Cleaning out the Inbox: Passings

   The tributes to those who have left us too soon never stop so here are our latest kudos.

Goodbye to Flaco The Owl at the age of 13. 

Flaco was a Eurasian Eagle/Owl that escaped (vandals cut open the netting) his enclosure at the Central Park Zoo in New York City in February 2023 and had been free since the escape, eluding some attempts to recapture him before the decision to allow him to be free was made.

Eurasian Owls are not native to the United States so there was some concern about his freedom, such as he could breed with another breed of owl or what he would choose to eat.

There is a similar Owl breed (great horned owl) that does reside in New York City, so the possibility did exist but there are no sightings of Flaco attempting to do so.

Flaco has several sightings on social media of looking into private home windows on record before being found after colliding with a building, leading to his death.

Goodbye to Richard Lewis at the age of 75.

The actor and comedian was known for his sitcom with Jamie Lee Curtis "Anything But Love" and as Prince John in the film "Robin Hood Men in Tights" but in recent years was most recalled for his occasional appearances as himself in the HBO comedy "Curb Your Enthusiasm".

Lewis's self-deprecating standup ranked him forty-fifth on Comedy Central's Top 100 Standup Comedians list and he was known for his fanatical fandom of Ohio State football, as he was an OSU alum.

Lewis had battled health issues in recent years and had announced he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease last April.

Goodbye to Golden Richards at the age of 76.

Richards was known for his long blond mane sticking out of the back of his helmet and for his speed as a Dallas Cowboys receiver.

Richards caught a twenty-nine-yard touchdown pass from fullback Robert Newhouse on a running back option play in the Cowboys's win over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII and returned a punt for a touchdown in Dallas's 1973 NFC Championship game loss to the Minnesota Vikings, pulling a hamstring as he limped into the end zone.

Richards finished his career with the Bears and averaged an excellent 17.5 yards per catch on his 122 career receptions.

Goodbye to Don Gullett at the age of 73.

One of the top free agent signees of the first crop of free agents in Major League Baseball by the New York Yankees, Gullett finished 14-4 in 1977 for New York but suffered a double tear of his rotator cuff after eight 1978 starts and would never pitch in the majors again.

Gullett was the Reds' best starter for the Big Red Machine, winning ninety-one games in seven seasons and fourteen or more five times, and won three World Series rings in a row with his wins with the 1975 and 76 Reds before winning with the 1977 Yankees.

Gullett allowed the 660th and last homer in the career of Willie Mays in 1973 and a year earlier allowed number 660 in Hank Aaron's career.

Gullett was the Reds pitching coach from 1993-2005.

Goodbye to Jose DeLeon at the age of 63.

DeLeon pitched for five teams and led the National League in strikeouts in 1989 along with leading the league in losses with nineteen defeats in 1985 and 1990.

DeLeon finished 7-3 with Pittsburgh in 1983 and was traded to the White Sox in 1986 straight-up for Bobby Bonilla in a great trade for Pittsburgh that could have been even better had the Pirates not lost Bonilla in the Rule 5 draft in the first place during the off-season.

DeLeon finished 16-12 with a 3.02 ERA for the division-winning Cardinals, along with leading the league in strikeouts in 1989.

Goodbye to Robert Reid at the age of 68.

Known for his strong defensive play, Reid was the player that crossed over eras for the Houston Rocket teams that reached the NBA Finals twice in the 1980s, only to use to the Boston Celtics.

Reid was drafted in round two of the 1977 draft and played for the Rockets during the dominance of Moses Malone, and left the game for one year to focus on his Pentecostal faith after the Rockets traded Malone to Philadelphia.

Reid returned to play during the "Twin Towers" seasons of Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson and spent ten of his thirteen-season career with Houston before finishing his career with three other teams including the first season of the expansion Charlotte Hornets.

Goodbye to Larry Demery at the age of 70.

Demery was a highly regarded pitching prospect in the seventies for the Pittsburgh Pirates and won twenty-nine games in his four big league campaigns from 1974-77 as a swingman, starting and relieving for the Buccos.

But my best memory of Larry Demery (Hey, that rhymes!)?

It was Larry Demery, pitching for the 1976 Pirates, who threw the only no-hitter in my personal history of playing Dave Koch's Action Baseball game.

That feat can never be broken!