Goodbye to Bill Melton at the age of 79.
The 1971 American League home run champion ad the first White Sox player to hit more than thirty homers in a season, Melton hit eighty-nine homers from 1969-71 and appeared to be a star in the making before a back injury in 1972 suffered when he attempted to break his son's fall from a roof changed his career.
Melton was out of baseball by age thirty-two and became a popular studio analyst on White Sox television broadcasts for years.
Melton was the White Sox's all-time leader in homers at the time of his retirement and currently stands eighth on the team's list.
Goodbye to Michael Cole at the age of 84.
Known best for his role as "Pete Cochran" on the ABC series "The Mod Squad" from 1968 to 1973, Cole would continue his career through 2008 as a character actor and stints on soap operas.
The Mod Squad featured three young people who worked undercover for the police in return for their previous crimes being forgiven and it was a popular program in the days of the counterculture.
Goodbye to Israel Vasquez at the age of 46.
Vasquez held the WBC junior featherweight title on two occasions and the IBF title once in an exciting career, but he is remembered more for his classic four-fight series with Rafael Marquez. Two of their first three fights were named the fight of the year, and the other fight may have also won had it not been in the same calendar year as one of the others.
The two fighters split the four fights but the fourth fight is usually overlooked as Vasquez suffered a detached retina in their third bout and should have retired before that fight.
Vasquez retired after suffering a third-round knockout loss to Marquez officially tying the set at two wins apiece and unofficially being rated as one of the most savage rivalries in boxing history.
Goodbye to Dick Van Arsdale at the age of 81.
A three-time All-Star, Van Arsdale played at Indiana with his twin brother Tom and made the All-Rookie team with the Knicks in 1965 after New York picked him in the second round.
Van Arsdale would play three seasons with New York before the expansion Phoenix Suns used their first pick in the veteran expansion draft on him and were rewarded with three All-Star appearances in the team's first three seasons.
Van Arsdale would finish his career with the Suns in 1977. He would later serve as general manager, director of player personnel, head coach for the final portion of the 1987 season, and the long-time color analyst on Phoenix radio broadcasts.
The Suns retired Van Arsdale's number five after his retirement.
Goodbye to Al Fitzmorris at the age of 78.
Fitzmorris spent most of his career with the Kansas City Royals, winning 31 games for the Royals in 1975 and 76, and was rewarded by not being protected in the 1977 expansion draft for Toronto and Seattle.
Toronto grabbed Fitzmorris and quickly traded him to Cleveland for catcher Alan Ashby but in a year and a half with the Indians, won only six games with an ERA of nearly six, and was released during the 1978 season.
Fitzmorris would sign with the Angels and after nine games to finish the season with California, would never pitch in the majors again.
Goodbye to Lemon Drop Kid at the age of 28.
The 2000 Eclipse Award as Older Male Horse, Lemon Drop Kid won the Brooklyn, Suburban, and Whitney Handicaps along with the Woodward Stakes as a four-year-old (all in New York) on his way to winning the Eclipse but notched two big victories as a three-year-old, winning the Travers and Belmont Stakes (Both in New York) .
Lemon Drop Kid's Belmont victory spoiled the Triple Crown bid of Charismatic, who suffered a career-ending injury in the homestretch and finished third. More attention was given to the sad injury than Lemon Drop Kid's victory.
Lemon Drop Kid spent his entire stud career at Lane's End Farm in Kentucky, siring over one hundred graded stakes winners worldwide.
No comments:
Post a Comment