Single Most Devastating Death In Baseball History [Archive]

tmc_6882

11-28-2004, 11:51 PM

-Bart Giamatti: Dies eight days after banishing Pete Rose even though Giamatti had only been the commissioner for 154 days. Fay Vincent takes over for Giamatti yet the owners (one of them being Bud Selig) decided to kick him out of office about three and a half years later. Soon after Selig takes over as "acting commissioner", we get the worse work stoppage in sports history as the World Series gets canceled for the first time in 90 years.

-Dick Howser: Dies of a brain tumor about a year and a half after managing the Kansas City Royals to their first ever World Championship.

-Darryl Kile: Dies of a heart attack just days after Jack Buck dies. In retrospect, the death of Jack Buck, who at 77 years of age had been ill with lung cancer, diabetes, and Parkinson's for some time, wasn't really much of a shock. But Darryl Kile's death came right out of the blue as Jack Buck's son Joe was forced to announce the news on live television.

-Thurman Munson: The first Yankee captain since Lou Gehrig dies while arguably still in his prime just like Gehrig.

-Donnie Moore: Moore kills himself (right in front of his own children no less) three years after giving up the home run to Dave Henderson in the 1986 American League Championship Series (and four years after playing in the All-Star Game).

-Lyman Bostock: Gets murdered (by some accounts, by accident) while on the brink of reaching his full potential.

-Mickey Mantle: Spent his remaining days lecturing young people to not live like him (after Mantle spent years killing himself with alcohol).

-Ray Chapman: Ray Chapman became the only modern major leaguer to have died as a direct result of being hit by a pitch.

-Tony Conigliaro: Conigliaro never really fully recovered after getting hit in the eye and wound up suffering a heart attack at the age of 37. Conigliaro would ultimately die at the age of 45.

CoasttoCoast

11-28-2004, 11:56 PM

Ed Delahanty

Roberto Clemente

Lou Gehrig

nightal

11-29-2004, 04:03 AM

west coast orange and black

11-29-2004, 07:29 AM

We need more description of what you are wanting.

Most stunning death(s)-Roberto Clemente or Thurman Munson
Personal death that hit hardest-Mickey Mantle
Cardinal death that hit hardest-Jack Buck

please elaborate on what you are looking for.
you stole my thunder, nightal.
the sudden deaths of clemente and munson were truly devastating. i remember as yesterday the news.

the most aching, after his quiet battle, lou gehrig. still inspirational to many who were not even alive at the time of his death, much less those who did not even get to see him play.

RuthMayBond

11-29-2004, 07:30 AM

Ken Hubbs?

Captain Cold Nose

11-29-2004, 10:05 AM

Harry Agganis? Gil Hodges?

RuthMayBond

11-29-2004, 10:14 AM

Dan Quisenberry or Catfish Hunter? Steve Olin (and the other guy, dang) followed quickly by Cliff Young)? Bo Diaz? Hary Caray?

Captain Cold Nose

11-29-2004, 10:27 AM

Dan Quisenberry or Catfish Hunter? Steve Olin (and the other guy, dang) followed quickly by Cliff Young)? Bo Diaz? Hary Caray?

Tim Crews.

Danny Thompson.

Andujar Cedeno.

Ross Youngs

Addie Joss.

Francisco Barrios.

Lynn McGlothen, who died in a fire while trying to save family members.

Steve Bechler.

Doug Million.

John McSherry, which thousands of shocked Reds fans witnessed.

RuthMayBond

11-29-2004, 10:33 AM

Andujar Cedeno.
Doug Million.I kinda wondered what happened to these guys. Plus, Josh Gibson, and the catcher from awhile back that killed his family then committed suicide

Captain Cold Nose

11-29-2004, 11:11 AM

I kinda wondered what happened to these guys. Plus, Josh Gibson, and the catcher from awhile back that killed his family then committed suicide

Cedeno was killed in a car accident in his native country, I believe. And Million died of an asthma attack.

Bill Burgess can tell you all about Marty Bergen, RMB. Once he found out why his career was so short, he went about researching in a way that would have made him a natural for Langley, Virginia.

To me, Moore's death was incredibly shocking, just because of the complete downward spiral his life took after giving up Dave Henderson's home run. Some vile filth passing as a former member actually thought this was funny.

Appling

11-29-2004, 02:54 PM

ElHalo

11-29-2004, 04:10 PM

KHenry14

11-29-2004, 04:27 PM

To me, there's a couple that stick out...

Munson---the guy was the heart and soul of the Yankees, beloved then and now.

Giamatti--Baseball was waiting for someone like him to come along for years, who knows what the face of the game might be had he lived.

Clemente--selflessly gave his life for others, a true hero gone too soon

Chapman--nobody should die playing the game they love

KH14

nightal

11-29-2004, 05:17 PM

Ed Delahanty... probably the greatest player ever to die while active, and he was relatively in his prime, too... his numbers at the time of his death would have ranked in the top 5 in BA, OBP, and OPS that year. And the year before, he led in OBP, SLG, OPS, 2B, and was in the top 5 in H, BA, HR, TB, R, and RBI.

Is the story still that he fell off a bridge? I've got versions of his death from falling from a train track to drunk and falling off a bridge.Any different data or info???

J W

11-29-2004, 05:29 PM

The death that had the greatest impact on the game IMO would be Chapman. That death directly resulted in several changes to the game... without the knowledge that a pitch can kill, we probably wouldn't have the safety equipment we do today... also, Chapman's death was one of the biggest reasons why the spitball was banned.

Munson and Clemente's deaths, while stunning, merely left the game one less superstar.

I also agree with KHenry; Giamatti's death has a huge theoretical impact on the game as we know it.

catcher24

11-29-2004, 06:53 PM

Nightal: Story as I've heard it, Delahanty was on a train waiting to cross the international railroad bridge between Niagara Falls, NY and Niagara Falls, Ont. He was intoxicated and rowdy, and was put off the train. When it went across the bridge, he attempted to follow on foot and feel off of the tracks into the Niagara River (if you've been there, it's one hell of a fall).

I agree that the death of Chapman had the most impact. In addition to what JW mentioned, this also brought about the use of new baseballs several times during a game. As you know, prior to this balls were frequently used for an entire game. It was overcast the day Chapman got hit, and everyone figured he didn't dive out of the way because he couldn't see the ball until it was too late.

ElHalo

11-29-2004, 08:02 PM

Is the story still that he fell off a bridge? I've got versions of his death from falling from a train track to drunk and falling off a bridge.Any different data or info???

Catcher24 got the story. Nobody knows exactly what happened... he was put off the train for being drunk and disorderly on his way to New York to meet with the Giants about switching teams, and his body was later found downriver. There was an open drawbridge on the bridge over the river just after he was put off the train, so the thinking is that he fell in there.

HDH

11-29-2004, 08:31 PM

tmc_6882

11-29-2004, 09:47 PM

In my mind the sudden death of Bart Giamatti had the greatest impact on baseball (especially on Pete Rose and the Hall of Fame).

The most stunning death was that of Roberto Clemente, on his mercy mission to Puerto Rico.

The most tragic death was probably Ray Chapman, whose death was the direct result of action in a game.

I really don't care about what would've happened to Pete Rose had Bart Giamatti lived longer. According the Fay Vincent (Bart Giamatti's closest confidant and immediate successor), the belief that Giamatti would've given Rose the chance to apply for reinstatement in a year was ludicrous.

What's most devistating I think in terms of how Bart Giamatti's death impacted the game itself is that if Giamatti had lived out his five year term, then we in all likelyhood wouldn't have to worry about Bud Selig becoming commissioner. Selig without a doubt, bungled the 1994 strike in large part due to him being unable to break his ties with his fellow owners at the time.

Part of the reason why the owners wanted Giamatti as commissioner was because of he the way he handled a serious strike while at Yale. Plus, I honestly don't believe that Giamatti would've easily put up with Bud Selig's BS "innovations" like Interleague Play, the All-Star Game winner getting home-field advantage in the World Series, "radical relignment", the elimination of the American & National Leagues as seperate legal entities, abanding the concept of alternating the host sites for the All-Star Game between leagues (i.e. a National League city like San Francisco hosting the 2007 All-Star Game even though that's traditionally a year for the American League), and contraction.

Captain Cold Nose

11-30-2004, 05:14 AM

I really can't say why but, Billy Martin's death was the most tragic in my mind. Being from the Detroit metro area, this one dissapointed me most: Not long ago, Aurelio Rodriguez, while visiting Detroit and walking downtown, a woman crossed over the barrier ran Aurelio over, killing him.

Don't forget Senor Smoke, Aurelio Lopez. The former mayor of his hometown in Mexico, the story was the auto accident that killed him was not so much an accident.

prof93

11-30-2004, 06:09 AM

Lymon Bostock, a career that had such promise ended by gunfire. How can anyone forget him.

dgarza

11-30-2004, 07:45 AM

Bostock, Chapman, Clemente, Munson, McSherry

to a "lesser" degree Gehrig, Ruth

hmmm...I don't see how the deaths of ex-players like Mantle really make this list any more than the deaths of thousands of other players who pass away 30-40 years after their careers...

