RIP - Dick Allen

 

December has been a bad month for Phillies' alumni. Only 10 days in and we've already lost Dick Allen, Phil Linz, and coaches Billy DeMars and Denis Menke. Let's start with Allen... 

 

Dick Allen passed away on December 7, 2020 at age 78. 

 

 

Allen was one of the most feared sluggers of the mid-1960s to early-1970s. He won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 1964, while leading the NL in runs and triples, and also batting .318! He was among the league leaders in home runs, RBI, and batting average from 1964-66. 

 

After well-documented issues with team management and the fans, Allen was traded after the 1969 season.

 

Following brief stops in St. Louis and LA, he wound up with the White Sox in 1972, where he regained his dominant style of play, winning the AL MVP that season while leading the AL in homers, RBI, walks, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. 

 

Allen returned to the Phillies in 1975 and 1976.  Although his skills had diminished somewhat by then, players like Mike Schmidt, Larry Bowa, and Greg Luzinski have cited Allen's value as a mentor to them.  The team finally made the playoffs in 1976.

 

It's been said that Allen is one of the best players not in the Hall of Fame. After falling one vote short in the last veterans' committee election, the committee's dithering had postponed this year's election until next year. (Too late, dopes!) 

 

As a consolation, this summer the Phillies had finally retired his number and inducted him into their Wall of Fame (albeit without any fans attending the games this year). 

 

Philadelphia Inquirer obituary   

 

Philadelphia Inquirer story  

 

New York Times story 

 

RIP - Dan Pfister

 

Dan Pfister, who pitched for the Kansas City Athletics from 1961-64, passed away on November 9, 2020 at age 83.

Pfister was signed by the Athletics in 1957, and made his major-league debut in September 1961. 

 

Most of his playing time came in 1962, when he appeared in 41 games. He also played 3 games in 1963 and 19 games in 1964. 

 

Obituary 

 

RIP - Lindy McDaniel

 

Lindy McDaniel, a relief pitcher for the Cardinals, Yankees, and others for 21 seasons, passed away on November 14, 2020 at age 84.

McDaniel began his career in 1955 with the Cardinals, and except for 1957 and 1958, was mostly a reliever throughout his career. 

 

In 1960 he made both All-Star squads, and finished 3rd in the Cy Young voting. 

 

McDaniel also played for the Cubs from 1963-65, and the Giants from 1966-68 before settling in with the Yankees from July 1968 through the 1973 season. He finished up with the Royals from 1974-75.

 

McDaniel pitched 987 games over 21 seasons, but his teams never made the post-season. 

 

New York Times obituary 

 

FoxNews obituary

 

RIP - Les Rohr

 

Les Rohr, who pitched briefly for the Mets in the late-1960s, passed away on November 6, 2020 at age 74.

Rohr was born in England in 1946 while his father was in the USAF. 

 

He was the Mets' first pick (2nd overall, behind Rick Monday) in the first-ever (1965) draft, and pitched in the Mets' farm system every season from 1965-70. 

 

Les made his debut with the Mets in September 1967, making 3 starts and posting a 2-1 record. After injuring his arm in April 1968 he spent the remainder of that season on the disabled list. He only pitched one more game for the Mets (in September 1969).  

 

ESPN obituary 

 

 

RIP - Jim Hicks

 

Jim Hicks, an outfielder for the White Sox, Cardinals, and Angels in the 1960s, passed away on October 29, 2020 at age 81.

Hicks played minor-league baseball every season from 1959 to 1972, except in 1969 when he managed to stay in the majors all season with the Cardinals and Angels (following his trade for Vic Davalillo). 

 

He played a total of 33 games for the White Sox from 1964-66, and 56 games in 1969, split between St. Louis and California His final big-leage action was 4 games for the Angels in April 1970, all as a pinch-hitter. 

 

Hicks also played in Japan from 1973-74. 

  

Obituary 

 

RIP - Ron Perranoski

1960s' Dodgers' fireman Ron Perranoski passed away on October 2, 2020 at age 84. (The same day as Bob Gibson.)

 

Perranoski played 7 seasons (1961-67) with the Dodgers, and was the team's top reliever in all but his rookie year. 

 

He then played 4 seasons for the Twins, leading the AL in saves twice. 

 

Ron moved on to the Tigers in late-1971, and a year later was back with the Dodgers for the final 2 months of 1972.  He wrapped up his playing career in 1973 with the Angels. 

 

Perranoski worked for the Dodgers as a minor-league pitching coach (1973-80), and major-league pitching coach (1981-94). He had worked for the Giants since 1995. 

 

New York Times obituary  

 

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette obituary

  

RIP - Lou Johnson

Lou Johnson, an outfielder for the Dodgers and others in the 1960s, passed away on October 1, 2020 at age 86.

Johnson began his major-league career in 1960, playing a handful of games for the Cubs. After playing in one game in 1961 for the Angels, he was with the Milwaukee Braves for the 1962 season. 

 

Following 2 full seasons in the minors, "Sweet Lou" played 3 solid seasons with the Dodgers from 1965-67, having been called up in mid-May '67 to replace Tommy Davis, who broke an ankle. 

