2004 Notable Deaths

[GaryMrMets]

2004 Notable Deaths

.c The Associated Press

Notable deaths from the sporting world in 2004:

Jan. 2 - Paul Hopkins, 99, the pitcher who gave up a record-tying home run to Babe Ruth in 1927. Hopkins pitched just two seasons, making his major league debut at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 29, 1927, when Ruth hit his record-tying 59th homer of the season.

Jan. 3 - Leon Wagner, 69, an outfielder who hit 211 home runs during a 12-year major league career. Wagner started and finished with the San Francisco Giants, where he played in 1958-59 and again in 1969. Wagner starred for the Los Angeles Angels in their first three years of existence from 1961-63 before being traded to Cleveland.

Jan. 5 - Tug McGraw, 59, the zany relief pitcher who coined the phrase ``You Gotta Believe'' with the New York Mets and later closed out the Philadelphia Phillies' only World Series championship. He played on three World Series teams during his 19-year career, posting a 3-3 record with eight saves and a 2.23 ERA in 26 postseason games.

Jan. 13 - Mike Goliat, 82, the second baseman on the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies' pennant-winning ``Whiz Kids'' team.

Jan. 15 - Gus Suhr, 98, played more games at first base for the Pittsburgh Pirates than anyone else. Suhr set the NL record of 822 consecutive games played, a mark that stood until Stan Musial broke it in 1957. Suhr hit .279 with 84 home runs and 818 RBIs in the majors from 1930-40.

Jan. 17 - Harry ``The Cat'' Brecheen, 89, the former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher who won three games in the 1946 World Series. Brecheen was a two-time All-Star during his 12 year-career. He had a 133-92 record with a 2.92 ERA in 11 seasons with the Cardinals and one with the St. Louis Browns.

Jan. 31 - Ernest Burke, 79, a pitcher and outfielder for the Baltimore Elite Giants in the Negro Leagues.

Feb. 3 - Richard Dennis Powell, 92, one of the last surviving executives of the Negro Leagues. Powell was the business and general manager of Baltimore's Elite Giants, one of black baseball's most popular teams in the 1930s and 1940s.

Feb. 10 - Hub Kittle, 86, the pitching coach for the 1982 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals.

Feb. 16 - Charlie Fox, 82, the 1971 NL Manager of the Year with the San Francisco Giants. Fox, who spent more than a half-century in professional baseball, managed the Giants from 1970-74, finishing with a record of 348-327. Fox also had two short stints as manager of the Montreal Expos and Chicago Cubs.

Feb. 22 - Andy Seminick, 83, a catcher on the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies team that won the NL pennant. Seminick spent 12 seasons with the Phillies and three with the Cincinnati Reds. During the championship season, Seminick batted .288 with 24 home runs and 68 RBIs.

March 2 - Marge Schott, 75, the tough-talking, chain-smoking owner of the Cincinnati Reds who won a World Series and was repeatedly suspended for offensive remarks.

March 18 - Gene Bearden, 83, a knuckleballer who completed a remarkable rookie season by closing out the Cleveland Indians' last World Series championship. Pitching on a staff with future Hall of Famers Bob Feller, Bob Lemon and Satchel Paige, Bearden emerged as the star of the Indians' 1948 title team. Bearden was 20-7 with a league-leading 2.43 ERA.

March 27 - Bob Cremins, 98, a Boston Red Sox pitcher who made his debut against the New York Yankees and Babe Ruth in August 1927. Cremins retired Ruth on a grounder to first base. The left-hander appeared in three more games for the Red Sox and left baseball the following year.

April 4 - George Bamberger, 80, a former major league pitcher who managed Milwaukee's ``Bambi's Bombers'' teams in the late 1970s. Bamberger, who also managed the New York Mets, was the Baltimore Orioles' pitching coach from 1968 to 1977, helping produce AL Cy Young Award winners four times with Jim Palmer and Mike Cuellar.

April 6 - Gene Karst, 97, baseball's first-ever public relations official when he worked with the St. Louis Cardinals' ``Gas House Gang'' of the 1930s. In 1931, Karst was hired to write features about the Cardinals for small-town newspapers.

May 3 - Darrell Johnson, 75, managed the Boston Red Sox to the World Series in 1975. Johnson went 220-188 during 2 1/2 seasons with the Red Sox from 1974-76. Johnson also managed the Seattle Mariners from 1977-80, compiling a 226-362 record, and was 26-40 during part of the 1982 season with the Texas Rangers.

July 9 - Ulysses J. ``Tony'' Lupien, Jr., 87, a major league baseball player in the 1940s and coach at Dartmouth College. He played first base with the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox, batting .268 during his six-season career. In 1956, Lupien was hired by Dartmouth and guided his teams to a 313-305-3 record over 21 seasons.

July 26 - Ruben Gomez, 77, winner of baseball's first regular-season game on the West Coast. Gomez started the first game in San Francisco history, beating Don Drysdale and the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers 8-0 on April 15, 1958. The right-hander was 76-86 with a 4.09 ERA for the Giants, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Minnesota. He pitched from 1953-62, and then returned to make seven relief appearances for the Phillies in 1967, when he was the oldest player in the majors at 39.

Aug. 3 - Bob Murphy, 79, Hall of Fame broadcaster who covered the New York Mets from the team's inception in 1962 until his retirement after the 2003 season. Murphy worked as a baseball broadcaster for 50 years, starting with the Boston Red Sox in 1954 and then moving to the Baltimore Orioles in 1960. He came to the expansion Mets in their first year, joining Lindsay Nelson and Hall of Fame slugger Ralph Kiner on the broadcast team.