RuthMayBond

11-30-2004, 07:53 AM

catcher24

11-30-2004, 09:21 AM

ElHalo: Actually, there is no drawbridge there - the gorge is much too wide and deep for that. The railroad bridge that Delahanty allegedly fell from is still there and I have, in fact, travelled across it (there is now a road underneath the original railroad bridge). The story as I always heard it was Ed simply tried to walk across on the railroad ties, and either fell off or fell through - not an unlikely scenario, as he was supposedly quite intoxicated. And yes, his body went downriver and was recovered below the gorge, at Lewiston, I think.

dgarza

11-30-2004, 09:33 AM

So why would Ruth make the list :laugh
yeah, I knew this even while i typed it, but I think Ruth "died as a figure" while Mantle "died as a player". Ruth was a symbol of the 20s well beyond baseball, can't think of any other players who were quite so.

Appling

11-30-2004, 02:21 PM

... I honestly don't believe that Giamatti would've easily put up with Bud Selig's BS "innovations" like Interleague Play, the All-Star Game winner getting home-field advantage in the World Series, "radical relignment", the elimination of the American & National Leagues as seperate legal entities, abandoning the concept of alternating the host sites for the All-Star Game between leagues (i.e. a National League city like San Francisco hosting the 2007 All-Star Game even though that's traditionally a year for the American League), and contraction.
I don't agree that all the things you blame on Bud Selig are necessarily BAD.
(For example, giving meaning to the ASG by giving "home field advantage in the World Series" as a prize. Where is it written that the ASG always was -- and always must remain -- "just an exhibition game"?)

This might be a worthy subject for a separate thread.

tmc_6882

11-30-2004, 04:31 PM

I don't agree that all the things you blame on Bud Selig are necessarily BAD.
(For example, giving meaning to the ASG by giving "home field advantage in the World Series" as a prize. Where is it written that the ASG always was -- and always must remain -- "just an exhibition game"?)

This might be a worthy subject for a separate thread.

The problem that I have with that particular rule is that it's way too much of a crapshoot. It's a crapshoot because we're talking about a single game that's deciding what may or may not happen when the championship is on the line.

I think Bud Selig and/or the Fox television network, conceived that gimmick as an attempt to boost the sagging ratings for the All-Star Game. Personally, if you want to help the ratings out, then stop doing Interleague Play and simply play to win (rather than play casually in order to satisfy everybody's egos).

The bottom-line is that Major League Baseball should award home-field advantage to the team with the best regular season record (much like in the other sports). Besides, why isn't that MLB is willing to give the proper HFA during the first two rounds of the postseason but not the World Series (were it's on the line the most)?

ElHalo

11-30-2004, 04:43 PM

The problem that I have with that particular rule is that it's way too much of a crapshoot. It's a crapshoot because we're talking about a single game that's deciding what may or may not happen when the championship is on the line.

But it's somehow more arbitrary than the every other year rule baseball had used forever?

Tim Brent

12-01-2004, 10:06 PM

His death actually wasn't in downtown Detroit, but here in Southwestern Detroit. The restaurant is only 3 blocks from my house, and I was in the store across the street when it happened, we heard the impact and a few of us in the supermercado went to see what happened, the woman driving the car who hit him had had a seizure while driving....

Appling

12-02-2004, 03:11 PM

Personally, if you want to help the ratings out, then stop doing Interleague Play and simply play to win (rather than play casually in order to satisfy everybody's egos).

As long as an All-Star Game is "only an exhibition" it is not likely to be taken seriously. Look what happened to the NBA All-Star game and to the NFL PRo Bowl. They have become (1) a way to honor the best players and earn credentials for a later Hall of Fame; and (2) a place to have fun and display your skills without the pressure of having to win the game. "Playing to win" is far down the list of these ASG priorities -- as it was for baseball when we allowed that dreadful TIE GAME. Making the ASG count for something seems like the only reasonable answer to this.

Besides, why is it that MLB is willing to give the proper HFA during the first two rounds of the postseason but not the World Series (where it's on the line the most)?
I think it's a good idea to preserve the aura that the two leagues are different. A win-loss record in one league should not be compared with a win-loss league in the other, since they play different opponents (for the most part).

If you think the higher-ranked team should be given HFA in every series, then why not seed the top eight teams regardless of League -- and put the two teams with the best regular-season records in different "brackets"? Then at the end we might see two teams from the same league face off in the World Series. (I myself think this would be a terrible idea, but it could happen if we don't respect the traditions of two different and "independent" major leagues.)

The W-L record of teams in one league should not be compared with W-L records of top teams in the other league.

tmc_6882

12-02-2004, 03:57 PM

tmc_6882

12-02-2004, 04:02 PM

Lymon Bostock, a career that had such promise ended by gunfire. How can anyone forget him.

Here's a list (http://www.thedeadballera.com/murders.html) of baseball players who have been murdered. I was the most shocked to learn that Ivan Calderón (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Calder%F3n_%28baseball_player%29), who was a slugger for the Chicago White Sox in the 1980s is on the list of murdered players.
1885: ANDY SWAN (40)....................SHOT
1891: FRANK BELL (27)....................SHOT BY A BARTENDER AFTER A GAME OF CARDS
1895: FRANK BOWES (29)....................SHOT
1897: FLEURY SULLIVAN (34)....................SHOT DURING A POLITICAL ARGUMENT
1898: MOTHER WATSON (33)....................SHOT
1899: SAMUEL WHITE (?) MINOR LEAGUE UMP....................HIT OVER HEAD WITH A BAT BY A PLAYER
1900: MOX McQUERY (38)....................SHOT BY A THUG
1901: ORA JENNINGS (?)....................SEE "SAM WHITE"
1902: JOHN RYAN (50)....................A POLICEMAN, HE WAS KICKED TO DEATH WHILE MAKING AN ARREST
1907: PAT HYNES (23)....................SHOT ON HIS 23RD BIRTHDAY BY A BARTENDER OVER A CREDIT DISPUTE
1911: GEORGE CRAIG (23)....................SHOT BY A BURGLAR
1912: BUGS RAYMOND (30)....................FRACTURED SKULL / HIT BY A BASEBALL BAT
1913: JERRY HARRINGTON (43)....................STABBED TRYING TO BREAK UP A BARROOM BRAWL1916: ED IRVIN (33)....................THROWN THROUGH A SALOON WINDOW
1921: LARRY McLEAN (39)....................SHOT BY A BARTENDER DURING A BARROOM BRAWL
1922: CHIEF JOHNSON (36)....................FOUND SHOT TO DEATH
1923: FRANK McMANUS (47)....................FOUND MURDERED IN BED IN SYRACUSE NEW YORK
1924: DOLLY STARK (39)....................SHOT
1932: ED MORRIS (32)....................STABBED
1935: LEN KOENECKE (31)....................BATTERED WITH A FIRE EXTINGUISHER IN A PLANE BY A MEMBER OF THE CREW
1935: RAY TREADAWAY (27)....................SHOT
1938: MIKE DONOVAN (56)....................SHOT BY A FELLOW EMPLOYEE AT WORK
1942: GORDON McNAUGHTON (32)....................SHOT BY A JEALOUS EX-GIRLFRIEND IN A CHICAGO HOTEL
1945: FRANK GRUBE (40)....................MISTAKENLY SHOT DURING AN ARGUMENT INSIDE HIS BASEMENT
1952: HI BITHORN (35)....................SHOT BY A COP IN MEXICO ON NEW YEARS DAY
1955: HOWIE FOX (34)....................STABBED IN A BAR FIGHT
1961: EDDIE GAEDEL(36).....................HEART ATTACK INDUCED BY A BEATING / MUGGING
1967: ELOY GUTIERREZ (CATCHER / VERACRUZ: MEXICAN LEAGUE)....................SHOT DURING A BRAWL
1969: TIM McKEITHAN (62)....................SHOT
1970: MICKEY FUENTES (23)....................SHOT IN A BAR FIGHT IN HIS HOMETOWN IN P.R.
1974: BOB BAIRD (34)....................SHOT DURING A QUARREL WITH A WOMAN
1978: LYMAN BOSTOCK (27)....................SHOT
1979: LUKE EASTER (63)....................SHOT BY TWO ROBBERS DURING A PAYROLL ROBBERY
1979: BOB SCHULTZ (55)....................GUNNED DOWN IN A BAR
1984: TED PAGE (81) (FORMER NEGRO LEAGUE PLAYER)....................BEATEN DURING A ROBBERY OF HIS HOME
1988: LUIS MARQUEZ (62)....................SHOT DURING A FAMILY ARGUMENT
1990: TONY SOLAITA (43)....................SHOT OVER A LAND DISPUTE
1993: GUS POLIDOR (33)....................MURDERED BY DRUG DEALERS
1995: DAVE SHOTKOSKI (30) BRAVES REPLACEMENT PLAYER....................
1994: SAM PARRILLA (50)....................GUN
1997: DON O'RILEY (52)....................SHOT DURING A HOLD-UP
2003: IVAN CALDERON (41) ....................SHOT DURING AN APPARENT UNDERWORLD HIT
2003: DERNELL STENSEN (25) ....................SHOT AND RUN OVER DURING AN APPARENT ROBBERY/CAR JACKING

trosmok

01-25-2005, 01:41 PM

The sudden death of Roberto Clemente was truly heart rending, but the most devastating to me personally was Jackie Robinson's. I wept openly for what seemed like days, but I was nowhere near alone in the outpouring of such emotion. Seems like all my baseball related aquaintances were likewise unconsolable. Many years later, shlevine42 sent me the greatest comfort in the words of Rachel Robinson:"...but we ask you not to mourn. For Jackie Robinson has gone home and home is not far away but rather inside the hearts and spirits of those whom he touched."

