Goodbye to former outfielder Paul Blair,who spent most of his career with the Orioles,but spent a few years with the Yankees and Reds as a defensive specialist.Blair was quite a hitter in his young days before a beanball took away much of his aggressiveness at that plate.
Blair was a eight time Gold Glove winner for his skills with the leather and ranks with the best defensive centerfielders that I ever saw.....
Blair was 69.
Goodbye to Mike Hegan,who passed away at 71 on Christmas Eve.
Hegan was a journeyman player for five teams,most notably with the 1969 Seattle Pilots and as a result being one of the players in Ball Four.
Hegan will be more remembered by Ohio fans as the long time member of the announcing booth for the Indians on both radio and television.
Hegan was able to do play by play or play the analyst role as well and was very understated and knowledgeable.
Sports Illustrated said some farewells in the year end issue and I missed a few interesting goodbyes from the year.
Former heavyweight champion Ken Norton passed away at 70 and Norton's death fell through the cracks as I did know about that one.
Norton broke Muhammad Ali's jaw in their first fight earning the upset win and lost razor close decisions that could have gone either way in their second and third bouts.
Norton tended to do very well against skilled fighters,but struggles spectacularly against big bombers as George Foreman starched him in two,Earnie Shavers in one (when a win would have gotten him a title rematch with Larry Holmes) and Gerry Cooney in one.
Norton is also noted for being the only heavyweight champion to never win a title bout.
Norton won an elimination bout as the WBC's number one contender via split decision over second ranked Jimmy Young.
When Leon Spinks was stripped by the WBC for fighting a rematch with Muhammad Ali instead of Norton,Norton was given the WBC strap.
Norton then lost in his first defense via split decision to Larry Holmes in a classic bout to give him the above distinction...
Chuck Fairbanks passed at 79.
Fairbanks was the coach that installed the Wishbone offense at Oklahoma and began the Sooners reign of terror before leaving OU for Barry Switzer to dominate with to go to the New England Patriots.
Fairbanks built a good,young team in New England before leaving before the last game of the season in 1978 for a big money contract at Colorado.
Fairbanks suffered through three bad years at Colorado and a losing season with the USFL's New Jersey Generals before leaving coaching for good.
Virgil Trucks passed at 95.
Trucks was most notable for being the ace of the Detroit Tigers staff in the 40's and 50's.
Those Tigers team were generally pretty crummy,so better surrounding talent would have improved a career record of 177-135 and might been enough for Hall of Fame consideration.
Trucks also won twenty games once and threw two no hitters...
Andy Pafko passed at 92.
The five time all star with the Braves,Cubs and Dodgers is remembered by me for two reasons.
The first is being the left fielder for Brooklyn that watched Bobby Thomson's "Shot heard round the world" fly over his head and into the seats.
Pafko also is the first card in the iconic 1952 Topps set.
In days gone by,when putting cards in order,Pafko's card would be on the stack's top and the card would get the worst wear and tear,making the Pafko card a difficult one to find in excellent condition...
Pafko is also part of the book on the Dodgers "the Boys of Summer".
Zelmo Beaty passed at 73.
The center led the Utah Stars to their only ABA title after jumping to the league from the Atlanta Hawks.
Beaty ranked among the leagues best all time post players and his addition was the key in putting the Stars over the top in the playoffs....
Back tonight with Devils hockey and I still want to go into my season wrapups for the Browns soon.
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