Well, just wait until they reveal El Duque's real age . . .
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Three more names to be added to the 2011 list:
Joe Frazier
Probably most remembered for his short managing stint with the New York Mets, finishing 3rd in 1976. He was an outfielder during his playing days for the Indians, Cardinals, Reds (appeared in 10 games in 1956) and Orioles. The advice he gave his children caught my eye: "Never look for a pitch you can't hit". Good advice, Joe.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/ourlives/a...5_CUTLIN605138
Gino Cimoli
Much-traveled outfielder playing from '56 thru '65 but I most remember him as a Dodger. Forever famous, I suppose, for being the first Major League batter on the West Coast. "Cimoli was a Dodger but a San Franciscan at heart" so Walt Alston made sure he was the leadoff man as the Dodgers faced the Giants in the first ML game on April 15, 1958 in Seals Stadium in SF.
http://www.thedeadballera.com/passings.html
Cliff Dapper
"Dapper made history when he was traded in 1948 by the Dodgers from their Montreal affiliate to the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association for broadcaster Ernie Harwell."
http://www.thedeadballera.com/passings.html
Cimoli was really mad at Brosnan following The Longest Season, wanted to kick his butt for claiming that Cimoli dogged a flyball.
Of course like most baseball fights it ended up being more talk than action
Buddy Lewis passed away February 18. Largely forgotten now, he might have been a legitimate Hall of Fame candidate except:
1) He played for a now-defunct team, the Senators, so he doesn't have much of a present-day constituency.
2) He played in Griffith Stadium, an extremely tough park to hit in.
3) He missed several years to World War Two, and was never quite the same player whe he returned.
His stats up to 1941 are very impressive, and given a nomal career arc from that point on he'd be a lot more famous than he is. But I'm prejudiced in his favor; I had him in a Diamond Mind historical league a few years ago, and the more I read about him the more he struck me as a genuinely nice guy.
Duke Snider, RIP. The HOF outfielder was 84.
I think that leaves Carl Furillo as the only star left from the Brooklyn days.
*sigh* RIP Duke. Always a depressing thing to see one of my baseball card heroes die.
RIP Duke Snider "The Duke of Flatbush".
Here is a lengthy obituary from the NY Times
http://www.thedeadballera.com/passings.html
For some reason I thought he was dead for several years now.
And another one from espn
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print...805&type=story
He is still alive, yes.
Carl Erskin is also alive.
Though they were not key components of the club, Don Zimmer, Roger Craig, Tommy LaSorda and Sandy Koufax all played with Brooklyn in '55.
Back to Snider, though. Extremely saddened to see this one. The man was a legend, to be sure, but so overshadowed by those other two New York guys. Willie, Mickey and The Duke still remains a classic.