The events leading to the death of Len Koenecke are among the most bizarre in all of baseball. He played here in Indy for a bit, and if he had lived, might have been one of the first ever charged with air piracy, or skyjacking. For a really chilling look at the story, see www.thedeadballera.com/Obits/Koenecke.Len.Obit.html

plask_stirlac

01-25-2005, 02:54 PM

I wasn't born for most of these so personally I can only say Darryl Kile.

Well, there was a high school player killed by a screamer off an aluminum bat... which is horrible.

eephus75

01-25-2005, 08:12 PM

The most stunning or tragic would depend on where you are in relation to it.
If you played for the Reds in 1940, Bill Hershberger's self-demise would be at the top of your list.
If you were a kid in New York and idolized the Yankees, then it might be Lou Gehrig in 1939 (d. 1941), or Thurman Munson in 1979, or Catfish Hunter in 1999 (ironically another Yankee taken by ALS).
If the guy was your favorite uncle who got 3 ML ABs in 1954, that's bigger to you than Roberto Clemente.
And if you prefer to observe the unfoldings of events that change the history of the game, (that have not fully played out even today) then its Giamatti.

Bill Burgess

01-25-2005, 10:25 PM

If I had to isolate one death in BB which had the deepest, most detrimental impact on the sport, I'd have to choose the death of Taylor Spink.

He died in Dec. 7, 1962, at the age of 74. Had been the Owner/Editor-In-Chief of The Sporting News since 1914. 48 yrs. of greatness. His relentless, indefatigueable helmsmanship of the paper, made it the most important, must-read, sports publication ever published. His father, Charles Spink, had guided it from 1895-1914, and was the same phenomenal driving force.

His lost was incalculable. He frequent interviews with the players from the prior eras, gave BB a continuity, stability, and details so enriching. His sucessor, CC Spink, didn't have the touch, and under him the paper went steadily down.

Continuing on, I'd say the deaths of the Negro Leagues promoters, and administrators were terrible.

Oscar Charleston - 1954 - age 57
Rube Foster - 1930 - age 52
Ed Bolden - 1950 - age 68
Cum Posey - 1946 - age 55

But beyond deaths, there were 2 other "tragedies", which I feel deprived BB of a wealth of its just greatness.

The 2 events to which I refer are the blackballing of Ty Cobb/Babe Ruth. If those 2 had been allowed to manage until the day they couldn't do it anymore, the game would have been just so immeasurably enriched. A true tragedy, and so wastefully unnecessary.

Bill Burgess

tmc_6882

02-01-2005, 01:39 PM

Here's some photos of Bart Giamatti's headstone for those who are interested:
http://www.thedeadballera.com/GravePhotos/giamattibart.JPG

http://www.thedeadballera.com/GravePhotos/giamattibart2.JPG

I'm not one of these people who believes that Pete Rose "indirectedly" killed Bart Giamatti. Maybe the stress of putting up with Rose was too much to take for Giamatti. But I think that part if not most of the blame has to go to Giamatti himself.

Bart Giamatti as far as I know, was never really considerate about his health (especially when it comes to a demanding job like overseeing a major operation like Major League Baseball). From what I heard, the man smoked five packs of cigarettes a day.

Another person to blame is Giamatti's predecessor Peter Ueberroth. Ueberroth quit the job even before the start of the 1989 season even though he wasn't due to leave until October. Ueberroth was the one who started the investigation against Pete Rose (and supposedly, hired John Dowd), in February of 1989. Unfortunately, by the time Rose got banned, Ueberroth was already long gone.

Captain Cold Nose

02-01-2005, 02:18 PM

if Giamatti couldn't handle the stress of leadership, he shouldn't have taken the job. He chose to face the Sword of Damocles. Blaming everyone else, no matter to what degree, is just flat out wrong.
While it is very unfortunate he passed as he did, he is not a martyr.

antihipster

02-01-2005, 10:06 PM

Melottfan

02-11-2006, 09:09 AM

I kinda wondered what happened to these guys. Plus, Josh Gibson, and the catcher from awhile back that killed his family then committed suicide

The catcher your thinking about is Marty Bergen. I remember when Munson died. I believed it took a lot of wind out of the Yankees sail. As a Yankees fan, I was stunned for several days. Also, Giamatti's passing stunned me.

Imapotato

02-11-2006, 09:31 AM

Ed Delahanty... probably the greatest player ever to die while active, and he was relatively in his prime, too... his numbers at the time of his death would have ranked in the top 5 in BA, OBP, and OPS that year. And the year before, he led in OBP, SLG, OPS, 2B, and was in the top 5 in H, BA, HR, TB, R, and RBI.

No

Addie Joss was the greatest player to die while active, Big Ed also died before deadball baseball became the norm

Bill Burgess

02-11-2006, 09:55 AM

The topic theme is "the most devastating death in baseball".

The impact of a death, (outside one's own family), lies in its consequence. I stand by my opinions in post #36. It is difficult to equal the overall baseball impact of the loss of the guiding light of the sports most important publication.

Taylor Spink ran The Sporting News, from 1914, to his death on December 7, 1962. Oh unhappy day for baseball when he passed. His successor, Johnson Spink, lacked the greatness to keep up the standards. And all of the sport suffered greatly for the lack of it's chronicler.

All deaths are a loss, but some ripple on in their impacts forever. One would have had to be familiar with the paper to understand the profundity of the loss. He could not be replaced, and was not. Baseball was never covered, documented as well since. If it were, we would have had constant and continuous interviews with Aaron, Mays, Mantle, Frank Robinson, Jackie Robinson, etc. ever since they retired until they died. But we didn't. And how much the poorer are we all for those never conducted interviews!

We haven't come close to hearing what the best players since 1950 had to say about their sport, up to today. And that would never have been allowed to happen, if Taylor Spink had lived. He simply would not have allowed such a devastating blackout of the opinions of its most glittering ornaments.

I rest my case.

http://baseball-fever.com/showpost.php?p=445384&postcount=192

http://baseball-fever.com/showpost.php?p=241314&postcount=36

Blackout

02-11-2006, 10:11 AM

1900: MOX McQUERY (38)....................SHOT BY A THUG

Officers honor fallen comrades
By Jim Hannah
The Cincinnati Enquirer

COVINGTON - John Thompson and William "Mox" McQuery were fatally shot in the line of duty more than a century ago near the southern end of the Roebling Suspension Bridge.

On Monday, police officers from across Northern Kentucky gathered at the site to honor these two men and to add a 33rd name to the Northern Kentucky Police Memorial - Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Officer Douglas Bryant.

Bryant, 62, of Villa Hills died in an auto wreck in May 2003 while pursuing a traffic violator on Interstate 71/75 near the Buttermilk Pike exit. The man he was chasing is awaiting trial on a manslaughter charge.

He was one of 51 officers killed nationwide last year in automobile wrecks. Wrecks tie with shootings as the leading cause of death for officers. One hundred forty-five officers died in the line of duty across the United States in 2003. "The two prominent features I'll remember about Doug was his smile and laugh," said Kenton County police Chief Bill Dorsey.

With bagpipes, a flyover, and a 21-gun salute, the police community called attention to the deaths of local police officers. The names of the slain officers include those who worked in Boone, Kenton, Campbell, Grant, Pendleton, Bracken, Harrison, Robertson, Bourbon and Nicholas counties.

The site of the memorial is near the long gone tollhouse for the suspension bridge where Thomas was shot in February 1869. He was attempting to arrest a suspected highwayman who had robbed a man on the old Lexington Turnpike. The man had a pistol hidden in his coat pocket.

McQuery was shot near the same location. A St. Louis newspaper mail clerk wanted for the slaying of a hobo in Ludlow killed the 6-foot-4 former National League baseball player in June, 1900. After shooting McQuery, the clerk jumped in the Ohio River before being arrested. He was later killed during a failed prison break.

The ceremony was the first of several local observances of Police Week.

Covington police renamed their headquarters after a retired chief and dedicated a memorial honoring fallen Covington officers.

That memorial contains 10 names. The last entry was Michael A. Partin. The 25-year-old officer died in 1998 after falling off the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge into the Ohio River while chasing a suspect.

Retired Capt. Steve Wills said the Covington police memorial was paid for with money seized from drug dealers.

The Covington police station, at Madison Avenue and 20th Street, was renamed in honor of retired Covington police Chief Lyle F. Schwartz. He is credited with modernizing the Covington force.

Budtaff

02-11-2006, 10:15 AM

Munson
Chapman
Delahanty
Clemente
Bostock

bluezebra

02-11-2006, 02:56 PM

Ray Chapman. His was the only death that came directly from an incident during a game.

Bob

Brian McKenna

02-11-2006, 04:14 PM

Ray Chapman. His was the only death that came directly from an incident during a game.

Bob

not so sure about that:

doc powers and Cal Drummond come to mind

Iron Jaw

02-11-2006, 05:41 PM

Ken Hubbs?

One that many forget. Hubbs had just completed his second season with the Cubbies when he met his fate. He was Rookie of the Year in 1962.

A friend of mine, who is a huge Cub fan (yeah - I have friends who are Cub fans:D ) said that had Hubbs lived, Glenn Beckert would have wound up at the shortstop position (which he did play in the minors if I remember correctly).