Aug. 11 - Joe Falls, 76, a longtime sports writer for The Detroit News and a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Aug. 23 - Hank Borowy, 88, the last pitcher to get four decisions in a World Series. Borowy helped pitch the New York Yankees to the 1943 World Series championship and two years later went 2-2 with the Chicago Cubs. In 1945, he pitched a shutout against Detroit in Game 1, started and lost Game 5, won in relief the next day and then was knocked out in the first inning of the deciding game at Wrigley Field. The right-hander was 108-82 with a 3.50 ERA from 1942-51 with the Yankees, Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh and Detroit.

Sept. 9 - Rosie Gacioch, 89, female baseball pioneer. Gacioch joined the All-American Girls Baseball League in 1944 and played for the Rockford Peaches from 1945-54. She led the league in triples in 1946 as an outfielder and became a pitcher in 1948, winning 20 games in 1951.

Sept. 29 - Gertrude Dunn, 72, the 1952 Rookie of the Year of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and a member of the U.S. Field Hockey Hall of Fame. In 1952, Dunn was voted rookie of the year after leading her baseball team to the championship. After the league folded in 1954, she attended West Chester University, where she played on the U.S. national field hockey and lacrosse teams.

Oct. 3 - John Cerutti, 44, a television announcer for the Toronto Blue Jays and a former pitcher for the club. The left-hander spent six seasons with Toronto and one season with the Detroit Tigers. Cerutti finished with a 49-43 career record and 3.94 ERA.

Oct. 8 - Angelo Giuliani, 91, was behind the plate for Joe DiMaggio's first at-bat in the majors and went on to sign Kent Hrbek as a Minnesota Twins scout. Giuliani was a scout with the Washington Senators before the team moved to Minnesota in 1961 and became the Twins. He retired in 1987. Giuliani played parts of seven seasons in the majors as a catcher for the St. Louis Browns, the Washington Senators and the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1930s and 1940s. He caught the day DiMaggio debuted in 1936 and also was on the field when Lou Gehrig gave his famous farewell speech at Yankee Stadium in 1939.

Oct. 10 - Ken Caminiti, 41, the 1996 NL Most Valuable Player who later admitted using steroids during his major league baseball career. His 15-year career ended in 2001, five seasons after he led the Padres to a division title and was an unanimous pick for MVP. Caminiti batted .272 with 239 homers and 983 RBIs with Houston, San Diego, Texas and Atlanta.

Oct. 17 - Ray Boone, 81, a two-time All-Star and patriarch of a three-generation baseball family. Boone played from 1948-60 with six teams and was followed into the big leagues by son Bob and grandsons Bret and Aaron. Boone was an infielder who had a career .275 batting average, with 151 home runs and 737 RBIs. He was an All-Star third baseman for Detroit in 1954 and 1956.

Oct. 20 - Chuck Hiller, 70, former major league infielder. Hiller hit the National League's first grand slam in a World Series. His grand slam in Game 4 of the 1962 World Series off New York Yankees pitcher Marshall Bridges snapped a seventh-inning tie and lifted the San Francisco Giants to a 7-3 victory. Hiller played for four teams in eight seasons and batted .243 with 20 home runs and 152 RBIs.

Oct. 26 - Bobby Avila, 78, a three-time All-Star who won the American League batting title in 1954. He played second base for the Cleveland Indians from 1949 to 1958 and also was with the Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Braves and Boston Red Sox during 11 seasons in the big leagues. Avila batted .341 to edge out Ted Williams and Minnie Minoso for the AL batting title and help Cleveland win the pennant in 1954. He was the first Latino to win the batting crown.

Nov. 26 - Tom Haller, 67, former San Francisco catcher who went on to become the Giants' general manager. Haller had a 12-year career in the major leagues, catching for San Francisco, Los Angeles and Detroit. In a major league first, Haller caught in Detroit in 1972 while his brother, Bill Haller, umpired behind the plate. Haller was a coach with the Giants in 1978 and 1979 and served as their general manager from 1981-1985.

Dec. 16 - Bobby Mattick, 89, manager of the Toronto Blue Jays in 1980 and 1981. Mattick played a key administrative role in scouting and development, leading to the Blue Jays' five AL East titles and World Series crowns in 1992 and 1993.

Dec. 16 - Ted Abernathy, 71, who twice led the National League in saves during the 1960s. Abernathy picked up 148 saves during a career from 1955-1972. He had a 63-69 record and 3.46 ERA and recorded a league-leading 31 saves with the Chicago Cubs in 1965. He had 28 saves and a 1.27 ERA two seasons later with the Cincinnati Reds.

Dec. 24 - Johnny Oates, 58, managed the Texas Rangers to their first three postseason appearances. Oates spent six seasons with the Rangers, guiding them to the playoffs in 1996, 1998 and 1999. He also managed the Baltimore Orioles from 1991-94. Oates, a left-handed hitting catcher, played for five teams in his major league career, starting with the Orioles in 1970.

12/29/04 15:37 EST

Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

[GaryMrMets]

Jan. 1 - John Franks, 78, a four-time winner of the Eclipse Award as North America's most outstanding thoroughbred owner. Franks won the Eclipse Award in 1983, 1984, 1993 and 1994.

Jan. 3 - Howard Brinker, 89, the Cleveland Browns' defensive coordinator during their 1954, 1955 and 1964 NFL championship seasons.

Jan. 4 - James E. ``Doc'' Counsilman, 83, coached Indiana to six NCAA swimming championships. Counsilman guided the Hoosiers to 20 consecutive Big Ten titles and six straight national championships from 1968-74. He coached 48 Olympians from nine countries, including 26 gold-medal winners.

