as a player, but worked as a coach and manager and found his way to a major league bench in that way in 1970. He managed two organizations, taking over after another skipper was let go for the Angels in 1977 and also in 1979 for the Indians.

May 28th – While he had parts of three seasons as a player, the impact Chuck Stevens had on the game went far beyond the field. He finished his career and became involved with the Association of Professional Ball Players of America, an organization that provided assistance to those around baseball who were in need. He helped countless people through his work for many years with the organization. From November of 2017 until his passing, he held the title of the oldest living ballplayer, passing at 99 years and 10 months.

May 29th – Not exactly built like a “big bopper,” Ray Barker nonetheless was one, clubbing 181 minor league home runs over 11 seasons while hitting .300 or better in three of those seasons. He struggled in his four seasons as a pinch hitter and backup first baseman in the major leagues, hitting just .213, but hitting 10 home runs in 356 plate appearances.

June (16)

June 1st – Part of the “bonus baby” rules in the 1950s, Fred Van Dusen spent all of 1955 in the major leagues. Van Dusen has the distinction of never recording an official at bat, being one of five players in baseball history who was hit by pitch in his only plate appearance. He played in the minor leagues for another 6 seasons, but never made it back to the majors.

June 2nd – One of the most accomplished pitchers that passed in 2018, Bruce Kison pitched in 15 major league seasons as a long (6’4″), lanky righty, tossing 1,809 2/3 innings, primarily for the Pittsburgh Pirates, winning World Series in 1971 and 1979 with the team. He spent the rest of his life coaching and scouting in the game.

June 4th – A 7th round pick out of high school in Washington state by the New York Yankees in 1966, Steve Kline worked his way up to the major leagues by 1970, and he had a very good introduction to the league, with a 2.80 ERA and 1.11 WHIP over 559 innings over his first 3 seasons. However, he would never again toss 200 innings, struggling with injuries and ineffectiveness and being out of the league after 1977, before he was even 30. He was 70.

June 5th – After almost a decade in the minor leagues, Chuck Taylor got his break in the major leagues in 1969 with the Cardinals. He would go on to have a very solid rookie campaign, with a 2.56 ERA over 126 2/3 innings. He would pitch 8 seasons in the majors, with his best year being in 1974 with the Expos, when pitched exclusively out of the bullpen, with a 2.17 ERA over 107 2/3 innings, winning 6 games and saving 11.

June 6th – Originally a 17th round selection by the Atlanta Braves in 1977, Larry Owen worked his way up to the major leagues for a few cups of coffee over four seasons between 1981 and 1985 with the Braves before signing with the Royals and playing as a backup for two seasons, but his .193 career batting average kept him from getting more playing time, in spite of an excellent glove.

For over 65 years, the name Red Schoendienst was part of professional baseball’s landscape as a player, manager, or coach. He spent the first dozen seasons of his career in St. Louis. He would go on to play in two World Series with the Milwaukee Braves at the end of his career. He then undertook what would be an incredible run at the helm with the St. Louis Cardinals, managing from 1964-1976, winning a World Series in 1967. He would end up managing in four different decades for the Cardinals, managing for 37 games in 1980 and for 24 games in 1990. He was selected to the Hall of Fame by the Veteran’s Committee in 1989.

June 14th – A rare pitcher in the 1950s and 1960s who specialized working out of the bullpen, Ed Roebuck made 460 career appearances, with just 1 start. Over 11 seasons in the majors, he had a 3.35 career ERA, pitching mostly with the Dodgers, winning a World Series in his first year in the majors with the Dodgers.

June 15th – After a short minor league career interrupted by military service, Hal Smeltzly began a career in coaching. He’s most known for his work at Florida Southern College, which he developed into a Division II powerhouse for nearly 20 years, winning 3 national championships. He retired from coaching into the role of athletic director at the school until his retirement in 2000. His #7 is retired by the school.

June 17th – First coming on the national baseball scene as part of a Little League World Series championship team in 1954, Bill Connors would spend nearly 50 years in professional baseball. He pitched just 43 major league innings, with a rough 7.53 ERA. He found that he could coach what he couldn’t do on the mound, though. He spent 15 years with four clubs as a pitching coach before working with the Yankees in player personnel from 1996-2012. He was 76.