Bluesteve32

02-11-2006, 07:08 PM

This is just in the Angels Organization:

Chico Ruiz - Auto Accident
Mike Miley - Auto Accident
Bruce Heinbechner - Auto Accident
Lyman Bostock - murder
Donnie Moore - suicide
Deron Johnson - Coach
Michelle Carew - coach's daughter died of leukemia
Ida Autry - predeceased her husband by many years
Gene Autry - died before team won a WS
Minnie Rojos - paralyzed in auto accident that killed three of his children and he died in the last year or so.

bluezebra

02-11-2006, 08:13 PM

not so sure about that:

doc powers and Cal Drummond come to mind

**"Powers was injured on Opening Day, 1909, in the first ever Major League game played at Shibe Park. It was reported at the time that the pain began when he dove for a foul ball. The injury later turned gangrenous, and he died soon afterward. It was perhaps the first baseball death traceable directly to an on-field injury".

**Who was Cal Drummond. I can't find any MLB reference.

Bob

Brian McKenna

02-11-2006, 08:26 PM

cal drummond was an umpire - he fell ill shortly after a game between the orioles and angels on june 10, 1969 - reports say he may have taken a foul ball off the mask - he was operated on for a blood clot in the brain - he recovered somewhat but died of a cerebral hemorrhage trying to make a come back

Brian McKenna

02-11-2006, 08:38 PM

Goofy

02-11-2006, 08:49 PM

Is the story still that he fell off a bridge? I've got versions of his death from falling from a train track to drunk and falling off a bridge.Any different data or info???

As far as I understand the story: Ed Delehanty was drunk and usually obnoxious and was kicked off the teams train midway to the destination. As the story went his body was found under the bridge close to where he was kicked off the train. No one really knows if he was drunk and fell while trying to walk to the next town (or pervious one) or he comitted suicide as some claimed. In my opinion he was drunk and fell off the bridge while trying to walk to the next or previous station to catch another train. Anyway his death was a tough one for baseball.

Brian McKenna

02-11-2006, 10:10 PM

runningshoes

02-11-2006, 10:16 PM

As far as I understand the story: Ed Delehanty was drunk and usually obnoxious and was kicked off the teams train midway to the destination. As the story went his body was found under the bridge close to where he was kicked off the train. No one really knows if he was drunk and fell while trying to walk to the next town (or pervious one) or he comitted suicide as some claimed. In my opinion he was drunk and fell off the bridge while trying to walk to the next or previous station to catch another train. Anyway his death was a tough one for baseball.

The next stop for the train would have been at the border. The Niagara River, in which he fell, is the border between Canada and the US.

SHOELESSJOE3

02-11-2006, 10:51 PM

From all that I have read, much from old news archives the most accurate source, Ed was removed from the train, not on the bridge but at Fort Erie Canada. The point where he was removed was on solid ground at the very end of the bridge. It is believed that he may have attempted to walk back across the bridge to the other end where he came from, Buffalo New York.

I live in Buffalo and Fort Erie is right across the water. The bridge and Fort Erie can be seen from the New York State thruway. I have visited that point where the bridge ends at Fort Erie, many times.

For those who don't know, it is a narrow bridge. Not sure of the length but it's not a far distance across the water from Buffalo to Fort Erie, my guess probably thousand feet, thats close.

Ed left here, Buffalo_________________________Fort Erie, got off train here.

His body was found at Niagara Falls, I believe he was missing a limb, probably due to the location of his body at the falls, near a sight seeing boat, the propeller.

As a kid when security was not so tight we would walk on the bridge. A scary sight to,look over the side, underneath the swift moving Niagara River making it's way to Niagara Falls. I had two friends that drowned in that area and like Ed their bodies were found at Niagara Falls. No doubt about it, fall in to the water at that point and your headed for the falls.

SHOELESSJOE3

02-11-2006, 11:00 PM

From time to time it is brought up, surmised that Ed was removed from the train on the bridge. I doubt that story. If one were to see the bridge, very narrow and about a thousand feet in length. Makes no sense that those in charge would stop the train on the bridge when all they had to do was wait a few minutes until they reached the other side, Fort Erie.

Imapotato

02-12-2006, 12:25 AM

As far as I understand the story: Ed Delehanty was drunk and usually obnoxious and was kicked off the teams train midway to the destination. As the story went his body was found under the bridge close to where he was kicked off the train. No one really knows if he was drunk and fell while trying to walk to the next town (or pervious one) or he comitted suicide as some claimed. In my opinion he was drunk and fell off the bridge while trying to walk to the next or previous station to catch another train. Anyway his death was a tough one for baseball.

He also had no valuables on his person, so suicide...nah

I say the watchman mugged and killed an inebriated man

But I also think Babe Ruth killed his ex wife, so I love conspiracy

We should switch the thread to the most heinous death...

Hoiw about Bugs Raymond who started a fight and got hit over the head with a baseball bat...over and over and over again.

yanks0714

02-12-2006, 06:51 AM

From a personal standpoint, as a Yankee fan, Thurmon Munson's death hit me hard. I actually wept a little when I first heard it.

Roberto Clemente's death was a shock to me and it was hard to imagine him no longer playing. I had some friends who were Pirate fans that really took it hard.

After reading the book, The Pitch That Killed, I found myself feeling the grief for Ray Chapman and his family. But it happened so long ago it never hit a raw nerve with me.

The single saddest death I think is Donnie Moore's. The fact that he took that Dave Henderson HR so hard that it caused him to desend into a depression that he took his own life 3 years later.
Munson, Clemente, and Chapman's deaths were sudden. Moore's was a gradual thing that took 3 years. I often wondered if anybody recognized his depression and tried to help him or get him professional help.
Anybody know the details?

SHOELESSJOE3

02-12-2006, 08:51 AM

How about Bugs Raymond who started a fight and got hit over the head with a baseball bat...over and over and over again.

Well, I guess in Bug's case we can say he lived by the bat and died by the bat. At first when his body was disovered in that hotel room it was believed he died from some drinking and extreme heat conditions.

SHOELESSJOE3

02-12-2006, 09:04 AM

Although not living in those times I have to rank Chapman's death near the top. For one thing it happened during a game witnessed by many, although he did not die till later.

Also because of the two involved. Carl Mays, disliked by many, fans and players alike, known to brush many a hitter back with that side arm delivery. On the other hand Chapman was one of the most popular players in the game at that time.

The scenario, the villian fells the hero, fatally. Mays was actually booked and questioned at a police station later.

Put aside May's reputation and be fair to him. Players on both sides agreed, it appeared that Chapman never "picked up" the ball, just stood there. The weather was bad a dark rainy misty day, difficult to see.

As most know this led to a change in the game, dirty scuffed up balls were now replaced with a clean white ball, easier to see.

SHOELESSJOE3

02-12-2006, 09:38 AM

johnny

02-12-2006, 09:59 AM

He also had no valuables on his person, so suicide...nah

I say the watchman mugged and killed an inebriated man

But I also think Babe Ruth killed his ex wife, so I love conspiracy

We should switch the thread to the most heinous death...

Hoiw about Bugs Raymond who started a fight and got hit over the head with a baseball bat...over and over and over again.

If your going to go most heinous, I offer up a depressed Chick Stahl
who back around 1907-1908 drank some carbolic acid. :coffee
That couldn't have been instantaneous so he must have had at least a few seconds to say 'damn, i should have used a pistol' :ughh

oscargamblesfro

02-12-2006, 10:01 AM

jim creighton's death wasn't the most tragic death i suppose, but i believe it would have to be the earliest. creighton, a star player of the pre-professional, civil war era was only 21 i believe when he died.

runningshoes

02-12-2006, 10:18 AM

On the lighter side. August 4, 1983, Yankee Dave Winfield during warming up in the 5th inning accidentally kills a seagull with a throw in Toronto.

I say on the lighter side. Not so light to the Ontario Provincial Police who charged him with animal cruelty and ask that he post a 500.00 bond before being released. Later the charges were dropped.

I wonder how accidental it really was. I've seen seagulls hit by cars and survive.

How hard would he have to had thrown the ball to kill it?

I doubt he was just tossing the ball. The urge to pick it off might have been a strong one. I've been to Exhibition stadium many time and the gulls were annoying to say the least.

Bluesteve32

02-12-2006, 10:27 AM

If I recall, Randy Johnson got a bird while pitching in a ST game in Arizona one year. Bt rule, if the ball crossed the foul line it should have been ruled a ball.

vptpt

02-12-2006, 11:02 AM

Brian McKenna

02-12-2006, 12:45 PM

i've talked with pittsburgh fans and the clemente deal scared that city - i've been told this but i'm not sure - clemente was a huge fan favorite of women and with his death many stopped following the game

SHOELESSJOE3

02-12-2006, 12:46 PM

I wonder how accidental it really was. I've seen seagulls hit by cars and survive.

How hard would he have to had thrown the ball to kill it?

I doubt he was just tossing the ball. The urge to pick it off might have been a strong one. I've been to Exhibition stadium many time and the gulls were annoying to say the least.

The circumstances, Winfield warming up between innings tossing to the bat boy who of course was in foul territory. I was tempted to say fowl territory....... and I guess I did say it at that. A common practice I've seen many a time on trips Toronto, the bat boy or another player taking throws from the left or right fielder.

Anyway the seagull was struck on the very last throw from Winfield. The inning was about to begin and he had tossed the ball to the bat boy and it struck the seagull on one bounce, not on the fly.

Are we to believe that he intended it that way, to hit his target on one bounce. Lets not be too gullible about a freak accident.

bluezebra

02-12-2006, 04:59 PM

Brian McKenna

02-12-2006, 06:14 PM

Thanks. I should have remembered he was an umpire, but my "mind" was honed-in on players. And how about John McSherry?

