RIP - Phil Niekro

 

Phil Niekro, a knuckleballer who pitched mostly for the Braves, passed away on December 26, 2020 at age 81.

Niekro pitched for the Braves from 1964-1983, but did not become a starter until midway through the 1967 season.  That year, he led the NL with a 1.87 ERA.

 

He had a career-best 23 wins in 1969, and led the NL in wins in 1974 (20) and 1979 (21). Niekro also had a league-high 262 strikeouts in 1977, and won 5 Gold Gloves between 1978 and 1983.

 

After 20 seasons with the Braves, he was (incredibly) released after the 1983 season.  The Yankees quickly signed him and he reeled off two 16-win seasons with them, including his 5th trip to the All-Star game.

Niekro played the final 2 seasons of his 24-year career with the Indians, Blue Jays, and Braves.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997. He is the 7th member of the Hall to pass away in 2020. 

  

New York Post obituary 

 

RIP - Bill Spanswick

 

Bill Spanswick passed away on December 2, 2020 at age 82.

Spanswick was a starting pitcher in the Red Sox' organization every season from 1958 to 1966, although only playing for the major-league club in 1964. He was primarily a reliever that year, while also making 7 starts.

He finished his career with the triple-A teams of the Angels, Senators, and Phillies in 1966 and 1967.

Enfield, CT obituary 

 

RIP - Phil Linz

Phil Linz, an infielder for the Yankees, Phillies, and Mets, passed away on December 9, 2020 at age 81. 

 

Linz was a bench player throughout his career, but received quite a lot of playing time in 1963 and especially 1964. That year, he started 31 consecutive games at 3rd base in mid-season, and also made 50 starts at shortstop, including the final 14 games since Tony Kubek did not play after Sept 20th. 

 

Due to Kubek's absence, Linz played every inning of the 7-game 1964 World Series, and was in Kubek's usual leadoff spot (instead of batting 8th - more suited to Linz' offensive prowess). Still, he hit 2 homers in the series, 2nd only to Mickey Mantle's 3. 

 

He is best remembered for the "harmonica incident"  on the Yankees' team bus following a loss. 

 

Linz moved to the Phillies in 1966 in exchange for Ruben Amaro, and to the Mets in 1967 for Chuck Hiller. He retired after the 1968 season, missing the Miracle Mets team. 

 

New York Times obituary

  

RIP - Denis Menke

 

Denis Menke, an infielder for 3 NL teams, passed away on December 1, 2020 at age 80.

Menke played for the Braves (1962-67), Astros (1968-71, 74), and Reds (1972-73). He was a starter every season from 1964-73, except for missing much of the 1965 season. Primarily a shortstop, he played 3rd base during his two seasons with the Reds. 

 

Menke was part of the blockbuster trade between the Astros and Reds that saw Joe Morgan head to Cincinnati. 

 

After his playing career, Menke was a coach for the Blue Jays, Astros, Phillies, and Reds.

 

WKRC (Cincinnati) obituary

  

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.