Often cited as the inspiration for the outlandish umpire in the Naked Gun movie, Dutch Rennert was known for a demonstrative strike call at the plate over 20 seasons as a National League umpire. He was able to call 3 World Series in the 1980s as well as two All-Star games and six NLCS over his career.

June 19th – Playing infield as a backup, Don Mason tallied just 336 games over an 8-year career in the major leagues in which he hit .205. The Massachusetts native spent 6 seasons in the minors with much more success, retiring in 1974 at age 29.

June 20th – In college, Jack Stallings was roommates with golfer Arnold Palmer. He spent two seasons in the minor leagues before becoming a college coach, winning over 1,200 games. He managed the highly-regarded 1984 USA Olympic team that lost to Japan and finished with a Silver Medal. That team featured future stars such as Mark McGwire, Barry Larkin, and Will Clark along with over a dozen more players that reached the major leagues.

June 22nd – For his only season in the majors, Tony Bartirome was a full-time player, playing 124 games in 1952 for the Pirates. He served two years in military service after that season, returning to the minor leagues in 1955, but never again making the majors. He became a trainer in the major and minor leagues for nearly 25 years after his playing days were done.

June 23rd – Donald Hall is a well-known poet, published first in 1955. He was the Poet Laureate of the United States in 2006 and 2007. He focused on baseball in many of his writings. He passed away at age 89.

While serving in the Army during the Korean War, Joe Belak played for Team USA in an exhibition game in the 1956 Olympics. He returned home to South Dakota after the war and played for years in amateur ball, making the South Dakota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame.

June 28th – Mike Kilkenny holds the rare distinction of having played for four teams in one season. He opened 1972 with the Detroit Tigers, then played for the Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, and Cleveland Indians in the 1972 season. The Canadian pitched 410 innings in his major league career.

July (8)

July 1st – While he spent just a couple of weeks in the major leagues, Harvey Gentry spent a decade in professional baseball, hitting 66 home runs in the minor leagues.

July 9th – Poor timing led to Sammy Esposito spending a decade behind Hall of Famers Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio. Very solid defensively, he struggled on offense, hitting just .207 over his career. Esposito eventually went on to coach at North Carolina State for 20 years, taking the school to its first-ever College World Series.

July 24th – In spite of pitching a dozen years in the major leagues and winning 113 games, Tony Cloninger is best-known for his work with the bat. Cloninger hit .192 for his career, but he also hit 11 home runs. On July 3rd, he hit two grand slams, becoming the first National League player to accomplish the feat. He went on to coach and work around the game for two decades.

A 4th round pick in 1991 by the Baltimore Orioles, Vaughn Eshelman was selected by the Boston Red Sox from the Orioles in the Rule 5 before the 1995 season. He would go on to pitch 212 innings for the Red Sox from 1995-1997, winning 15 games and posting a 6.07 ERA. He bypassed coaching opportunities after his career was over to work with Stanley, Black and Decker Tools and Fasteners.

July 28th – His big league career amounted to just 266 games spread over 4 seasons, and though he his 132 home runs over 9 minor league seasons, Johnny Lewis made his biggest mark in the game as a scout, coach, and manager for nearly 30 years for the Cardinals.

July 29th – Umberto Calzolari was one of the best players in Italy in the last 50 years. He was an excellent pitcher and hitter both. He finished his career with 152 wins and a 2.16 ERA on the mound and a .292 career batting average over 1,303 at bats.

July 31st – After 9 years in the minor leagues, Daryl Robertson finally got his shot in the majors in 1962, playing 9 games with the Chicago Cubs. He went down to the minors in that season after his debut, but that was his final pro season.

An excellent player in his time, Yoshio Anabuki played 13 seasons in the NPB, hitting 89 home runs over 1,166 games. He managed in the minors and NPB for 13 years after he retired as a player before becoming a broadcaster. He was 85.

August (12)

August 1st – Manny Guerra spent 26 years with the St. Louis Cardinals as a scout, earning 3 World Series rings.

August 4th – A 2nd round pick in 1975 out of high school, Myron White made it to the majors 3 years later with the Dodgers, getting just 5 plate appearances, but hitting .500. He spent a total of 7 years in the minor leagues, but that was his only major league time.