Bob

yeah but that wasn't game related

trosmok

02-13-2006, 06:43 AM

John McSherry's death came on opening day in 1996, seven pitches into the ballgame. Marge Schott showed her true character, or lack of, in her heartless remarks when the game was called. It was a frightening few minutes as big John wandered around behind home, stumbled, and then lay prone by the backstop. My very first MLB game was an opening day at Crosley nearly forty years earlier, making the tragic event even more disturbing for me. See:

http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/M/McSherry_John.stm

KCGHOST

02-13-2006, 08:44 AM

Captain Cold Nose

02-13-2006, 08:47 AM

Did any of these deaths change the game?? The only one I can think of was Chapman's. After he died they ruled that new baseballs had to be used at all times. Prior to that they a ball stayed in play until it was lost or lopsided. Surprising head protection didn't come into vogue for 30 more years.
It didn't change the game, per se, but McSherry's death made a lot of umpires really start paying attention to their health. A total wakeup call.
A very haunting moment for the thousands and thousands who witnessed it.

Tigerfan1974

02-13-2006, 09:48 AM

Clemente, hands down.

KCGHOST

02-13-2006, 10:27 AM

It didn't change the game, per se, but McSherry's death made a lot of umpires really start paying attention to their health. A total wakeup call. A very haunting moment for the thousands and thousands who witnessed it.

Can't disagree with that. In the same vain it also woke up the leagues and MLB to insist on the umps work on their conditioning.

redbuck

05-19-2006, 04:18 PM

How about that umpire who died in Cincinnati on opening day 1996. that was pretty stunning to see live.

Or how about the death of George Ruth's curse- Ruined baseball in Boston.

BoweryBoys

05-19-2006, 05:26 PM

Ray Chapman probably had to be the death with the widest felt and most direct impact on the game.

Any sudden or early death of any ball player, as for any one else, due to whatever cause is always effecting as "no man is an island".

4 in particular, maybe all too forgotten, early deaths due to terminal illness always sadden me when I think about it as an untimely end to a young life. especially from a terminal illness, is always sad but in terms of MLB terminal illness has often cut short or ended a career.

Walt Bond , died in 1967 - Indians, Colt 45s, Twins.
Jim McGlothlin, died in 1975, Angels, Reds.
Dick Brown, died in 1970, Tigers, Orioles.
Jim Umbricht, died in 1964, Pirates, Colt 45s.

Of course, there are many more early untimely deaths of players that have effected the game more but these are 4 that were active when I was a kid growing up and following all my MLB hereos. It was unthinkable as a young person to hear or read about the early death due to disease of such young seemingly healthy ballplayers.

BaseballHistoryNut

05-19-2006, 06:34 PM

No

Addie Joss was the greatest player to die while active, Big Ed also died before deadball baseball became the norm

Yeah. I'm amazed I got to Post 41 before seeing Joss mentioned. He was what, 29 years old? And the winner of probably the most famous regular season 1-0 victory ever, and the owner of the #2 ERA, and by all accounts I've ever heard, a really beloved figure. One thing for sure: He was beloved enough that they played a special baseball game for his widow.

One other: After 41 posts, I've still not seen Miller Huggins. That was a really devastating death, though not an immense surprise.

BHN

BaseballHistoryNut

05-19-2006, 06:59 PM

For my Cubbies, Ken Hubbs' death was a big shock. I wasn't born yet, but from everything I've read he was loved by players and fans alike. He was close friends with Ron Santo, who swears to this day that the Cubs would have been in the '69 World Series if they still had him around. Just think...if the Cubs had won the WS that year, we Cubs fans wouldn't have all that curse talk to contend with year after year.

Yes, I remember him and he WAS beloved. I was a Giants fan, still am despite you-know-who, but Hubbs was a young defensive star and his death was a real shock.

The most shocking baseball death in my lifetime, though, was for sure Roberto Clemente. A whole lot of us--including ones who, like me, considered him overrated--wept over the heroic, tragic circumstances of his death. In terms of popular (as opposed to purely political) heroes, his death may stand as the #2 tragedy for my generation, behind only the assassination of John Lennon. And THAT, my comrades, is about as rarefied as air gets.

BHN

Gee Walker

05-19-2006, 07:51 PM

In 1966, the Detroit Tigers were a team on the rise, featuring Kaline, Cash, McAuliffe, Freehan, and Horton on offense and McLain and Lolich on the mound. With the demise of the Yankees, there was a power vacuum in the AL, and the Tigers were one of the contenders.

The team was playing well in mid-May (.615 ball) when manager Charlie Dressen left the team with heart problems, never to return. Dressen died on August 10th of that year. He was replaced by third-base coach Bob Swift, who managed the team until roughly the All-Star break. The Tigers continued to play well under Swift (.561 ball), but at this point Swift was diagnosed with cancer, which caused his death on October 17th.

The Tigers were then managed by first-base coach Frank Skaff, who barely got .500 out of them for the rest of the year (40-39). The Tigers finished ten games behind Baltimore. Skaff was fired at the end of the season, and the Tigers hired Mayo Smith to manage the team.

Smith does have one championship on his resume, but he had to be one of the worst managers in history to accomplish this. I hold him primarily responsible for the mismanagement of Denny McLain, for ruining Les Cain's career, and for generally bungling the 1967 season through strategic blunders and inappropriate use of players, such as using John Hiller as a starter, and then benching him when he couldn't hold a lead...

JohnGelnarFan

05-19-2006, 08:21 PM

These are far from the most devastating deaths as they pertain to this thread,but I'm sure they were to their families. There are a few that I still have clear memories of when I heard about them. I'm sure we all had the same "pain" in our hearts when the death of a particular favorite was announced.

Aurelio Rodriguez has been mentioned. I remember him spending time with a group of us kids(and a parent) in Washington one night after a game. I'll never forget how nice he was to us.

These players had not yet retired when they died:
Danny Frisella(1977)
Bob Moose(1976)
Paul Edmonson(1970)

The drowning death of Norm Cash was shocking and very sad. I don't remember anyone ever saying an unkind word about him.

A strange death was the great Double X,Jimmy Foxx. I think I remember hearing that he died after choking on some food.

R.I.P. to all mentioned in this thread. They gave us great enjoyment or,at least,fond memories.

BaseballHistoryNut

05-19-2006, 08:29 PM

I was 14 when Foxx died, and it's my distinct recollection the evening news reported he died choking on a piece of food. Whether that was true, I haven't a clue. If so, I'm sure it was booze-related. :(

He was still #2 on the career HR list at the time. It was obvious, however, that he was about to be replaced in that spot.

JohnGelnarFan

05-19-2006, 08:45 PM

BHN,you're "distinct recollection" is exactly what I mean. Sometimes we can't remember things we heard yesterday but our baseball memories(and other personal interests) are as clear as the day we heard them. Thanks for verifying Foxx's story. :waving

I was 14 when Foxx died, and it's my distinct recollection the evening news reported he died choking on a piece of food. Whether that was true, I haven't a clue. If so, I'm sure it was booze-related. :(

He was still #2 on the career HR list at the time. It was obvious, however, that he was about to be replaced in that spot.

geezer

05-19-2006, 08:48 PM

1988: LUIS MARQUEZ (62)....................SHOT DURING A FAMILY ARGUMENT
2003: IVAN CALDERON (41) ....................SHOT DURING AN APPARENT UNDERWORLD HIT

Luis Marques was shot by his son in law while trying to make peace in a domestic dispute between his son in law and daughter.

And Ivan Calderon was hit after rumors that he used to bail mobsters, those rumors were never confirmed, and was shot over 20 times while hanging at a bar.

soberdennis

05-19-2006, 09:22 PM

Two deaths I'll never forget are Clemente's and munson.
I'll never forget hearing the news on December 31, 1972. Roberto Clemente was a great player, the greatest I ever saw. The circumstances behind his death just add to his legend.
I was in Boot Camp when Munson died. Still in his prime, the Captain was the heart and soul of those great Yankee teams of the 70's. A lifelong Yankee fan, it put me in a state of shock for a moment.
The most significant death was probably Chapman's. Not only did it lead to a lot of changes, It also has probably kept Carl Mays from the HOF.

soberdennis

05-19-2006, 09:28 PM

These are far from the most devastating deaths as they pertain to this thread,but I'm sure they were to their families. There are a few that I still have clear memories of when I heard about them. I'm sure we all had the same "pain" in our hearts when the death of a particular favorite was announced.

Aurelio Rodriguez has been mentioned. I remember him spending time with a group of us kids(and a parent) in Washington one night after a game. I'll never forget how nice he was to us.

These players had not yet retired when they died:
Danny Frisella(1977)
Bob Moose(1976)
Paul Edmonson(19

The drowning death of Norm Cash was shocking and very sad. I don't remember anyone ever saying an unkind word about him.

A strange death was the great Double X,Jimmy Foxx. I think I remember hearing that he died after choking on some food.

R.I.P. to all mentioned in this thread. They gave us great enjoyment or,at least,fond memories.
Don Wilson was another one to die while still active.

JohnGelnarFan

05-19-2006, 09:38 PM

And was still pretty productive. He had a great arm. He pitched two no-hitters and had an 18 strikeout game. He might have had a chance at a third no-hitter but was pinch hit for after 8 no hit innings against Cincinnati by San Diego Manager Preston Gomez,trailing 2-1. He was found dead by carbon monoxide poisoning,a suicide at 29. Sad story. Good addition!

Don Wilson was another one to die while still active.

SHOELESSJOE3

05-19-2006, 09:59 PM

I was 14 when Foxx died, and it's my distinct recollection the evening news reported he died choking on a piece of food. Whether that was true, I haven't a clue. If so, I'm sure it was booze-related.

