Saying Goodbye for 2007

Before we plunge headlong into a new year, one that we hope is filled with health and prosperity for all in the baseball world, I feel it’s both appropriate and necessary to remember those figures we lost during the past 12 months. While there were seemingly fewer baseball deaths in 2007 than in recent years, the magnitude of those who passed away remained significant. Here is a roll call of some of the most memorable names of the fallen, including many who struck a personal chord with this writer.
Edson Bahr… Ed Bailey… Steve Barber: I always thought that he had a great baseball name, particularly for a pitcher. When I was growing up with the game, Barber was just finishing up a long career. I remember him mostly as a middle reliever–like a lot of veteran pitchers of that era, that’s where he ended up–but it was as a hardballing starter that Barber created some lasting imagery on a number of different levels. For what it’s worth, I have the last three Topps cards issued during Barber’s career. They’re all interesting. The 1972 card is a posed shot, showing him at the end of what appears to be an exceedingly awkward delivery to the plate. It’s a very weird pose. Barber’s 1973 card artfully displays him in a game with the Angels, having just delivered a pitch to the plate, with his right leg perfectly straight and balanced against the ground, and his left arm tucked in toward his waist. The 1974 card is a headshot, and shows Barber with about as serious a look as I’ve ever seen on a ballplayer. Barber looks so businesslike that he appears borderline mean. Just like his fastball…

Rod Beck… Jim Beauchamp… Lew Burdette… Hank Bauer… Clete Boyer… Tommy Byrne… Herb Carneal, Ford Frick Award broadcaster… Don Chevrier, broadcaster… Mike Coolbaugh: The death of Coolbaugh, a minor league coach who died shortly after being hit by a foul line drive, has already escalated the push for baseline coaches to wear protective helmets on the field. In fact, the major leagues have adopted a new rule making it a requirement for base coaches to wear helmets in 2008. It’s unfortunate that it took such a horrid tragedy to create baseball legislation that was long overdue, but hopefully Coolbaugh’s legacy will prevent others from experiencing similar tragedy. If even one life is saved, or even one is spared major injury because of this new rule, Coolbaugh will not have died in vain…

Shag Crawford, umpire… Bing Devine, general manager… Charles Einstein, author… Art Fowler: Fowler is best remembered for filling a memorable role as Billy Martin’s designated pitching coach/drinking buddy. (My father used to refer to Fowler as “drinking buddy” so often that I thought it should have been his actual title.) Their relationship began in 1969 for the Denver Bears of the American Association. Martin decided to make use of the 45-year-old Fowler, who was still an active pitcher on the staff, as his pitching coach. The relationship soon turned into a friendship. Fowler worked for Martin during almost every one of his managerial stops in Minnesota, Detroit, Texas, New York, and Oakland. Critics of Fowler called him nothing more than Martin’s crony, while supporters pointed out that Fowler generally developed good relationships with his pitchers. According to many of his former pitchers, a typical Fowler visit to the mound would involve the following words of wisdom. “I don’t know what you’re doing wrong, but whatever it is, it’s sure [ticking] Billy off!”…

Josh Hancock… David Halberstam, author: While growing up, I had always assumed that Halberstam was just a sportswriter, largely because of two classic books he penned, the underrated Breaks of the Game (a chronicle of the NBA’s Portland Trailblazers in 1979) and The Summer of ’49 (which tracked the memorable pennant race between the Yankees and Red Sox). Then I learned that he was a wide-ranging author who just happened to dabble in writing about sports, which he obviously considered worthwhile fodder for his talents as an author. I think that’s a good indication that sports represents more than just the “toy department” of newspapers, as some news people have claimed over the years…