August 7th – If the Mexican League had tracked the save statistic at the time, Enrique Castillo could have put together save numbers rivaling any that major league pitchers would have for 30 years after he pitched in the 1960s. The league started tracking saves over his final four years, missing his peak. Overall, he had 642 games pitched with a 3.37 ERA.

August 9th – Interestingly, John Kennedy shared a birthday with the president by the same name. The infielder played a dozen years in the major leagues as a backup for five different organizations, winning a World Series in 1965 with the Dodgers.

August 18th – Canadian Ozzie Van Brabant pitched just 28 2/3 innings in the major leagues with the Athletics, interestingly pitching in both Philadelphia and Kansas City for the organization in his limited major league exposure. After the 1955 season, he left professional baseball, working at Wayne State University in electrical maintenance.

August 19th – A star in high school and college, Joe Landrum had a brief major league career before he went into military service for the Korean War. He ended up choosing to go back to school after military service and get an engineering degree. He had a son, Bill, who pitched for 8 seasons in the major leagues.

Reports vary on the exact number of years he was active, but Phil Pote was still scouting at 76 years old. He signed some of the top players in the 1970s and 1980s out of California high school, and he even portrayed a scout in movies (Moneyball and The Scout).

August 20th – A catcher as a player, Doc Edwards is actually Howard Edwards, but earned his nickname “Doc” while serving in the Marines’ medical corps. After a farly non-descript playing career, Edwards became a coach for over 20 years, holding the manager role for two seasons with the Cleveland Indians in the late 1980s. He worked as a manager in independent league baseball for many years after leaving the major leagues.

August 21st – Quite notable due to his height at 6’4″ and throwing from the left side, Dean Stone’s stuff kept him employed with multiple clubs in the major leagues and even Japan. He was an All-Star in 1954 as he went 12-10 over 178 2/3 innings for the Senators with a 3.22 ERA. His control in the end kept him from reaching his potential, as he walked nearly as many as he struck out in his career (373/380 BB/K ratio).

August 22nd – Influencing multiple big leaguers, Elmer Kosub is one of the most successful coaches at the NAIA collegiate level, winning 535 games in his career at St. Mary’s. He was 95.

August 25th – While John McCain is not known directly for his play on the field, he had a definite impact on the game of baseball. In the early 2000s, McCain was by far the most outspoken member of Congress regarding the rise of PEDs in the game of baseball. He had a deep love of the game and was worried for the integrity of the game long-term.

August 27th – Bouncing around the game in various roles, Buzzy Keller eventually found his most influential role as a scout for multiple major league teams. Prior to his scouting career, Keller was a minor league player, coached and worked as athletic director at his alma mater, and managed in the minor leagues as well.

September (6)

September 8th – Long and lanky, Rudolph Serrett stood 6’4″ tall, but he could never quite break into the deep rotations of the New York Yankees in the 1950s, and after he similarly didn’t make the White Sox rotation in 1961, he left the game at just 21 years old.

September 9th – Paul Stuffel, known as Stu, was known for his big fastball in high school in Ohio, but was sent to military service soon after graduating, delaying his pro career. He spent 11 years in the minor leagues, winning 103 games, though he won just 1 game in his 7 major league appearances.

September 12th – An elite college pitcher at Clemson, Billy O’Dell became the first bonus baby of the Baltimore Orioles in 1954 and never played a day in the minor leagues. After making the All-Star team as a swingman in 1958 and 1959 with the Orioles, O’Dell went to the Giants, where they continued to use him in that split role until 1962, when he asked to have a defined role either in the bullpen or rotation. He ended up tossing over 500 innings the next two seasons for the Giants, winning 33 games with a 3.36 ERA.

September 14th – Phil Clark is most well-known in his baseball career due to being Jim Brosnan’s roommate in his book The Long Season, featured prominently in the book. The Georgia Southern righty spent nearly a decade between military service and minor league ball before getting his first major league action in 1958. He again made it back to the majors in 1959. In total, he pitched just 14 games in the majors. In the minors, he pitched in 411 games, tossing 991 2/3 innings.