Jan. 5 - Charles Dumas, 66, an Olympic gold medalist who was the first high jumper to clear 7 feet. Dumas cleared 7-0 1/2 in the 1956 Olympic Trials at the Los Angeles Coliseum. He went on to win a gold medal in the event in the Melbourne Olympics.

Jan. 9 - Yinka Dare, 32, the New Jersey Nets' first-round draft pick in 1994. The 7-foot Nigerian center played 110 games in four seasons with the Nets, averaging 2.1 points and 2.6 rebounds.

Jan. 15 - Gus Suhr, 98, played more games at first base for the Pittsburgh Pirates than anyone else. Suhr set the NL record of 822 consecutive games played, a mark that stood until Stan Musial broke it in 1957. Suhr hit .279 with 84 home runs and 818 RBIs in the majors from 1930-40.

Jan. 19 - Antonius Moses Seram, 20, an Indonesian boxer died a week after being knocked out by a Thai fighter.

Jan. 20 - Don Shinnick, 68, the NFL's record-holder for career interceptions by a linebacker. Shinnick, who had 37 interceptions with the Baltimore Colts from 1957-69, played on NFL championship teams in 1958 and 1959.

Jan. 23 - Lennart Strand, 82, winner of a silver medal for Sweden in the 1,500-meter race at the 1948 Olympics. Strand finished second to countryman Henry Eriksson at the London Games. A year later, he was ranked No. 1 in the world in the 1,500 by Track & Field News for the second time in three years.

Jan. 24 - Leonidas da Silva, 90, soccer great credited with inventing the bicycle kick. The kick made him the first superstar of professional soccer in Brazil. Da Silva, later known as the ``Black Diamond,'' was the top scorer with eight goals at the 1938 World Cup, where Brazil came in third.

Jan. 24 - Jason Ciarletta, 19, died during a qualifying race at the AMA Supercross in San Diego.

Jan. 24 - Miklos Feher, 24, collapsed on the field during a Portuguese league match. Feher, a member of Hungary's national team, played for Benfica.

Jan. 25 - Fanny Blankers-Koen, 85, Dutch athlete who won a record four gold medals in track and field at the 1948 Olympics. The International Association of Athletics Federations in 1999 honored her as the best female athlete of the 20th century. At the London Olympics, the 30-year-old mother of two, won the gold in the 100- and 200-meter sprints, the 80-meter hurdles and the 400-meter relay. She set 20 world records in short-distance running, the pole vault, hurdles, the long jump and pentathlon.

Jan. 26 - Fred Haas, 88, winner of the 1945 Memphis Open which ended Byron Nelson's winning streak at 11 tournaments. Haas didn't join the PGA Tour until 1946, but he had already become a footnote in history, winning the 1945 Memphis Open as an amateur.

Jan. 27 - Woody Clements, 90, coach of the New Mexico men's basketball team from 1944-51 and 1952-55. He had a career record of 113-119 at UNM.

Jan. 27 - H.B. Haggerty, 78, a professional wrestler who turned snarling actor and stuntman. Haggerty briefly played pro football for the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions, and later became a pro wrestler under the name ``Hard-Boiled'' Haggerty in the 1950s and 1960s. Haggerty appeared in 22 films, more than 100 television shows, and dozens of TV commercials.

Jan. 28 - Elroy ``Crazy Legs'' Hirsch, 80, an NFL Hall of Famer and later the athletic director at the University of Wisconsin. He earned his nickname for his running style as a halfback and receiver for the Los Angeles Rams from 1949-57. His best season was 1951, when he led the NFL with 66 catches, 1,495 yards receiving and 17 touchdowns. He served as Wisconsin's athletic director from 1969-87.

Jan. 28 - Russell ``Sox'' Walseth, 77, the winningest men's basketball coach at the University of Colorado. He came out of retirement to guide the Colorado women's team from 1980-1983. He is believed to be the first person to coach both the men's and women's teams at the same NCAA school. He took over the men's program in the 1956-57 season, compiling a 261-245 record.

Jan. 31 - Eleanor Holm Whalen, 91, a two-time swimming gold medalist in the 1932 Olympics. Whalen was dismissed from the U.S. Olympic team set to compete in Berlin in 1936 because she was caught drinking champagne and shooting dice on the ocean liner en route to Europe. Whalen, who won 21 U.S. swimming titles, never returned to the Olympics as a competitor.

Feb. 9 - Michael Rowland, 41, a jockey with nearly 4,000 victories, died from injuries sustained in a spill at Turfway Park on Feb. 4.

Feb. 14 - Marco Pantani, 34, the last cyclist other than Lance Armstrong to win the Tour de France, was found dead in a hotel room in the city of Rimini, Italy. He became Italy's most popular cyclist, especially after he won cycling's two greatest races - the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France - in 1998.

Feb. 17 - Shirley Strickland de la Hunty, 78, Australia's most prolific Olympic track medalist. Competing as Shirley Strickland, she won an Australian-record seven Olympic medals and was the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic titles. She won the 80-meter hurdles at Helsinki in 1952 and defended her title at the 1956 Melbourne Games. Her seven Olympic medals included three golds.

Feb. 22 - Roque Maspoli, 86, a goalkeeper who helped Uruguay win the 1950 World Cup. Maspoli later coached his country's national team. He also coached Penarol, where he won five national championships, the 1966 Liberators' Cup and the 1966 Intercontinental Cup.

Feb. 23 - Carl Liscombe, 89, a member of the Detroit Red Wings that won the Stanley Cup in 1943. Liscombe played from 1937-46 for the Red Wings, totaling 137 goals and 277 points.