 

Johnson played for the Cubs, Indians, and Angels in his final 2 seasons (1968-69).  

CBS-LA obituary  

ESPN obituary 

 

RIP - Jim Owens

 

Catching up, after giving Gibson, Ford, and Morgan their due... 

 

 

Jim Owens, who pitched for the Phillies, Reds, and Astros from 1955-67, passed away on September 9, 2020 at age 86.

Owens pitched for the Phillies from 1955-1962, and was one of the infamous "Dalton Gang" members (with Turk Farrell and others). 

He was traded to the Reds after the 1962 season for 2nd baseman Cookie Rojas. Working in the Phillies' starting rotation from 1959-1962, he was primarily a reliever after leaving Philadelphia. 

Owens wrapped up his career with a stint in the Astros' bullpen from 1964-1967, reunited with his old pal Farrell. 

He retired in early-July 1967, and became the Astros' pitching coach through the 1972 season.

RIP - Joe Morgan

 

Today I read a couple of half-assed obituary posts by the same baseball card blogger. 

 

On Eddie Van Halen: 

"Getting the sad news out of the way first. RIP Eddie Van Halen." 

And then he went on to other baseball card topics as usual. 

"Out of the way"? That's your tribute? No personal recollections of being a fan, or maybe of having seen his shows? Why even bother? 

 

It gets even worse for his Joe Morgan obit: 

"Lost another one today. RIP" 

That's it? Not even a mention of his name? No cursory baseball card from the many that can be found on the internet? Were you a fan of him as a player, or of the Reds? Or did you just know of him as a talking head announcer? 

He didn't even have another topic to dive into. Just 5 lazy words. Show some respect dude, or don't bother. 

(It's not like you are breaking the news for us.) 

 

(Ahh, I shouldn't criticize other bloggers. Underperforming baseball players, yes. Topps, yes. Bloggers, no.) 

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------  

Joe Morgan passed away on October 11, 2020 at age 77.

As everyone knows, he played the majority of his career with the Astros and Reds. What I had forgotten was that he returned to the Astros for one year (1980), when his team met the Phillies in the NLCS. 

 

He later played for the Giants, Phillies, and Athletics. While with the Phillies in 1983, he was reunited with Pete Rose and Tony Perez. 

 

I also didn't realize that in recent years he was working for the Reds. 

 

Cincinnati Enquirer obituary  

 

New York Times obituary 

RIP - Whitey Ford

 

Yankees' great Whitey Ford passed away on October 8, 2020 at age 91.

 

 

 

Ford played for the Yankees from 1950 to 1967. This is his final baseball card. 

 

He retired on Memorial Day in 1967. Here is a newspaper photo I saved from the day he announced his retirement:

Ford still holds the record for most wins by a Yankees' pitcher (236). He also holds the major-league record for most World Series wins (10) and strikeouts (94).  

New York Post obituary  

ESPN obituary

RIP - Bob Gibson

 

Former Cardinals' ace Bob Gibson passed away on October 2, 2020 at age 84.

(Gibson's card from 1968 - The Year of the Pitcher) 

 

Gibby played for the Cardinals for 17 years - from 1959 to 1975. He won the MVP in 1968 and the Cy Young Award in 1968 and 1970. 

Rather than list all his accomplishments again, here is a link to a previous blog post where I listed those. He was also a pretty good hitter for a pitcher, hitting 24 career home runs. 

In 1967, en route to the Cardinals' 2nd NL pennant in 4 seasons, Gibson's leg was broken by a line drive off the bat of Roberto Clemente. He stayed in the game for a few more batters until reluctantly coming out! He missed 7 weeks from mid-July to early-September, but the Cards clinched the pennant anyway in the first half of September. 

St. Louis Post-Dispatch obituary  

ESPN obituary

.  

RIP - Jay Johnstone

 

Jay Johnstone, who played outfield for the Angels, Phillies, and other clubs from 1966-1985, passed away on September 26, 2020 at age 74, a victim of COVID-19.

Johnstone began his career with the Angels in 1966. For the first 3 years he was up and down between the Angels and their AAA club, but in 1969 Jay was the Angels' everyday center fielder. 

After the 1970 season he was traded to the White Sox, and played 2 seasons before he was released during spring training in 1973. The Athletics picked him up but he spent much of 1973 in the minors. 

The Phillies acquired him in April 1974 and finally recalled him to the majors in early-July. During the 2nd half of the season he became the Phils' regular right fielder, a job he would hold until they traded for Bake McBride in June 1977. 

During a game against the Pirates in 1975, Johnstone was playing right field. With Bucs' shortstop Frank Taveras taking a large lead off 1st base, Jay ran in and took a snap throw from catcher Johnny Oates to pick Taveras off FIRST BASE! The RIGHT FIELDER!

Johnstone's last 8 seasons were spent with the Yankees, Padres, Dodgers, and Cubs. He saw post-season action with the Phillies (1976-77), Yankees (1978), and Dodgers (1981, 85). 

He was also a broadcaster for the Yankees (1989-90) and Phillies (1992-93).

Washington Post obituary  

ESPN obituary