September 19th – Regarded as one of the elite scouts in the history of the game, Don Welke spent over 40 years scouting in the game. He was the Blue Jays advance scout before the 1992 and 1993 World Series and for the 2000 USA Olympic team that won gold. He was 76.

September 21st – Lee Stange pitched for a decade in the major leagues for four organizations, winning 62 games and throwing 1,216 innings in the majors. He then went on to work as a pitching coach for nearly the rest of his life, still consulting with Florida Institute of Technology within a year of his passing.

October (14)

October 1st – Peter Bjarkman has been the writer to document significant parts of Latin American baseball history with multiple baseball books. He had a particular focus on Cuba and the game in Cuba. He was living in Cuba when he passed.

October 3rd – Yet another big influence in Netherlands baseball passing in 2018, Julio Hazel began his playing career in 1965. He became a coach after that, really changing many things in the way that the Dutch approached the game in the 1980s. He was 75.

Another player whose contributions on the field are perhaps overshadowed by his appearance in a book, Marty Pattin was featured heavily by his former teammate Jim Bouton in Bouton’s book Ball Four. Pattin did have a solid career, making an All-Star team in 1971 and winning 114 games as a major league pitcher.

October 9th – Considered to have the best fastball in Latin America, Jose Santiago was signed by the Indians out of Puerto Rico in 1949 after playing previously in the Negro Leagues. He struggled with his control throughout his minor league career, getting just a total of 56 major league innings. He was 90.

October 15th – Standing out due to his pure size, Joe Stanka was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950, standing 6’6″ tall with a solid 200 pounds on his frame. He spent nearly a decade in the minor leagues before making his major league debut in 1959. Stanka left for Japan in 1960, and he became the first American pitcher to win 100 games in the NPB.

October 16th – A bonus baby out of Northwestern, Dave Hill signed with the Kansas City A’s and made his debut that same year in 1957. It ended up being his only time in the major leagues. He returned to school after serving time in the Army, and he worked with telephone companies for much of the rest of his working career.

A fairly forgettable backup catcher, Wayne Krenchicki ended up having an 8-year major league career, though he played just 550 games over that time. He would go on to coach and manager for 20 years. He was just 64.

October 18th – After 60 years in the game, it would appear that Dick Cole got to spend his entire life in his childhood dream. He spent 16 seasons as a professional player between the majors and minors, noted for his tremendous defense up the middle in the infield. He coached for a decade before becoming a scout in the 1970s, something he would do nearly until his dying day.

Putting previously little-known Stetson University on the tip of college baseball’s tongue, Jim Ward began a 30-year college coaching career that would then go to Eastern Kentucky. He would finish his collegiate coaching career with over 900 wins.

October 19th – A two-sport star in high school, Fred Hopke was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies organization, but in spite of impressive numbers, he never reached the majors. He was traded to the Reds and bounced to the Cardinals, Senators, and Yankees organizations to finish out a 10-year career in the minor leagues, including 7 in AAA.

October 22nd – In 1979, Hank Greenwald was hired to call games on the radio for San Francisco Giants. He took a two-year hiatus to the New York Yankees due to a disagreement with station management before returning in 1989, remaining until 1996. He worked as a radio announcer for CBS radio and the Oakland A’s at various points over the next decade before retiring.

October 24th – One of the first players from Mexico to break into the major leagues, Benny Valenzuela made the majors in 1958 with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was elected to Mexico’s baseball Hall of Fame in 1986.

October 30th – Still a record-holder, Bill Fischer spent 9 years in the major leagues. Fischer bounced around among multiple teams, playing with four organizations. He still holds the record for the most consecutive innings without allowing a walk, going 84 1/3 innings during the 1962 season without allowing a free pass.

October 31st – Certainly the best player that passed in 2018, Willie McCovey was an elite player in the league that played in four different decades, beginning his career in 1959 and retiring in 1980. In between, McCovey hit 521 home runs, won an MVP, and made 6 All-Star teams. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1986.

November (10)

November 3rd – One of two teenage active players lost in 2018, Jairo Capellan was signed by the Cincinnati Reds in 2017 as a 6’8″ rail-thin fireballer who had a chance to fill out into something very special. Like many with that kind of velocity and height, he struggled with control, walking 26 in his 31 2/3 innings, but also striking out 39. He was killed in a car accident in the Dominican.