Feb. 24 - Albert Axelrod, 83, a champion fencer and an Olympic bronze medal winner in 1960. Axelrod was a member of five consecutive Olympic fencing teams. He was the best in the United States in 1955, 1958, 1960 and 1970. He won 15 U.S. national titles and was the only men's foil fencer in the country's history to reach the world championship finals.

Feb. 29 - Oleksandr Beresh, 26, two-time Olympic medalist and former European champion in gymnastics was killed in an auto accident. Beresh, a silver and bronze medalist at the 2000 Olympic games, was returning from Ukrainian Cup competition.

March 1 - Christopher Waddell, 18, a Northwestern State football player died after collapsing during an offseason workout on campus.

March 6 - Tabasco Cat, 13, winner of the 1994 Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

March 6 - Val Pinchbeck Jr., 73, a longtime NFL executive who was once one of Pete Rozelle's chief advisers. Pinchbeck was the NFL's head of broadcasting, serving as a liaison with networks and instrumental in assembling the schedule.

March 10 - James Parrish, 35, former NFL lineman who spent time with 10 different teams. The 6-foot-6, 320-pound offensive tackle out of Temple began his pro career in 1992 with the Miami Dolphins. He was a member of two teams that went to the Super Bowl - the 1994 Dallas Cowboys and the 1996 Pittsburgh Steelers.

March 13 - Dick Stealy, 85, the men's basketball coach at Ball State from 1948 to 1952. Stealy had a 36-42 record.

March 14 - Norb Hecker, 76, the first head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and winner of eight championship rings in the National Football League. As coach of the Falcons from 1966-68, Hecker compiled a 4-26-1 record. He won three rings as an assistant with the Green Bay Packers under Vince Lombardi in the 1960s, then coached defensive backs and linebackers at San Francisco during four championship seasons. Hecker also won a ring as a defensive back and receiver for the 1951 Los Angeles Rams.

March 17 - George Boiardi, 22, a Cornell lacrosse player died after he was struck in the chest by a ball during a game against Binghamton.

March 21 - Matthew Gribble, 41, an Olympic swimmer who once held the world record in the 100-meter butterfly. Gribble won two NCAA titles at the University of Miami and set a world record for the 100 fly in 1983. He won three gold medals at the 1983 Pan American Games and was a member of the U.S. Olympic teams in 1980 and 1984.

March 22 - Russell Reineman, 86, the seller of War Emblem less than a month before the horse won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. Reineman, a longtime horse enthusiast, didn't believe War Emblem was good enough to run in the 2002 Kentucky Derby. So he sold the nearly black colt to the late Saudi Prince Ahmed bin Salman's Thoroughbred Corp. for $900,000 in April 2002, keeping a 10 percent stake. Twenty-five days later, War Emblem won the Kentucky Derby, the first of three $1 million races he would win for trainer Bob Baffert.

March 26 - V. J. ``Lefty'' Nickerson, 75, who trained 37 stakes winners including John Henry and other top horses over five decades.

March 29 - David Rickman, 29, who had been boxing professionally for only nine months, died after being knocked out in a heavyweight fight in Savannah, Ga.

[GaryMrMets]

April 2 - Lawrence McGrew, 46, a former linebacker who won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants. McGrew spent the bulk of his 11-year NFL career with the New England Patriots. McGrew signed with the Giants during the 1990 season and played mostly as a reserve and on special teams.

April 4 - Alberic Schotte, 84, a Belgian cyclist and two-time winner of the Tour of Flanders. Schotte competed in the Flanders classic for 20 straight years and won the race in 1942 and 1948. Schotte was the world road racing champion in 1948 and 1950.

April 4 - Ron Williams, 59, former NBA guard. Williams, also known as ``Fritz,'' was selected by San Francisco in the 1968 NBA draft. Williams spent his first five seasons with the Warriors, before playing two years with the Milwaukee Bucks and one with the Los Angeles Lakers. He retired after the 1975-76 season with career averages of 9.3 points and 3.5 assists.

April 7 - Robert Sangster, 67, an owner and breeder whose impact on horse racing extended around the world. Sangster's horses won 27 European Classics, include the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe three times. He also owned the 1984 Breeders Cup' Mile winner Royal Heroine and 1980 Melbourne Cup winner Beldale Ball. It was Sangster who helped persuade Steve Cauthen to ride in Britain after the American jockey guided Affirmed to the 1978 Triple Crown.

April 8 - Bruce Edwards, 49, a caddie whose struggle with Lou Gehrig's disease inspired longtime boss Tom Watson at the 2003 U.S. Open. Edwards was present for many of Watson's most memorable triumphs, including a magical opening round at last year's U.S. Open. The 53-year-old Watson shot a 5-under 65, matching his best score ever at the Open.

April 15 - Albie Grant, 60, a star basketball player for Long Island University in the 1960s. Grant played for LIU from 1963-66, leading the Blackbirds to a 52-20 record. He is the only player in the history of the Brooklyn school to average more than 20 points and 10 rebounds for his career.

April 22 - Art Devlin, 81, a former U.S. Olympic ski jumper and sports broadcaster. Devlin qualified for Olympic teams from 1940 to 1960 and competed in two Winter Games. He finished 15th in the 90-meter jump in 1952 in Oslo, Norway, and 21st four years later in Cortina, Italy. In 1960, he became a TV sports commentator for CBS. Two years later, Devlin joined ABC-TV, where he was a commentator for 21 years. He was vice president of the Lake Placid Olympic Organizing Committee for the 1980 Winter Games.