I've heard that story but have yet to see it written up that way in any news archives. One said natural causes, one a heart attack and another a seizure.

Bill Burgess

05-19-2006, 10:03 PM

I was 14 when Foxx died, and it's my distinct recollection the evening news reported he died choking on a piece of food.
Holy shades of Mama Cass. Don't believe everything you read.

BaseballHistoryNut

05-19-2006, 10:07 PM

Holy shades of Mama Cass. Don't believe everything you read.

I didn't read it. I heard it on the evening TV news.

And TRUST ME: You don't need to tell the current, 53-year-old version of me not to believe the evening news. I simply didn't know that when I was
14, so I assumed they were right about Foxx's cause of death.

SHOELESSJOE3

05-19-2006, 10:11 PM

I didn't read it. I heard it on the evening news.

And TRUST ME: You don't need to tell the current, 53-year-old version of me not to believe the evening news. I simply didn't know that when I was
14, so I assumed they were right about Foxx's cause of death.
Understandable NUT. A common occurance, a story starts and gets legs, gets passed on as is. In this case it appeared to be not true.

BaseballHistoryNut

05-19-2006, 10:17 PM

Holy shades of Mama Cass. Don't believe everything you read.

So tell me, Le Grand Fromage, is the story an out-an-out falsehood? Did Foxx die with an unobstructed windpipe?

BHN

SHOELESSJOE3

05-19-2006, 10:25 PM

A big one, Carl Mays disliked by many fans and players beans Ray Chapman one of the most popular players in the game, by home town fans and other fans.

Lots of emotion, a bad guy and a good guy. Mays disliked and with a reputation for coming in close to many a hitter.Two players as far apart as two could be, one hated the other loved.

Mays is actually asked to appear at a local police station to be questioned.

To be fair to Mays, it was a cloudy misty day. Some players from both teams said Chapman seems to have frozen, appeared he did not "pick up" the ball as it left Mays hand. Some said it appeared the ball was in the strike zone and Chapman was leaning over the plate.

geezer

05-19-2006, 10:25 PM

And what about Kirby Puckett's sudden death, and Caminiti's death after years of battling steroid and cocaine abuse.

Bill Burgess

05-19-2006, 10:57 PM

To be fair to Mays, it was a cloudy misty day. Some players from both teams said Chapman seems to have frozen, appeared he did not "pick up" the ball as it left Mays hand. Some said it appeared the ball was in the strike zone and Chapman was leaning over the plate.
The ump working that game, Tommy Connolly, always said the pitch was in the strike zone. Chapman was known to crowd the plate, to work the pitcher/ump for a walk.

Mays, for his part, said that at the last second, he saw Chapman moving his feet into bunting position. So he said he came high/inside to preempt the bunt.

When the ball struck Chapman in his left temple, it sounded like a loud crack. Mays assumed the ball hit the bat handle & fielded the ball and threw to first. Connolly, taking one look at Chapman, and seeing his left eye hanging out of its socket, sprinted towards the grandstands, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Is there a doctor in the house!"

I believe 2 docs and a nurse came immediately out of the grandstand. They all surrounded Chapman, and he was helped to his feet, and two team mates assisted him to walk to the clubhouse in Center Field.

Ubiquitous

05-19-2006, 11:11 PM

How about Nellie Fox untimely death? He was an icon for the southsiders and died just 10 years after his playing days were over because of the chewing tobacco he was famous for. AFter he died a bunch of chicagoans both big and small (in terms of power in baseball and out of) formed the Nellie Fox society and helped get him elected in the last year of his eligibility.

soberdennis

05-19-2006, 11:45 PM

And was still pretty productive. He had a great arm. He pitched two no-hitters and had an 18 strikeout game. He might have had a chance at a third no-hitter but was pinch hit for after 8 no hit innings against Cincinnati by San Diego Manager Preston Gomez,trailing 2-1. He was found dead by carbon monoxide poisoning,a suicide at 29. Sad story. Good addition!
That was Clay Kirby that Gomez yanked with a nono going. Wilson never played for the Pads.
But you are right. Wilson was a very good pitcher.

Food

05-20-2006, 01:18 AM

Eric Show committed suicide to death. I don't know if he had already retired or not, but his best days were clearly past.

JohnGelnarFan

05-20-2006, 09:24 AM

Thanks for pointing out my error Dennis. I think I was half asleep when I wrote this. Should have been drinking Coffee! :coffee
Don Wilson never pitched for San Diego. Earl Wilson ended his career as a Padre.
Preston Gomez pulled both Kirby and Wilson after pitching 8 no hit Innings. On July 21,1970,while managing the Padres,He pinch hit for kirby,trailing 1-0.
On September 4,1974,while managing the Astros,he pinch hit for Wilson,trailing 2-1. Gomez was the only major league manager to do this twice.

That was Clay Kirby that Gomez yanked with a nono going. Wilson never played for the Pads.
But you are right. Wilson was a very good pitcher.

geezer

05-20-2006, 09:26 AM

Bo Diaz was a shocking dead at the age of 37 while trying to fix a satellite dish.

Brian McKenna

05-20-2006, 09:28 AM

game-related fatalities at the major league level:
ray chapman
doc powers
cal drummand

Brian McKenna

05-20-2006, 09:36 AM

the baseball necrology says foxx died from choking on food

Brian McKenna

05-20-2006, 09:43 AM

mays indeed was a hard-nosed ballplayer with a surly temper but that doesn't make him the polar opposite of chapman, it merely makes him a ballplayer like many, many other ballplayers - as with all baseball stories and historical stories in general personality descriptions and personal attacks or lauds (for that matter) are told and retold with a distinct bias - this one is used to villify mays for what was (and cannot be argued otherwise) an unfortunate sports-related accident - in the days prior to batting helmets it is just amazing that there were not more fatalities

mays had a reputation but a good deal of that stemmed from him being a submariner when few were - batters did not like his pitching style - to tell the story of chapman's death by questioning mays attitude is unfounded - mays did not try to kill chapman and eye witness accounts of the incident more than verify this - to suggest otherwise is done so to embellish the story

JohnGelnarFan

05-20-2006, 10:59 AM

Does anyone know anything different about the death of Jimmy Foxx? After reading these posts,I went on the Internet looking for evidence of something else. All of the websites that mention it say that he choked to death on either a piece of meat or a bone. The only obituary I found was printed in the New York Times on July 27,1967. It was dated July 21,1967 and said that he became Ill while visiting his brother Sam,in Miami,and died on the way to Baptist Hospital.

In a non-baseball related note,I also found that Stanley(Tiger) Fafara who played Whitey Whitney on "Leave It To Beaver" died of post surgery-drug abuse complications,Sept.20,2003. It said that he was a drug addict for many years after the show but cleaned up in his last years. He was born the same day he died,Sept.20 in 1950. R.I.P. Whitey!! :(

Understandable NUT. A common occurance, a story starts and gets legs, gets passed on as is. In this case it appeared to be not true.

Ubiquitous

05-20-2006, 11:18 AM

From what I found Foxx collapsed while eating dinner, they thought it was a heart attack since he had several before. Rushed to the hosipital but could not be revived, after an autopsy it revealed that Foxx had choked to death. The source being John Bennett who helped write a piece about Foxx by Jimmie's daughter.

JohnGelnarFan

05-20-2006, 11:31 AM

Thanks Ubiquitous. Maybe It was a combination of both. That's a tough way to go. I had it happen to me about 15 years ago at work when a piece of submarine sandwich got stuck in my throat.I tried to be cool and clear it on my own. I took a drink but it wouldn't pass the food. As my ability to breath stopped,I was all over the room,pounding my chest and clutching the walls! :eek: A big guy finally grabbed me and performed the Heimlich manuver on me,bringing up the food. I was both relieved and very embarrassed!! :o ....and alive!

From what I found Foxx collapsed while eating dinner, they thought it was a heart attack since he had several before. Rushed to the hosipital but could not be revived, after an autopsy it revealed that Foxx had choked to death. The source being John Bennett who helped write a piece about Foxx by Jimmie's daughter.

runningshoes

05-20-2006, 11:36 AM

This is from the Chicago Tribune. I'll see what I can find from after the autopsy.

http://www.ajclay.com/PTC/pictures/435.jpg

runningshoes

05-20-2006, 11:37 AM

New York Times

http://www.ajclay.com/PTC/pictures/436.jpg

runningshoes

05-20-2006, 11:38 AM

LA Times

These are all partial. I can get you the full versions on PDF.

http://www.ajclay.com/PTC/pictures/437.jpg

runningshoes

05-20-2006, 11:42 AM

http://www.ajclay.com/PTC/pictures/438.jpg

JohnGelnarFan

05-20-2006, 11:51 AM

These are great Shoes. Maybe they found more after the autopsy.If it was a heart attack,I wonder how the choking on a piece of meat story become so widespread? BaseballHistoryNut heard it on a news broadcast shortly after it happened. You'd think it would be debunked somewhere but I can't find it. Very curious. :confused:

runningshoes

05-20-2006, 11:59 AM

JohnGelnarFan

05-20-2006, 12:04 PM

Great research shoes. That should put it to rest. Thanks! :clapping

The autopsy report finds that he died of asphyxiation after choking on a piece of meat so I'm inclined to believe it.

runningshoes

05-20-2006, 12:11 PM

Great research shoes. That should put it to rest. Thanks! :clapping

My pleasure. Always willing to help.

I was sure Ubi was correct, but I knew seeing is believing.