Mark Harris, author… Gomer Hodge: Hodge played only one season, collecting 83 at-bats for the dismal 1971 Indians. On a team with little appeal, Hodge stood out as a rare baseball personality. He sounded so much like actor Jim Nabors, who played “Gomer Pyle” on the old Andy Griffith Show, that friends and acquaintances called him Gomer. After collecting four hits in his first four at-bats, three of them as a pinch-hitter, Hodge declared in his best Nabors voice: “Golly, fellas, I’m hitting 4.000!” Although Hodge played only one season, he certainly left an impact. His down-home manner, his sense of humor, and his willingness to talk made him a favorite of teammates and media alike, a kind of folk hero in Cleveland…

Vern Hoscheit, coach and scout… Hal Jeffcoat… Joe Kennedy… George Kiseda, writer… Bowie Kuhn, commissioner: In the hours after first learning of Kuhn’s death, I read several accounts that described the former commissioner as a pompous stuffed shirt who often seemed stiff and uncomfortable. Well, that was never my experience with Kuhn. I talked to him several times during my years at the Hall of Fame, including an interview that I conducted in front of an appreciative crowd in the Hall’s Bullpen Theater. The former commissioner struck me as thoughtful and well spoken, even charming at times. He took an interest in my work at the Hall of Fame, which is not always the case with guest speakers who come to Cooperstown. I once gave him a ride from the Otesaga Hotel to the Hall of Fame; he was gracious and open during our conversation, and grateful for having saved him from a long walk. After talking to Kuhn for awhile, it became obvious that he was both a fan of the game and a believer in old-school values. Those are two characteristics that rank highly with me. He was also knowledgeable about the Negro Leagues, having attended games at old Griffith Stadium in Washington. He had a real interest in preserving baseball history, which motivated him to donate his collection of papers from his days in baseball’s front office. Now there’s no question that Kuhn made plenty of mistakes during his reign as commissioner, but he wasn’t just a suit who held the office of commissioner while waiting for something better to come around. This was a man who had a genuine love for the game, and took pride in trying to defend some of its values…

Clem Labine… Jack Lamabe… Jack Lang, writer… Max Lanier… Norm Larker… Lou Limmer… Marty Martinez… Orlando McFarlane… Stu Nahan, broadcaster… Don Nottebart… Joe Nuxhall… Gene Oliver… Phil Rizzuto: “The Scooter” broke almost all of the rules of broadcasting. He often failed to follow the play, botched home run calls, interspersed his broadcasts with “Happy Birthdays” and personal notes, and sometimes even failed to take note that a no-hitter was in progress. Yet, none of that mattered. The Scooter was so personable, so charming, so completely entertaining that most Yankee fans loved listening to him, regardless of whether the Yankees were winning, tied, or being blown out. Because of “The Scooter,” Yankee broadcasts in the seventies and eighties transcended sports; they became a mix of situation comedy, talk show, and baseball. Thanks, Rizzuto…

Bill Robinson: Two things always come to mind when I think about Robinson. First, he was that rare example of a player who performed better in his thirties than he did in his twenties. After struggling to find himself as an outfielder-third baseman with both the Braves and Yankees, Robinson became a productive left fielder for the mid-1970s Phillies and the 1979 world champion Pirates. While most players reach their peak physically during their twenties, some need more time to adjust to the mental stress of playing at the highest level of professional baseball. That adjustment took several years for Robinson, who didn’t start to succeed until his age 30 season with the Phillies in 1973. Second, I’ll remember Robinson being prominently mentioned as a candidate to become the first black manager of the Mets, but never receiving that opportunity. Though a highly regarded hitting coach during the Mets’ successful run in the late eighties, Robinson found himself out of work and took a job serving as an analyst for Baseball Tonight in the early 1990s. I don’t know if Robinson was the victim of racism, or whether he simply interviewed poorly, but it seems that he had the smarts and toughness to be a good major league manager. Sadly, that chance never came…

Vern Ruhle… Al Salerno, umpire… Rollie Stiles… John Vukovich… Matthew Wasser, Yankees public relations assistant… Larry Whiteside, Spink Award writer.

Although the game goes on, as it always does, we lose a little piece of baseball’s heart with each of their passings.