April 22 - Pat Tillman, 27, Arizona Cardinal safety who traded in a multimillion-dollar contract to serve as an Army Ranger in Afghanistan. He was killed in action.
April 25 - Sid Watson, 71, led the Bowdoin hockey team to four ECAC Division II titles. From 1969-83, Watson's teams qualified for the Eastern College Athletic Conference playoffs every year but one and compiled a record of 326-210-11. He was named the Division II college coach of year three times.

April 29 - Robert Timmons, 91, a former basketball coach at the University of Pittsburgh who led the team to four postseason tournaments in 15 seasons. Timmons compiled a 174-189 record from 1953-1968.

April 30 - Joseph Cullman, 92, a former chairman of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Cullman was considered a pioneer of women's tennis, helping start a women's pro tour in 1970. Cullman became president of the Hall of Fame in 1982 and served as chairman from 1985-1988.

May 4 - John Amberg, 75, defensive back for the New York Giants in 1951-52. Amberg had five interceptions before his career was cut short by the Korean War.

May 5 - Richard Jones, 21, Canisius junior forward who collapsed during a workout with some teammates.

May 14 - Torsten Johansson, 84, Swedish tennis star who set a record by shutting out two opponents at Wimbledon in 1946. Johansson played for the Royal Tennis Club in the early 1940s and won more than 100 national titles for the club, a record that still stands.

May 16 - Dan Allen, 48, coached the Holy Cross football team from a wheelchair during the 2003 season. During the 2002 season he took a medical leave but returned to coach the final four games. His career coaching record was 61-97 over 14 years. Allen was a Holy Cross assistant from 1982-89 before becoming head coach at Boston University. He was 35-34 in six years at BU, including an 11-0 season in 1993 that earned him Division I-AA coach of the year honors. Allen returned to Holy Cross for the 1996 season.

May 16 - Jim Colclough, 68, original member of the Boston Patriots and one of the top receivers in franchise history. In his nine seasons in the American Football League, all with the Patriots, Colclough had 283 receptions for 5,001 yards and 39 touchdowns.

May 16 - John Frank Patterson Sr., 83, Hall of Fame harness racing trainer and driver. Patterson trained and raced multiple world-record holder Overtrick, who won the Little Brown Jug - one of the sport's major races - in 1963 in Delaware, Ohio. He also raced Merrie Annabelle, who set four world records and broke a milestone in the sport in 1958 by becoming the first filly to log a 2-minute time on a mile-long course in Lexington, Ky.

May 18 - Edgar ``Special Delivery'' Jones, 84, played for the Cleveland Browns in the 1940s.

May 20 - Gary Ballman, 63, Pro Bowl player for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1960s. Ballman starred at Michigan State before playing halfback and receiver for the Steelers from 1962-1966, making the Pro Bowl the final two seasons.


May 22 - Alexander Jiminez Woodley, 71, track coach who produced champions such as John Carlos, Charles Foster, Ira Davis and Steve Riddick. As head coach of the Philadelphia Pioneer Educational-Athletic Development Club, Woodley won five consecutive USA track and field national championships. More than 50 of his athletes went on to win championships in the NCAA, World and Olympic Games, at least 10 of them setting world records.

May 24 - Carl Allen, 74, bred, trained and raced harness racing champions. Allen raised and raced such world champions as CR Kay Suzie, CR Commando, CR Renegade and Royal Troubador. Allen was one of the oldest drivers still competing, riding 118 races in 2003. He had 649 career wins and $9.8 million in earnings as a driver.

May 27 - Jack Losch, 69, a member of Little League baseball's first championship team who went on to play in the NFL.

May 29 - Magne Havnaa, 40, former world champion boxer. Havnaa won the WBO cruiserweight world championship with a fifth-round knockout against American Richard Pultz on May 17, 1990. Havnaa retired in 1993 with a 19-3 record.

June 8 - Ronalda Pierce, 19, a Florida State basketball player who died from an aneurysm. Pierce just completed her freshman season with the Seminoles, averaging 5.3 points and 3.5 rebounds a game.

June 9 - Ralph Moody, 86, a racing pioneer and Hall of Famer who won 93 races as a car owner on NASCAR's top circuit. Between 1958 and 1972, Moody was a partner with John Holman in the Holman-Moody Racing shop that consistently put drivers in the winner's circle. Moody also won five races as a driver in 1956-57.

June 9 - Roosevelt Brown, 71, a Hall of Fame offensive tackle who starred for the New York Giants in the 1950s and '60s. A 27th-round draft pick out of Morgan State in 1953, Brown was the Giants' starting right tackle for 13 years. Playing at 255 pounds - tiny by today's standards for offensive linemen - he was voted to the All-NFL team for eight consecutive seasons and selected to nine Pro Bowls.

June 10 - Rowland Haddock Jr., 31, died after his dragster swerved and flipped over a guardrail after a NHRA test run at Pecan Park Road track in Jacksonville, Fla.

June 17 - Gerry McNeil, 78, won two Stanley Cups as a goaltender with the Montreal Canadiens. McNeil won his first Cup in the 1952-53 season and was part of the 1956-57 team that won the second of five straight NHL titles.

June 25 - Karol Kennedy Kucher, 72, a member of the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame who won the silver medal with her brother in skating pairs in the 1952 Winter Olympics. Known as the ``Kennedy kids,'' they won six national pairs titles and the world pairs championship in 1950, finished sixth in the 1948 Olympics and second four years later.

June 25 - C.J. Hart, 93, helped create the country's first commercial drag strip. Hart and two partners helped to popularize the sport by running the first commercial drag race June 19, 1950, on a runway at the Orange County Airport in southern California.

