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.