Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings

     The tributes begin with the passing of the man who produced one of the top baseball memories in history, and certainly number one in the hearts of fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Goodbye to Bill Mazeroski at the age of 89. 

A controversial inductee in the Hall of Fame in 2001, Mazeroski was named to seven All-Star teams, won eight Gold Gloves, and won two World Series (1960, 1971) before the team retired his number nine after his retirement.

Mazeroski was the best glove man of his era, but some hold his average bat (career average of .260 and OPS of .667) against him as proof that he shouldn't be in Cooperstown.

Mazeroski is best remembered, of course, for his ninth-inning walk-off homer in game seven of the 1960 World Series to give the undermanned Buccos a 10-9 win and the world championship over the powerful New York Yankees.

Mazeroski was given a statue commemorating the homer at the Pirates' current home, PNC Park.

Goodbye to Wayne Granger at the age of 81.

A durable reliever, Granger led the National League in saves for the 1970 National League champion Cincinnati Reds with thirty-five.

Granger finished his nine-season career with 108 saves and an ERA of 3.14 and was the National League's Fireman of the Year in both 1969 and 1970 for Cincinnati.

Granger was inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame in 1982.

Goodbye to Matt Snell at the age of 84.

Snell played both defensive end and fullback at Ohio State before choosing the AFL's New York Jets over the NFL's New York Giants in 1964.

Snell won the AFL's Rookie of the Year award in 1964 but is best remembered for his game in the Jets' upset over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.

Snell scored the Jets' only touchdown in their 16-7 win, finishing with 121 yards on the ground, and in my opinion, deserved the MVP over Joe Namath.

Goodbye to Gerald Paddio at the age of 60.

Paddio was a star on UNLV's 1987 Final Four team, averaging thirteen points and nineteen points in his second and final season with the Runnin' Rebels before being drafted by Boston in the third round of the 1988 NBA draft.

Paddio played two seasons in the CBA before joining the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1990 as a reserve, averaging seven points per game in his only season in Cleveland.

Paddio would make brief cameos for four other NBA teams, spending most of his time in the CBA and Europe.