June 27 - Darrell Russell, 35, died after his car broke up while traveling about 300 mph and burst into flames during a NHRA Top Fuel race at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill.

[GaryMrMets]

July 1 - Travis Tidwell, 79, a two-time All-America quarterback with Auburn. Tidwell is one of only two freshmen to ever lead the nation in total offense. As a senior, he also led the nation in total offense and engineered the Tigers to 14-13 upset over Alabama. Alabama hammered Auburn 55-0 in 1948 and Auburn went into the 1949 contest a three-touchdown underdog.

July 3 - Carl James, 75, the former Big Eight commissioner and Duke and Maryland athletic director. James became athletic director at Maryland and Duke before taking over as commissioner of the Big Eight Conference in 1980. He retired in 1996 after helping to add four Texas schools to what became the Big 12 Conference.

July 5 - Rodger Ward, 83, two-time Indianapolis 500 champion. Ward won in 1959 and 1962, during a six-year span in which he finished no worse than fourth.

July 9 - Rudy LaRusso, 66, a five-time NBA All-Star who helped the Lakers reach the NBA Finals three times in the early 1960s. The power forward started with the Lakers in Minneapolis in 1959 and moved with the team to Los Angeles. He averaged 15.6 points and 9.4 rebounds over a 10-year career.

July 9 - Ulysses J. ``Tony'' Lupien, Jr., 87, a major league baseball player in the 1940s and coach at Dartmouth College. He played first base with the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox, batting .268 during his six-season career. In 1956, Lupien was hired by Dartmouth and guided his teams to a 313-305-3 record over 21 seasons.

July 11 - Joe Gold, 81, founder of Gold's Gym that became known worldwide in the sport of bodybuilding and drew the likes of a young Arnold Schwarzenegger. Gold later established World Gym, which Schwarzenegger endorsed.

July 15 - Jeff Julian, 42, played on the PGA Tour in 1996 and 2002. His best finish in 58 starts was a tie for 16th at the 1996 Buick Classic.

July 24 - Lowell ``Cotton'' Fitzsimmons, 72, winner of 832 games in 21 seasons as an NBA coach. Fitzsimmons had coaching stints with five teams - Phoenix, Atlanta, Buffalo, Kansas City and San Antonio. He had a 832-775 (.518) record in the NBA, ranking him 10th in career victories.

July 24 - Ben Martin, 83, football coach at the Air Force Academy from 1958-77. He led the team to the 1959 Cotton Bowl, where the team tied Texas Christian 0-0. Under Martin, Air Force went 96-103-9 and appeared in the 1963 Gator Bowl and 1970 Sugar Bowl.

July 28 - Steve Patterson, 56, a center on three UCLA national championship teams and former Arizona State coach. Patterson played at UCLA from 1969-71, after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and before Bill Walton. He played five seasons in the NBA and later coached Arizona State from 1985-89 and had a 48-56 record.

Aug. 6 - Phil Johnson, 78, Hall of Fame trainer who won the 2002 Breeders' Cup Classic with long shot Volponi. Johnson bred, owned and trained Volponi, who won the $4 million BC Classic at Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Ill., at 43-1 odds. It was the biggest win of Johnson's 60-plus year training career.

Aug. 10 - James Stillman Rockefeller, 102, the oldest-known U.S. Olympic medal winner. He was the captain of Yale University's eight-man rowing team with coxswain that won gold at the 1924 Paris Olympics.

Aug. 10 - Alan N. Cohen, 73, the former co-owner of the Boston Celtics and New Jersey Nets and chairman of Madison Square Garden.

Aug. 12 - George Yardley, 75, a former member of the Detroit Pistons who became the first player in the NBA to score 2,000 points in a season. In his seven seasons in the NBA, the 6-foot-5 Yardley made the All-Star team every year except his rookie year.

Aug. 16 - Ivan Hlinka, 54, a former Pittsburgh Penguins coach who led the Czech Republic to a gold medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. Hlinka played on Czechoslovakia's national team during the 1970s and '80s, helping the country win the world championship in '72, '76 and '77. He was also on the team that won bronze at the 1972 Olympics in Sapporo, Japan, and silver at the 1976 Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria.

Aug. 19 - Edgar Dame, 76, set several world speedskating records over an eight-year career in the 1940s and 1950s. Dame set world records at the 1949 North American Championships in three distances: the three-quarter mile (2:04), the mile (2:44) and the two mile (6:15). Between 1947 and 1955, Dame won 22 championships and 23 invitational events.

Aug. 19 - Tommy Baldwin, 57, was killed in a crash at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway during a NASCAR Featherlite modified race.

Aug. 22 - Mark Osowski, 41, Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach.

Sept. 2 - Paul Shmyr, 58, former NHL and WHA defenseman who captained the Edmonton Oilers in Wayne Gretzky's first season with the team. Shmyr played 511 games in the WHA, including 160 with the Oilers, and 343 in the NHL with Chicago, Minnesota, California and Hartford. He captained the Oilers in 1978-79 - their last season in the WHA.

Sept. 5 - John ``Red'' Cochran, 82, a scout and former NFL player and assistant coach who spent 42 years with the Green Bay Packers. Originally brought to Green Bay by Vince Lombardi in 1959, Cochran worked 12 years as an assistant for the Packers and the last 30 as a scout.

Sept. 13 - Tamas Szechy, 73, Hungarian swimming coach. Szechy's swimmers won 15 Olympic medals. Between 1972 and the 1996 Atlanta Games, swimmers trained by Szechy won eight Olympic gold medals, four silver and three bronze. In world championships between 1973 and 1998, his swimmers won 21 medals, including 12 golds.