November 6th – As the Braves announced minor league coaches for 2019, Jose Mota was not on the list, an oddity after 22 seasons in the organization as a player and coach. He was working as an infield coach in the Dominican Winter League when he passed away suddenly at 53.

November 8th – Growing up in Akron, Ohio, and then attending nearby Kent State, Ron Negray was certainly not a guy you’d have pegged for the big city of New York, but there he was, signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1949. While he spent the majority of his 15 professional seasons in the minor leagues, Negray had an excellent season in 1955 for the Phillies, tossing 71 2/3 innings with a 3.52 ERA.

November 9th – Originally from Detroit, Ken Howell was a 3rd round pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1982. He pitched for seven seasons in the major leagues for two teams, with most of his years spent with the Dodgers, but most of his innings coming with the Phillies, who made him a starter, and he had his best year in 1989 as a starter, going 12-12 with a 3.44 ERA over 204 innings. He would go on to serve as a pitching coach for a decade in the Dodgers organization after his retirement. He was 57.

November 10th – Known as a coach, Pete Doumit had a reputation for developing excellent players, whether it was while coaching in college or in high school. His own son Ryan ended up having the best big league career of the major leaguers he coached, but he did have multiple major league players come through his teams over his 35+ years of coaching the game at various levels.

November 13th – A three-sport athlete in college, Cal Boyes declined to pursue any sport professionally, choosing instead to further his education and coach for years at Cal State-Sacramento. His coaching career would span over 4 decades with the school and bring home multiple conference titles.

November 16th – After returning from service, Larry Babich began a sportswriting career that would last for many years. While writing, he also coached baseball, having the chance to coach 14 future big league players over his years.

Like a scene from Field of Dreams, Nick Testa got to experience big-time events in the major leagues in the one season he spent on the bench for the Giants. He was at the first Dodgers game played in Los Angeles as a member of the opposing team. However, he appeared in just one game, and in that game, he was on deck when the winning run scored, so he never recorded an at bat.

November 30th – While most of the nation was rightly focused on another passing on this day, baseball lost a notable one. Fred Caligiuri was the oldest living player after Chuck Stevens passed away earlier in the year, and he had just turned 100 years old roughly a month prior to his passing. Caliguiri pitched his most famous game in 1941, as he faced Ted Williams in his pursuit of .400. Williams would get a single and a double in his first two at-bats, but the rest of the Red Sox couldn’t figure out Caliguiri, and he closed out the 1941 season with a complete game win.

While many know about former president George H.W. Bush’s college baseball career, including playing in the first two College World Series, many don’t know that he was very heavily recruited to play major league baseball as he was not much of a hitter at first base, but showed some ability to possibly move to the mound as a lefty. Instead, Bush chose to return home to work in the oil business, working his way up in that business before serving in Congress, as a head of the CIA, an ambassador, Vice President, and finally, the 41st President of the United States. He was 94.

December (20)

December 2nd – Working in the minor leagues as a bullpen catcher is often a thankless job, but sometimes a break comes, and you get a chance at your shot. That’s what Angel Munoz was hoping for with Stockton, an Oakland A’s high-A affiliate. He was killed in a car accident on December 5th at just 19.

One of the more colorful characters in the game, Ducky Davis passed on in early December. Rather than a quick write up on the long-time umpire and scout, I’ll leave this story from his four-decade career around baseball:

During the 1980s, moments before he called an Old Dominion game at the still-new Bud Metheny Baseball Complex, Davis walked into the Monarchs’ dugout on the first-base side and took a seat on the aluminum bench. “What the hell are you doing, Ducky?” barked ODU coach Mark Newman, who towered over the diminutive Davis. Turning to his umpiring partner, Davis said, “You know, Mark’s right.” “What are you talking about?” the other ump asked. Davis said: “You can see balls and strikes better from here than from behind the plate.”

December 3rd – While he was drafted four different times, Joey Seaver only ended up pitching in one minor league season with the Milwaukee Brewers as a left-handed reliever. He found his niche in coaching, however, serving as a coach at the college or pro ranks for 28 years until his passing at age 54.