Bill Burgess

05-20-2006, 12:46 PM

That's a real shame about Jimmy. Sure hope it was prime rib or fillet Mignon. Otherwise, it would hardly have been worth dying for. I've heard that a killer cut of meat is tasty, and some are to dye for.

runningshoes

05-20-2006, 12:49 PM

csh19792001

05-20-2006, 01:04 PM

the baseball necrology says foxx died from choking on food

My dad was at the U of Miami (on the baseball team) when Foxx died. He said he remembers hearing that Foxx had choked on a piece of steak, and that it was particularly jarring to the guys on the team who had gotten the chance to meet Jimmie and talk baseball with him.

JohnGelnarFan

05-20-2006, 01:08 PM

That isn't funny! :eek: ........but I can't help it!! :laugh :laugh

That's a real shame about Jimmy. Sure hope it was prime rib or fillet Mignon. Otherwise, it would hardly have been worth dying for. I've heard that a killer cut of meat is tasty, and some are to dye for.

Ubiquitous

05-20-2006, 01:16 PM

The last thing I would want to die from is prime rib, in terms of over-ratedness it goes

Derek Jeter
Prime Rib
Scott Podsenik
Johnny Damon

Bill Burgess

05-20-2006, 01:42 PM

Yeah, hopefully it wasn't a hot dog.
God Forbid. Unless it had that dark spicy, Dijon mustard. But even still . . .

Bill Burgess

05-20-2006, 01:45 PM

The last thing I would want to die from is prime rib, in terms of over-ratedness it goes

Derek Jeter
Prime Rib
Scott Podsenik
Johnny Damon
As much as I'd hate to die from choking on a meat of meat, at least it might have been steak steak, not burger. And that from a long time ketchuped, mustarded burger man. Burger is great, but that steak steak with A1 just laps the field.

runningshoes

05-20-2006, 01:52 PM

God Forbid. Unless it had that dark spicy, Dijon mustard. But even still . . .

If I'm going to die choking on a hot dog, it better damn well be at Fenway Park!

Bill Burgess

05-20-2006, 01:59 PM

If I'm going to die choking on a hot dog, it better damn well be at Fenway Park!
Any truth to the rumor that Yankee dogs in hot August, with the spicy mustard just bury Fenway dogs. Especially when washed down with ice cold beer. Any truth to such a heresy?

Ain't it a shame they don't let fans bring in their own iced mugs, to keep the beer cold. Plastic cups won't do that! Aaahhh.

Spoiled old guy

runningshoes

05-20-2006, 02:18 PM

Any truth to the rumor that Yankee dogs in hot August, with the spicy mustard just bury Fenway dogs. Especially when washed down with ice cold beer. Any truth to such a heresy?

Ain't it a shame they don't let fans bring in their own iced mugs, to keep the beer cold. Plastic cups won't do that! Aaahhh.

Spoiled old guy

The dog (notice I used the singular), I had at Fenway was horrible, but that's beside the point. :D

Ah..now the dogs at Pilot Field in Buffalo. :dance

JohnGelnarFan

05-20-2006, 02:57 PM

Um....Jimmy Foxx choked...... Stadium dogs are great,aren't they? :clapping

soberdennis

05-20-2006, 03:06 PM

Um....Jimmy Foxx choked...... Stadium dogs are great,aren't they? :clapping
How did this become a thread about hot dogs.

runningshoes

05-20-2006, 03:08 PM

How did this become a thread about hot dogs.

How does anything happen?

Perhaps a question best left for the poets, of whose ranks we do not march.

Bill Burgess

05-20-2006, 03:38 PM

How did this become a thread about hot dogs.
Not to worry too much. After we tire of dogs, a janitor will come after us and sweep all of this stuff off the boards. We're just babbling. Yada yada yada, blah blah blah. I keep things clean & tight around here.

The Cleanup Crew

Ubiquitous

05-20-2006, 09:17 PM

The hot dogs at Brewers stadium are actually pretty good. The Vet had a pretty good one too but I'm not sure if they changed vendors for the new park. I didn't think much of the Yankees hot dog but that was 10 years ago perhaps they changed vendors as well. Same goes for Comiskey. Baltimore had an okay one but their Boog BBQ sandwich is the most over-rated thing I have had in awhile. Wrigley's was okay kind of blah but not terrible.

So far it would go Brewers then Phillies in terms of best hot dog I have had at a stadium.

wamby

05-20-2006, 09:41 PM

Hot dogs were one of the only things that were better at Cleveland Municipal Stadium than at Jacobs Field.

Bill Burgess

05-20-2006, 09:59 PM

Ubiquitous

05-20-2006, 10:23 PM

Depends on my mood, I tend to go against the grain and put ketchup on my average hot dog. I even put ketchup on prime rib it's the only way I can eat that foul stuff. Don't like kraut at all not on a reuben, not on a hot dog, not on a plate. At the park ketchup and mustard is fine. the mustard is the only negative at Brewers stadium. you get a pretzel and they have no mustard packets or little cups for one to put mustard in. The whole concept of mustard and pretzels is foreign to them. I kind of find that odd with this being the brat capital of the country.

The best dogs are thick plump dogs simmered in beer and onions and then thrown over a hot grill. AFter that you don't need much and almost anything you put on it at that point is taking away from the great flavor you already got. But one could some of cooking onions and some spicy mustard if one wishes. Ketchup is a no-no on this one. Ketchup is a masking agent for mediocre meat and when you got a trulf fine cut of meat or product you don't need it. In fact in general you don't need anything when you got a superior product.

If it's a mediocre dog I got no problem putting chili or tomatoes, peppers, pepperoncini's, mustard and ketchup on it. I'm not a big fan of putting just straight cheese on a hot dog, a little too greasy for me. Finally one of my favorite childhood treats was the delectable corndog. Something about that cornmeal breading is to die for, actually I did almost die on a corndog when I was a kid. I was fooling around while watching Red Dawn with Patrick Swayze and I was also eating a corn dog. Well the corn dog got lodged in my throat and would not come out. Luckily for me it didn't totally block my windpipe and I was able to work it free after 5 minutes or so but that is the closest I have come to death with food. I have come closer with other objects but that is the closest with food.

wamby

05-20-2006, 10:27 PM

Something about that cornmeal breading is to die for, actually I did almost die on a corndog when I was a kid. I was fooling around while watching Red Dawn with Patrick Swayze and I was also eating a corn dog. Well the corn dog got lodged in my throat and would not come out. Luckily for me it didn't totally block my windpipe and I was able to work it free after 5 minutes or so but that is the closest I have come to death with food. I have come closer with other objects but that is the closest with food.

That should teach to never, never, ever watch a Patrick Swayze movie.

Ubiquitous

05-20-2006, 10:29 PM

No it taught me to never yell WOLVERINES!!!!! while having a mouth full of corn dog

Bill Burgess

05-20-2006, 10:36 PM

Should we designate you as our Great HOT DOG connoisseur cognoscenti of Fever? Do you prefer yours with kechup? What kind of mustard? Kraut too? Soda or Beer man?

Martha Stewart Bill
You most certainly got the job.

I love hot dogs, but I like polish sausage even more, and hot links too. In the 7/11s of my area, they have these hot dogs with cheese inbetted in them. Hmmm! I love everything on my dogs. Ketchup, mustard, relish, onions. And if they have anything else, I'll put that on too!

Don't know how we devolve into this drivel, but after we're done, this is ALL coming off.

Ubiquitous

05-20-2006, 10:46 PM

Hey we are talking about baseball hot dogs and food here. Jsut move it to the stadium section.

Food

05-20-2006, 10:56 PM

The Kingdome did not have good food, but Tacoma's Triple-AAA park has great food, especially hot dogs.

And I didn't know that Bo Diaz got bzztted. He was cool!

Bill Burgess

05-20-2006, 11:09 PM

Hey we are talking about baseball hot dogs and food here. Jsut move it to the stadium section.
Will do it.

BaseballHistoryNut

05-27-2006, 10:09 PM

The ump working that game, Tommy Connolly, always said the pitch was in the strike zone. Chapman was known to crowd the plate, to work the pitcher/ump for a walk.

Mays, for his part, said that at the last second, he saw Chapman moving his feet into bunting position. So he said he came high/inside to preempt the bunt.

When the ball struck Chapman in his left temple, it sounded like a loud crack. Mays assumed the ball hit the bat handle & fielded the ball and threw to first. Connolly, taking one look at Chapman, and seeing his left eye hanging out of its socket, sprinted towards the grandstands, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Is there a doctor in the house!"

I believe 2 docs and a nurse came immediately out of the grandstand. They all surrounded Chapman, and he was helped to his feet, and two team mates assisted him to walk to the clubhouse in Center Field.

I've read several bios lately from that time period. All treat Mays as a completely unsympathetic, detestible figure prone to head-hunting, and at least one treats him as corrupt. But each agrees Chapman leaned into that pitch. By all accounts, he was a widely beloved player and his death was shattering to his fans and teammates alike, but it appears his fatal injury was wholly unintentional.

Then again, I've not read "The Pitch that Killed," or whatever its title is.

BHN

wamby

05-27-2006, 10:20 PM

I've read several bios lately from that time period. All treat Mays as a completely unsympathetic, detestible figure prone to head-hunting, and at least one treats him as corrupt. But each agrees Chapman leaned into that pitch. By all accounts, he was a widely beloved player and his death was shattering to his fans and teammates alike, but it appears his fatal injury was wholly unintentional.

Then again, I've not read "The Pitch that Killed," or whatever its title is.

