Goodbye to John Shumate at the age of 72.
Shumate was a collegiate star at Notre Dame, who averaged over twenty points a game as a junior and senior after missing his sophomore season with blood clots, a malady that would cost him his entire rookie season with the Phoenix Suns who drafted him fourth overall in 1974.
Shumate was the star of the Irish team that ended the famous eighty-eight-game winning streak of the UCLA Bruins, a team that played with Bill Walton as their center.
Shumate would miss two seasons with blood clot problems but averaged twelve points a game for his career, which was spent with Phoenix, Buffalo, Detroit, Houston, and San Antonio.
Shumate would become the head coach at SMU for seven seasons and serve as an assistant with Toronto and Phoenix in the NBA as well as appearing in the cult film "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh" as a player for the Pistons.
Goodbye to Tom McVie at the age of 89.
McVie was the coach of the final WHA champions in 1979, leading the Winnipeg Jets to the Avco Cup but otherwise was handicapped by three of the worst NHL teams of his era.
McVie was the second coach of the expansion Washington Capitals, the gutted by the merger Winnipeg Jets, and he finished the 1983-84 season with the New Jersey Devils, which is still the worst season in Devils history.
McVie lost over twice as many games as he won in his NHL coaching career.
Goodbye to Jeff Torborg at the age of 83.
A light-hitting catcher for the Dodgers and Angels, Torborg was noted for his arm and defense and caught three no-hitters (Sandy Koufax, Bill Singer, and Nolan Ryan) and Koufax's 1965 no-hitter was a perfect game.
Torborg won a World Series ring with the 1965 Dodgers.
Torborg would manage five teams in the majors (Indians, White Sox, Mets, Expos, and Marlins), winning the Manager of the Year award with the White Sox in 1990.
Torborg also was a successful broadcaster for the CBS radio network and national telecasts for Fox.
Goodbye to Rich Dauer at the age of 72.
Dauer was the steady second baseman for the Baltimore Orioles from 1977-85, spending his entire career with the Orioles,
Dauer was never a standout hitter but was an excellent fielder as he didn't make an error for eighty-six consecutive games and over four hundred chances in 1978, yet he didn't win the gold glove.
Both of those statistics remain American League records.
Dauer hit a homer in game seven of the 1979 World Series for the only Baltimore run in their loss to Pittsburgh but won a title in 1983 in the Orioles five-game series win over the Phillies.
Dauer coached for five teams in his coaching career, winning a World Series with the 2017 Houston Astros.
Goodbye to Eric Wilkins at the age of 68.
A hard-throwing pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, Wilkins was considered a strong prospect for the Wahoos but would only appear in sixteen games (fourteen starts) in the majors all in 1979.
Wilkins finished 2-4 and would pitch two seasons in the minors before an elbow injury forced his retirement in 1982.
Goodbye to Jim Karsatos at the age of 61.
Karsatos started two seasons at quarterback for Ohio State in 1985 and 86, winning bowl games in both seasons (Citrus Bowl over BYU and Cotton Bowl over Texas A&M) and sharing the Big Ten title in 1986., sharing the title with Michigan.
Karsatos was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the 12th round in the 1987 draft and would be with the team for three seasons but would never appear in a game.
Karsatos would work for the Ohio State radio network as a sideline reporter after his playing career concluded.
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