December 5th – A long-time member of the Mexican League, Bobby Trevino played just three years in his pro career in the United States, appearing one year in the major leagues. He was part of Mexico’s 1958 Little League World Series championship team, and his brother Alex played in the major leagues.

December 6th – On a day of terrible tragedy in the game, many missed the passing of one of the more colorful managers for many years, Al Gallagher, aka Dirty Al. Gallagher had a brief playing career where he acquitted himself quite well, hitting over .270 in two of his four seasons. He moved into coaching and managing, and he would be in that role for four decades in various roles.

A robbery-gone-bad led to the murder of Jose Castillo and Luis Valbuena in Venezuela on December 6th while both were in their native country for winter ball. Castillo had not been active in the major or minor leagues for a decade but was just 37 years old. Valbuena was coming off a rough year with the Angels, but he had established himself enough to believe that he was in line for a major league job as a utility man in 2019 going into his age-33 season.

December 9th – A Boston area native signed by the Boston Braves, by the time hefinally made it up to the major leagues, Bob Giggie made his debut as a member of the Braves, but in Milwaukee. He would go on to also pitch with the Kansas City A’s, but he nver got a lot of major league traction, only pitching 30 major league games in his career.

December 10th – While he may not be a household name, Greg Wathen was the leader of John Wood Community College in Missouri for 25 years before leaving for a new venture that was to come this summer. The opportunity will never be seen as Wathen passed away in his home at 57.

After spending roughly 30 years in the game as a coach and manager, Jim Hoff took the role of Minor League Field Coordinator with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2002. He found a tremendous niche in the game and was very successful, serving in the role until his death.

December 12th – Billy MacLeod spent 7 years in the minor leagues, nearly all of them after making his big league debut in 1962 just one year after being signed. He would spend 5 of his 7 minor league seasons at AAA, always one step away from the majors, but never quite able to get back again.

December 13th – One of the darkest moments of the United States history, Kenso Zenimura spent multiple years as a young man in an internment camp during World War II because of his Japanese heritage, in spite of being born in Fresno. He would go on to play baseball in Japan for one season but chose not to return.

December 14th – Thrown into the spotlight through marriage, Joan Steinbrenner was seldom seen as part of the controversy that seemed to follow her husband, focusing her efforts more on philanthropy. She and George were married 54 years before his passing in 2010. She was 83.

December 16th – After military service, Jim Baum spent two years in the minor leagues in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. He would go on to a long career in radio. He was also a big fan of baseball cards.

This year, ESPN will hold celebrations marking its 40th year on the air. In 1979, when the station first came on, the first voice heard was Lee Leonard. Leonard would debut “SportsCenter” to the world before going to help in the growth of another cable startup, CNN, where he would cover show business for many years.

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December 18th – While her career had many highlights, Penny Marshall is known to baseball fans for her epic movie, “A League of their Own.” The movie is still the highest-grossing baseball film ever made, making $107 million. While Marshall directed many other classic movies, the portrayal of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League was an epic that was well-handled and very well-cast, one that is able to be watched by the entire family. She was 75.

December 19th – Many first came to know Lawr Michaels through the now-iconic book on fantasy baseball titled “Fantasyland.” His character in that book was absolutely his character in life, with many eccentric loves in the world, including hard rock music and dogs. His passion for fantasy sports was legendary, and his methodology so well-respected that he was known as the Zen Master.

December 24th – Born with a rare disease, Josiah Viera was also born with a love of the game of baseball, and he was able to live out that love for all the limited years that he was given on this earth. He was the feature of an E:60 report, and he served as a batboy for multiple organizations right through this past season. He was just 14 years old.

December 26th – Peter Lovrich pitched just one season in the major leagues with the Kansas City A’s and spent just 4 seasons overall in professional baseball. His best year as a pro was his first year, when he put up a 2.66 ERA over 149 innings, including 11 complete games for the Minot affiliate for the A’s. His arm was never able to fully be healthy after that, however.

December 27th – Including two seasons missed to military service, Joe Camacho had a decade-long career in the minor leagues that never led to any major league time. He later became a coach and served in that role for a number of years.

With a number of MLB deaths in 2019 already, we will have another big group in 2019. This is for reflection and remembering those who were lost in 2018, though, and their memories deserve reflection.