Sept. 13 - Glenn Presnell, 99, star for the Detroit Lions in the 1930s and later spent 28 years as a college head coach and athletic director at Eastern Kentucky.

Sept. 19 - Pete Cutino, 71, coached California to eight water polo collegiate national championships. Cutino, who had a 519-172-10 record during his 26 years as Cal's water polo coach, was a four-time NCAA and Pac-10 Coach of the Year, and coached 68 All-Americans, six Pac-10 and NCAA Players of the Year and five Olympians. Cutino served as head coach of the U.S. National Team from 1972-78, the U.S. Olympic Team in 1976 and the U.S. team at the World University Games in 1987.

Sept. 21 - Larry Phillips, 62, stock car racer. His career included five Winston Racing Series National Short-Track championships and seven regional NASCAR championships. In one season, Phillips won 38 of the 40 Winston Racing Series events.

Sept. 23 - Billy Reay, 86, a player on two Stanley Cup championship teams with Montreal and the winningest coach in Chicago Blackhawks history. Reay became the Blackhawks' coach in 1963 after coaching the Toronto Maple Leafs for two seasons in the late 1950s. He posted 516 wins, finished first six times and made three appearances in the Stanley Cup finals. His teams featured such greats as Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Tony Esposito. Reay played 10 seasons in the NHL, two with the Detroit Red Wings and eight with Montreal. With the Canadians, he centered a line with one of hockey's all-time greats, Maurice ``Rocket'' Richard, and helped the team win the Stanley Cup in 1946 and 1953, his last year as an NHL player.

Sept. 26 - Dean Kutz, 48, a jockey who rode more than 2,800 winners during almost 30 years at tracks in the Upper Midwest and Kentucky. Kutz won 2,835 races and his mounts earned more than $33.6 million.

Sept. 28 - Lewis A. Roney, 82, a member of Wyoming's 1943 NCAA basketball championship team. Roney lettered in 1942 and was a member of the 1943 team that went 31-2 and beat Georgetown for the national title.

Sept. 28 - Christl Cranz-Borchers, 90, a two-time Olympic gold medal skier for Germany. Cranz won 12 world titles and three silver medals, along with two golds at the 1936 Olympics. She remains Germany's most-decorated women's skier.

Sept. 30 - Justin Strzelczyk, 36, an offensive lineman with the Pittsburgh Steelers for nearly a decade. The 6-foot-3, 309-pound Strzelczyk spent nine years with the Steelers and played in the 1995 Super Bowl.

Sept. 30 - Mildred McDaniel Singleton, 70, Olympic gold medalist and one of the world's top female athletes of the 1950s. Singleton won a gold medal in the high jump at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Singleton jumped 5 feet, 9 1/4 inches to win the gold and establish a world record. Singleton was the U.S. women's high jump champion in 1953, 1955 and 1956, and the indoor champion in 1955 and 1956.

[GaryMrMets]

Oct. 2 - Nick Skorich, 83, head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1961-63 and the offensive line coach on the 1960 championship team. Skorich was associated with the NFL as a player, coach and supervisor of officials for more than 50 years. Skorich was named the Cleveland Browns' head coach in 1971. He had a 45-48-5 record in seven seasons as a head coach with Philadelphia and Cleveland.

Oct. 2 - Norm Schachter, 90, refereed the first Super Bowl and the first ``Monday Night Football'' game. His NFL career began in 1954 when commissioner Bert Bell hired him at $100 a game with a guarantee of seven games. The weekend job went on to last 22 years. He worked three Super Bowls and 11 conference championship games.

Oct. 6 - Johnny Kelley, 97, a two-time Boston Marathon champion who became a beloved figure by running it a record 61 times. Kelley, a former Olympian and member of the USA Track & Field, National Distance Running and Road Runners Club of America halls of fame, won America's oldest marathon in 1935 and 1945 and finished second a record seven times. He was 84 when he ran his last Boston Marathon. Kelley completed 58 Boston Marathons, also a record, and had 18 finishes in the top 10.

Oct. 8 - Angelo Giuliani, 91, was behind the plate for Joe DiMaggio's first at-bat in the majors and went on to sign Kent Hrbek as a Minnesota Twins scout. Giuliani was a scout with the Washington Senators before the team moved to Minnesota in 1961 and became the Twins. He retired in 1987. Giuliani played parts of seven seasons in the majors as a catcher for the St. Louis Browns, the Washington Senators and the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1930s and 1940s. He caught the day DiMaggio debuted in 1936 and also was on the field when Lou Gehrig gave his famous farewell speech at Yankee Stadium in 1939.

Oct. 12 - Kim King, 59, one of Georgia Tech's best quarterbacks and a radio analyst for Yellow Jackets sports for the past 30 years. King, known as ``The Young Lefthander,'' had a standout career from 1965-67 for coach Bobby Dodd, leading the team to the Gator and Orange bowls.

Oct. 12 - Tommy Kalmanir, 78, a starting halfback on the 1951 Los Angeles Rams championship team and former Oakland Raiders assistant coach.

Oct. 20 - Joseph Dorsey Jr., 69, a boxer who won a 1957 legal fight against a Louisiana law that banned interracial bouts. The interracial boxing ban was passed in 1956 and Dorsey challenged it the next year, arguing that it was unconstitutional and deprived him as a black boxer of the opportunity to earn about $10,000 a year. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 1958 that the law violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment. Dorsey, a light-heavyweight, fought for a few years after the court decision, ending his career with 29 wins and six losses.