BHN

The Pitch That Killed is a really good book. It doesn't really treat mays in an unsympathetic light. It also doesn't deify Ray Chapman. The controversies over Chapman's funeral arrangements were pretty interesting to read about. His death could have easily split the Indians down the middle in 1920. I think that their winning the pennant weeks after Chapman's death is pretty impressive.

BaseballHistoryNut

05-27-2006, 11:57 PM

I haven't read all of these posts, and I apologize if this post is redundant, but what was devastating about Bart Giamatti's death for me, apart from the loss of one of baseball's few great commissioners, was reading the sociopathic taunting of one Pete Rose fan shortly thereafter: "Who's disqualified for life now?"

Many sports are atavistic by nature, and while baseball is not one of them, baseball certainly can bring out the atavist in one--e.g., wishing for someone to get creamed by a fastball, which I admit I've done more than a few times. But THAT was one of the sickest things I've ever read, and it both infuriated and saddened me more than I am capable of expressing in words.

BHN

SHOELESSJOE3

05-28-2006, 06:07 AM

The Pitch That Killed is a really good book. It doesn't really treat mays in an unsympathetic light. It also doesn't deify Ray Chapman. The controversies over Chapman's funeral arrangements were pretty interesting to read about. His death could have easily split the Indians down the middle in 1920. I think that their winning the pennant weeks after Chapman's death is pretty impressive.
That what the book puts forth, the mood was much different when this event took place. We have to remember the feelings at that time. Ray Chapman was one of the most liked players in the game and Carl Mays was disliked by many. We had two extremes here, a popular guy and the other not well liked by many fans and players alike.

So the book and the atmosphere at that time was quite different.

At least 3 teams had team meetings and agreed they would not participate in any game with Mays playing in, they would strike if forced to. That was Detroit, Boston and St.Louis. In the end they did back down.

Umpires Dineen and Evans were critical of Mays. They accused him of roughing up balls causing the ball to dip and dive.

Ban Johnson suggested that Mays not play any more that season because of the bitter feelings toward him.

The above and several other articles appeared in the big newspapers at that time, thats my source which I choose over any book that comes out decade later.

In the end I was happy to see that after things cooled down a bit most agreed the the conditions of that day, rainy and misty had much to do with Chapman not "picking up" the ball as it was delivered. Many said the ball was actually in the strike zone.

FatAngel

05-28-2006, 08:02 AM

-Thurman Munson: The first Yankee captain since Lou Gehrig dies while arguably still in his prime just like Gehrig.
I have to disagree that Munson was still in his prime when he passed on.

rsuriyop

05-28-2006, 11:33 AM

Most devastating:

-Clemente/Munson for MLB

-Rube Foster for NL's

trosmok

05-30-2006, 08:17 AM

...
The most stunning death was that of Roberto Clemente, on his mercy mission to Puerto Rico....

Actually his mission was to the earthquake devastated country of Nicaragua on Dec. 31,1972. Although Roberto was born in Puerto Rico, he was considered a legendary idol throughout the Caribbean, as well as Central and South Ameirica, not to mention Pittsburgh and the rest of the USA, particularly among our latin and female citizens. The fact that he was personally delivering aid to the suffering, (not even to his home island), stemmed from his earlier relief efforts that he believed were being misappropriated by the military and other ghouls, profiteering in the wake of horrific tragedy. Jeezer, how history tends to repeat itself, doesn't it?

soberdennis

05-30-2006, 10:07 AM

I have to disagree that Munson was still in his prime when he passed on.
He was only 32 years old. He still had some good years ahead of him.

Brownie31

05-30-2006, 10:20 AM

Willard Hershberger's suicide during the 1940 season.
It is a tribute to the Cincinnati Reds that they went
on to be World Series winners in the midst of this
horrifying tragedy.

Please see Brian Mulligan's "The 1940 Cincinnati Reds"
for more on this. A truly great read on this subject.

Ironically, Hershberger attended high school with
future President Richard M. Nixon.

Brownie31

geezer

05-30-2006, 10:39 AM

Actually his mission was to the earthquake devastated country of Nicaragua on Dec. 31,1972. Although Roberto was born in Puerto Rico, he was considered a legendary idol throughout the Caribbean, as well as Central and South Ameirica, not to mention Pittsburgh and the rest of the USA, particularly among our latin and female citizens. The fact that he was personally delivering aid to the suffering, (not even to his home island), stemmed from his earlier relief efforts that he believed were being misappropriated by the military and other ghouls, profiteering in the wake of horrific tragedy. Jeezer, how history tends to repeat itself, doesn't it?

According to experts, they said that the plane was overloaded and crash in the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the night, the wreckage was found, his body never, probable he was eaten by sharks (a hypothesis on why his body was never found. Anyway, he died on a missionary work, and there are a lot of streets and avenues not only in PR, but in Central America that bears the name of Roberto Clemente.

FatAngel

05-30-2006, 03:20 PM

He was only 32 years old. He still had some good years ahead of him.

By the time he perished, he had already caught more than 1200 games and his power was gone. In my opinion the decline of a catcher usually starts at 800-900 games caught and of all positions they have the least probability of turning it around. Therefore Munson´s performance in his last two seasons are a clear indicator to me that his best days were already gone. A few solid seasons (for a catcher) yes, but I think he would not have nearly approached his performance prior to 1978.

JohnGelnarFan

05-30-2006, 06:14 PM

I didn't realize that Chapman ever got up. I always thought he was hit and never regained consciousness. His eye was hanging out of the socket and they walked him to the clubhouse? :eek: What happened after that? Where and when did he die?

The ump working that game, Tommy Connolly, always said the pitch was in the strike zone. Chapman was known to crowd the plate, to work the pitcher/ump for a walk.

Mays, for his part, said that at the last second, he saw Chapman moving his feet into bunting position. So he said he came high/inside to preempt the bunt.

When the ball struck Chapman in his left temple, it sounded like a loud crack. Mays assumed the ball hit the bat handle & fielded the ball and threw to first. Connolly, taking one look at Chapman, and seeing his left eye hanging out of its socket, sprinted towards the grandstands, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Is there a doctor in the house!"

I believe 2 docs and a nurse came immediately out of the grandstand. They all surrounded Chapman, and he was helped to his feet, and two team mates assisted him to walk to the clubhouse in Center Field.

Bill Burgess

05-30-2006, 10:14 PM

I didn't realize that Chapman ever got up. I always thought he was hit and never regained consciousness. His eye was hanging out of the socket and they walked him to the clubhouse? :eek: What happened after that? Where and when did he die?

After they got him to the clubhouse, he was unconscious. Taken at once to the hospital, where they did emergency surgery to relieve the pressure in his skull.

Here are some excerpts from "The Pitch That Killed".

After several minutes, Chapman was revived sufficiently to be helped to his feet. When he stood, there was an outburst of applause from the relieved fans.

Chapman shrugged off all efforts at assistance and began to walk across the infield toward the clubhouse in Center field. He ws flanked by Graney on one side and another Cleveland player on the other. As Chapman approached second base, his knees began to buckle and the two players quickly grabbed him. They draped his arms around their shoulders and carried him the remainder of the distance to the clubhouse."

. . .

Inside the clubhouse, there was nothing to do but wait. The two doctors who had tended him on the field had determined Chapman should undergo an immediate operation to relieve the pressure on his brain. An ambulance was en route from St. Lawrence Hospital, which was less than one-half mile away. Dr. Casio assured those in the room that although the injuries were serious, he did not believe they would be fatal."

. . .

When the ambulance finally arrived it was Henry who climbed into the back with Chapman. He held an ice pack to Ray's head on the drive to the hospital.

At 9:30 that night, the doctors summoned Speaker and McNichols to a room for an update on Chapman's condition. X rays had confirmed the ballplayer had sustained a two-armed fracture extending 3 1/2 inches to the base of his skull on the left side. It was a depressed fracture, and one piece of bone was pressing down on the brain. Worse, Chapman's pulse was dropping at an alarming rate, and was down to forty."

. . .

With the patient's condition worsening, the doctors believed it would be unwise to postpone surgery until Kathleen (his fiancée) arrived the following morning. Speaker and McNichols talked it over, and at ten o'clock the Cleveland manager gave approval for the operation.

The operating team would consist of Dr. M. J. Horan and Dr. T. D Merrigan of the St. Lawrence staff, with Dr. Joseph Cascio, A. A. Thite, and J. E. Quinn as attendants.

Before surgery could begin, Chapman suffered spasms on both sides, indicating to the surgeons that the brain on both sides had been injured by the force of the blow. Dr. Merrigan said there probably was a laceration on the right side of the skull, opposite the side that had been stuck.

At 12:29 A.M., Chapman was placed on the operating table. The surgeons made an incision 3 1/2 inches long through the base of the skull on the left side and found a rupture of the lateral sinus and a quantity of clotted blood. Dr. Merrigan removed a piece of skull about 1 1/2 inches square and found the brain had been so severely jarred that blood clots had occurred.

The shock of the blow had damaged the brain not only on the left side of the head, where the ball had struck, but also on the right side, where the shock of the blow had forced the brain against the skull. The surgeons noted there were symptoms of paralysis.

The operation lasted one hour, fifteen minutes. Afterward, Chapman began breathing easier and his pulse climbed back to ninety. The physicians believed the chances of his recovery were fair, but they said it would take forty-eight hours to know for sure.

Chapman died at 4:40 AM in the morning, Tuesday, August 17, 1920. In remembrance of him, many teams wore black armbands around their left arms for the remainder of the season.