Cleaning out the Inbox: Baseball Passings

     It's been a while since a cleaning of the inbox with recent passings.

As a result, there is enough to devote an entire post to recent passings from the baseball world.

Goodbye to Don Sutton at the age of 75.

As yet another baseball Hall of Famer passes on, Sutton is remembered by the modern baseball fan as well for his many years with the Atlanta Braves with their television broadcasts, which were carried nationally by WTBS for much of Sutton's term.

Sutton pitched for 23 years in the big leaguers and won 324 games in a career spent mostly with the Dodgers, but also pitched for division winners in Milwaukee and California later in his career. 

Sutton never won a Cy Young and won twenty games only once (1976 Dodgers) in his career, but his consistency was remarkable as only twice in those twenty-three seasons did Sutton win less than eleven games.

Goodbye to Grant Jackson at the age of 78.

The left-hander pitched for eighteen seasons but thrived as a reliever after Earl Weaver and the Orioles moved him to the bullpen after acquiring him from the Phillies after the 1970 season.

Jackson would play for one American League champion (1971 Orioles) and three division winners (1973, 74 Orioles, 1976 Yankees), but wouldn't play for a world champion until 1979 with the Pirates when Jackson was the main lefty with a career-high fourteen saves.

Goodbye to Wayne Terwilliger at the age of 95.

A utilityman from 1949-1960 with five teams, Terwilliger played regularly only twice in his career- for the Cubs in 1950 (hitting ten homers) and the Senators in 1953.

Terwilliger might be better remembered as a coach as he worked as a manager or coach from 1962-2010 in the majors, minors, and independent baseball.

Terwilliger also coached third base for the final season of the Washington Senators (1971) and the initial season for the Texas Rangers (1972) on the coaching staff of Ted Williams.

Terwilliger was the oldest living New York Giant at the date of his passing.

There are now only eleven living players that played for the New York Giants.

Goodbye to Flavio Alfaro at the age of 59.

"Lefty" Koch brings word of the passing of Alfaro, who was a key member of the 1984 Olympic baseball team, which was the first Olympics to feature baseball in Los Angeles.

Alfaro was the starting second baseball for the United States team that won the silver medal and starred for the San Diego State Aztecs, but played only one season of professional baseball with the Durham Bulls (which meant he played in Hagerstown's Municipal Stadium), but struggled in hitting below .200 in 1985.

Alfaro would be involved in a trade with Milwaukee following the season, but never played for the Brewers organization as he couldn't agree on the position that he wanted to play and where the Brewers wanted him to play and retired.

Goodbye to Billy Conigliaro at the age of 73.

The younger brother of the late Tony Conigliaro, Billy C. was the first-round selection of Boston in 1965, which made him the first draft pick ever for the Red Sox.

Conigliaro lacked the power of his older brother but hit eighteen homers in 1970 for Boston before being part of the huge trade between the Red Sox and Brewers before the 1972 season.

Conigliaro was unhappy to be traded, was especially unhappy to go to Milwaukee, and retired after 52 games with the Brewers.

Conigliaro returned in 1973 with the World Champion Athletics for 48 games, but hit only .200 and retired for good after the season at the age of 25.