Oct. 26 - Don Kennedy, 97, led St. Peter's basketball team from a small-time program to major college status during his 22 years as head coach. Kennedy came to St. Peter's in 1950 and is still the winningest men's coach in its history, with a 323-195 record. He led the Peacocks to three NAIA tournaments and five appearances in the National Invitation Tournament.

Nov. 1 - Al Kircher, 93, head football coach at Washington State University for four seasons in the 1950s. He was 13-25-2.

Nov. 3 - Sergei Zholtok, 31, Nashville Predators center. Zholtok, playing for Riga 2000 in Latvia, left the game about five minutes before it ended and collapsed in the locker room. Zholtok appeared in 588 NHL games from 1992-2004 with Boston, Ottawa, Montreal, Edmonton, Minnesota and Nashville. For his career, Zholtok had 111 goals and 147 assists.

Nov. 5 - Al Onofrio, 83, former head football coach at Missouri who also helped design defenses for Dan Devine for more than a decade. Onofrio sculpted Devine's defenses from 1958-70, a stretch in which the Tigers went 93-37-7, won two Big Eight titles and made six bowl appearances. Onofrio succeeded Devine, going 38-41 from 1971-77.

Nov. 5 - Jimmy McLarnin, 96, two-time welterweight champion. The Irish-born McLarnin had a 62-11-3 record with 20 knockouts. He stopped Young Corbett III in the first round of a May 29, 1933, fight to claim the world welterweight title. McLarnin lost the belt to Barney Ross on May 28, 1934, won it back on Sept. 17, and lost it for good on May 28, 1935.

Nov. 6 - Johhny Warren, 61, captained Australia in 1974 in its only World Cup soccer appearance. Warren played for his country from 1965-74, making 42 appearances, the most by any Australian.

Nov. 8 - Lennox Miller, 58, Olympic sprinter who won a silver medal in 1968 and a bronze in 1972 in the 100-meter dash for Jamaica. At USC, Miller ran the anchor leg on a sprint relay team including O.J. Simpson, Earl McCullouch and Fred Kuller that set a world record in the 440-yard relay (38.6 seconds) in 1967. Miller also set the world record in the indoor 100-yard dash in 1969.

Nov. 8 - Chandler Harper, 90, winner of the 1950 PGA Championship. Harper won 10 other PGA Tour events, finished second seven times and was a member of the 1955 Ryder Cup team.

Nov. 9 - Emlyn Hughes, 57, former England and Liverpool captain who was one of the greatest English soccer players of his generation. Nicknamed ``Crazy Horse'' for his energetic playing style, Hughes also was England's captain 23 times in his 62 international games.

Nov. 17 - Alexander Ragulin, 63, defenseman on the great Soviet hockey teams of the 1960s and 1970s and a three-time Olympic champion. Ragulin played for CSKA Moscow for 11 years, starting in 1962, and leading the club to nine Soviet national championships. Ragulin won Olympic gold medals in 1964, 1968 and 1972. He also helped lead Soviet teams to 10 world championship titles.

Nov. 21 - Tom ``Trooper'' Washington, 60, died after collapsing while coaching the first game of a new ABA team. Washington played alongside NBA Hall of Famer Connie Hawkins on a Pittsburgh team that won the American Basketball Association's first championship in 1968.

Nov. 27 - Gunder Hagg, 85, set the mile world record in 1945 and held it until Roger Bannister broke the four-minute barrier. Hagg broke 15 world marks in middle distance running and set no less than 10 world marks over three months in 1942. That year, the Swede also was the first to run 5,000 meters in under 14 minutes. On July 17, 1945, Hagg set a world record for the mile of 4 minutes, 1.4 seconds, which remained until Bannister finished in 3:59.4 nine years later.

Dec. 4 - Tom Fitzgerald, 53, coach of NCAA soccer champions in Division I and II. He also coached the Columbus Crew of MLS. Fitzgerald, the University of Tampa soccer coach, led the team to the Division II championship in 1994 and the Final Four three times. In 2002, he led UCLA to the NCAA national title, becoming the third person to win a championship in the top two divisions.

Dec. 5 - Robert Gaffglione, 68, a jockey for more than 40 years. Gaffglione won for the first time in 1951 and retired in 1993. He finished 10th in the 1984 Kentucky Derby with Rexson's Hope.

Dec. 11 - Harvey R. ``Bum'' Bright, 84, former Dallas Cowboys owner. A staunch Texas A&M booster, he bought the Cowboys from founder Clint Murchison and sold them to Jerry Jones.

Dec. 13 - Robert B. ``Bert'' Clark Jr., 74, former Washington State head football coach. Clark, who played linebacker at Oklahoma under Bud Wilkinson, coached the Cougars from 1964-1967, compiling a 15-24-1 record. His 1965 team was the most successful at 7-3, with close road wins over Iowa, Minnesota and Indiana to earn the nickname ``Cardiac Kids.''

Dec. 26 - Reggie White, 43, one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history. White played a total of 15 years with Philadelphia, Green Bay and Carolina. He retired in 2000 as the NFL's all-time leader in sacks with 198. A member of the NFL's 75th anniversary team, White was elected to the Pro Bowl a record 13 straight times from 1986-98. He was the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 1987 and 1998.

[Timberwolf]

An unfortunate list of people dying. Goes to show you how life is precious.

Obviously, everyone dying should hit everyone, but the death of Marge Schott, Johnny Oates, Reggie White, and Tug really hit me.

[~*TiGeRs f@N*~]

December 22, 2004 Kenneth Stevens - 42 :crying2: