1986 in baseball



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Events

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September

October

  • October 2 – The Kansas City Royals claim outfielder Jim Eisenreich on waivers from the Minnesota Twins. The highly talented, 27-year-old Eisenreich has missed the and 1986 seasons recovering from Tourette Syndrome. He will resume his playing career in by batting.382 in 70 games at Double-A Memphis, and will play almost 1,400 MLB games until his final appearance on September 26, 1998.
  • October 4 – At the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Greg Gagne of the Twins hits two inside-the-park home runs in a 7–3 victory over the Chicago White Sox. In the same game, Bert Blyleven—who goes the distance for the victory—allows his 50th homer of the season to set a major league record. Coincidentally, Blyleven had given up Dick Allen's two inside-the-park homers in a July 31, 1972 game against the White Sox, the last game prior to today's in which one player hits a pair of inside-the-park blows. That game had been played in the Metrodome's predecessor, Metropolitan Stadium.
  • October 5 – On the regular season's final day, the New York Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 9–0 at Shea Stadium, for their 108th win of the year. The 1986 Mets set franchise records for wins, home wins, road wins, home runs, batting average and attendance, all for a team that this year is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
  • October 6 – Cal Ripken Sr., the widely rumored successor to Earl Weaver as manager of the Baltimore Orioles, is officially appointed the club's 1987 pilot. A career member of the Baltimore organization, and the father of the Orioles' superstar and future Hall of Famer, Ripken, 50, has been the team's third-base coach since late June 1977. Weaver retired for good after yesterday's season finale with a career mark of 1,480–1,060, four AL pennants and one World Series title.
  • October 10 – Clyde King, general manager of the New York Yankees since April 10, 1984, is replaced by former MLB infielder Woody Woodward. King, 62, remains with the Bombers as a special assistant to George Steinbrenner. Woodward, 44, had been the Yanks' vice president, baseball administration. Field manager Lou Piniella, meanwhile, is invited to return for 1987.
  • October 12 – In Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, the Boston Red Sox, trailing three games to one to the California Angels and two outs away from elimination, are rescued when Don Baylor delivers a two-run home run off Mike Witt to trim the Angel lead from 5–2 to 5–4. After Witt retires Dwight Evans for the second out, Gary Lucas relieves him and promptly hits Rich Gedman with his first pitch. Donnie Moore then relieves Lucas and, with one strike away from elimination, Dave Henderson crushes a pitch from Moore into the left-field stands for a 6–5 lead. The Red Sox win, 7–6 in 11 innings, and extend the series to a sixth game.
  • October 14 – At Shea Stadium, Dwight Gooden and Nolan Ryan hook up in a scintillating pitchers' duel in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series with the host New York Mets and Houston Astros tied, two games apiece. Houston loses a potential lead run in the second on a disputed out call at first base; each team scores in the fifth, New York on Darryl Strawberry's homer; Ryan goes nine innings and fans 12 before leaving for a pinch hitter in the visitors' tenth; Gooden works ten innings before leaving in a double-switch. But the game remains knotted 1–1 until the Mets' 12th, when future Hall of Famer Gary Carter singles home Wally Backman with the winning run, to give New York a one-game series edge.
  • October 15
  • *In the longest game in post-season history, the visiting Mets defeat the Astros, 7–6 in 16 innings, in Game 6 of the NLCS to earn their first trip to the World Series since, four games to two. New York scores three runs in the top of the ninth to force extra innings, then each team scores a run in the 14th to preserve the deadlock. In the top of the 16th, the Mets tally three more runs, then Houston answers with two of its own before Jesse Orosco fans Kevin Bass to end the game. It's the Mets third NL pennant.
  • *At Fenway Park, the Red Sox rout the Angels, 8–1, in Game 7 of the ALCS to complete their comeback from trailing three games to one. Boston wins its tenth-ever AL pennant, and first since.
  • October 25 – Leading 5–3 in Game 6 of the World Series, and just one out away from winning their first championship since 1918, the Red Sox surrender singles to Gary Carter, Kevin Mitchell and Ray Knight, and pitcher Bob Stanley throws a wild pitch that allows Mitchell to tie the game. Then Mookie Wilson's slow grounder bounces between the legs of first baseman Bill Buckner, allowing Knight to score to give the New York Mets an improbable 6–5 win. Boston's Calvin Schiraldi absorbs the loss.
  • October 27 – At Shea Stadium, the Mets come from behind again, overcoming a three-run Boston lead with six unanswered runs in the sixth and seventh innings and winning Game 7 of the World Series over the Red Sox by a final of 8–5. The Mets capture their second Fall Classic championship and first since 1969. Third baseman Ray Knight, whose homer broke a 3–3 deadlock in the seventh, is chosen Series MVP.
  • October 29 – The Chicago White Sox make a course correction in their front office, naming Larry Himes, 46, vice president and general manager, and accepting the resignation of GM Tom Haller, a left-over from the failed Ken Harrelson experiment. Harrelson, who quit as the ChiSox' baseball operations czar September 26 after less than a year in the job, had purged veteran baseball people from the club's management team and major-league staff, and replaced most of them with retired MLB players with "presence" but limited executive resumés. Himes, a former minor-league catcher, has an extensive scouting and player development background, and for the past six years has headed the California Angels' efforts in those areas.
  • October 30 – The Baltimore Orioles trade 24-year-old right-handed starter Storm Davis to the San Diego Padres for reliever Mark Williamson and catcher Terry Kennedy.

November

December

Births

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Deaths

January

  • January 1 – Bill Hall, 57, backup catcher who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates over part of three seasons spanning 1954–1958.
  • January 2 – Bob Finley, 70, catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies during the 1943 and 1944 seasons.
  • January 2 – Bill Veeck, 71, principal owner of the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox ; broke the American League's color barrier by signing Larry Doby in 1947 and brought Cleveland its second-ever World Series title in 1948; perhaps best remembered for the wacky promotions he used to draw crowds and entertain fans at the ballpark, which included using midget Eddie Gaedel in a 1951 Browns game, and installing fireworks in the Comiskey Park scoreboard; elected to Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.
  • January 3 – Chico Hernández, 70, Cuban backup catcher who played from 1942 to 1943 for the Chicago Cubs.
  • January 4 – Dave Morey, 96, a five-sport star at Dartmouth College and Major League Baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1913, who later became a prominent coach of football and baseball at the Lowell Technological Institute, Middlebury College, Auburn University, Fordham University and Bates College in the period between 1916 and 1939.
  • January 7 – Joe Burns, 85, catcher who played eight games for the 1924 Chicago White Sox.
  • January 10 – Roy Johnson, 90, pitcher in ten games for 1918 Philadelphia Athletics who became a minor league manager; longtime employee of the Chicago Cubs as a coach and scout; interim manager of Cubs for one game.
  • January 11 – Grover Resinger, 70, minor-league player and manager who was an MLB coach for the Atlanta Braves, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers and California Angels for all or part of seven seasons between 1966 and 1976.
  • January 12 – Eddie Solomon, 34, trustworthy relief pitcher who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox over ten seasons spanning 1973–1982.
  • January 13 – Mike Garcia, 62, three-time All-Star pitcher who played for three teams in 14 seasons from 1948 to 1961, mostly with the Cleveland Indians in a span of 12 years, winning 142 games for the Indians, including 20 or more wins and leading the American League in earned run average twice each, being also a member of their storied 'Big Four' pitching rotation in its 1954 season, along with Bob Feller, Bob Lemon and Early Wynn, as they started 147 of the 156 games of the team, while posting a collective record of 93–36 and 2.85 ERA, guiding the Indians to the World Series for the first time in six years and the third in 34 years.
  • January 15 – Fred Thomas, 93, third baseman for three American League clubs from 1918 to 1920, who was also a member of the 1918 World Series Champion Red Sox and a World War I veteran.
  • January 24 – John Boozer, 47, pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies over seven seasons between 1962 and 1969, who has the distinction of being one of only four Major League Baseball pitchers to be ejected from a game for violation of the spitball rule.
  • January 28 – Tom Grubbs, 91, pitcher who played for the New York Giants in its 1920 season.

February

  • February 13 – Ed McGhee, 61, fourth outfielder who played with the Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago White Sox over part of four seasons spanning 1950–1955.
  • February 14 – Fox Blevins, 75, third baseman for the Little Rock Grays, Homestead Grays and Oakland Larks of the Negro leagues between 1932 and 1946.
  • February 17 – Red Ruffing, 80, Hall of Fame and six-time All-Star pitcher who played for the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox in a span of 22 seasons from 1924 to 1947, whose 273 career victories included four straight 20-win seasons for the Yankees from 1936 to 1939, also helping the team win six World Series titles and going 7–2 in nine series decisions, while hitting a.269/.306/.389 slash line with 36 home runs and 273 runs batted in in 882 regular games, including at least a.303 batting average eight times.
  • February 20 – Bob Rice, 86, third baseman who played for the 1926 Philadelphia Phillies.
  • February 22 – Duke Lattimore, 81, diminutive catcher—listed as tall and —who played for the Birmingham Black Sox and Columbus Blue Birds of the Negro leagues between 1929 and 1933.
  • February 25 – George Susce, 78, backup catcher and longtime coach whose MLB career spanned 44 years; played sporadically for the Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Browns and Cleveland Indians in all or parts of eight seasons between 1929 and 1944; his son pitched in the American League during the 1950s.

March

  • March 2
  • * Jocko Collins, 80, longtime scout for six MLB teams who signed players such as Dick Allen, Del Ennis and Tommy Lasorda to their first pro contracts.
  • * William D. Mullins, 54, pitcher in the Washington Senators minor league farm system in the 1950s.
  • March 3 – Paul Castner, 89, pitcher for the 1923 Chicago White Sox.
  • March 5 – Andy Love, 78, first baseman/outfielder who played for the Negro leagues' Detroit Stars, Washington Pilots and Harrisburg Stars between 1930 and 1943.
  • March 7 – Jimmy Moore, 82, outfielder who played from 1930 to 1931 for the Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Athletics.
  • March 12 – Fred Hancock, 65, shortstop who played for the Chicago White Sox in 1949.
  • March 13 – Jack Warner, 82, third baseman whose career spanned from 1921 through 1946, including stints in the major leagues with the Detroit Tigers, Brooklyn Robins and Philadelphia Phillies during eight seasons between 1925 and 1932.
  • March 15 – Bill Patton, 73, backup catcher for Philadelphia Athletics in the 1935 season.
  • March 24 – Hank Grampp, 82, pitcher who played for the Chicago Cubs in the 1927 and 1929 seasons.
  • March 25 – George Grant, 83, pitcher who played for the St. Louis Browns, Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates in a span of seven seasons from 1923 to 1931.
  • March 26 – Mel Bosser, 72, pitcher who played for the Cincinnati Reds in the 1945 season.

April

  • April 9 – Dick Kokos, 58, fourth outfielder who played for the St. Louis Browns and Baltimore Orioles over part of five seasons spanning 1948–1954.
  • April 9 – Les Pearson, 76, outfielder who played for the 1937 St. Louis Stars of the Negro American League.
  • April 10 – Luther Harvel, 80, whose baseball career spanned nearly five decades, playing center field for the Cleveland Indians in 1924 and in the minor leagues in 14 seasons between 1929 and 1949, managing from 1933 to 1949, and later scouting for the Kansas City and Oakland Athletics, Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Dodgers in a span of eight years from 1967 through 1974.
  • April 14 – Doc Land, 82, center fielder who played in 1929 for the Washington Senators.
  • April 18 – George Durning, 87, right fielder for the 1925 Philadelphia Phillies.
  • April 20 – Eddie Feinberg, 68, middle infielder/utility player for the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1938 and 1939 seasons.
  • April 27 – Marty Karow, 81, one of the finest all-around athletes in Ohio State University history during the early 1920s, who later played at shortstop and third base for the Boston Red Sox in its 1927 season.
  • April 28 – Pat Seerey, 63, strikeout-prone outfielder who played from 1943 through 1949 for the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox; one of a select group of players who have hit four home runs in a single game, accomplishing the feat on July 18, 1948, at Shibe Park, Philadelphia, against the Athletics.
  • April 30 – Bill Higdon, 62, outfielder who played for the Chicago White Sox in its 1949 season.

May

  • May 1 – Ed Wells, 85, pitcher who played for the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees and St. Louis Browns in all or part of eleven seasons spanning 1923–1934, posting an overall record of 68–69 and a 4.65 ERA, leading the American League in shutouts in 1926 and winning a 1932 World Series ring while pitching for the Yankees.
  • May 4 – Hugh "Hal" Luby, 72, second and third baseman in 120 games with the Philadelphia Athletics and New York Giants ; a fixture in Pacific Coast League, principally for the Oakland Oaks and San Francisco Seals over nine seasons spanning 1938–1948, playing 866 consecutive games between 1939 and 1943; batted.296 in 2,824 minor-league games and amassed 3,165 hits, earning an induction into the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame.
  • May 4 – Paul Richards, 77, catcher, manager and executive; played in 523 games over eight MLB seasons between 1932 and 1946 with the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers; member of 1945 World Series champion Tigers, starting six of the series' seven games behind the plate; managed the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles ; from September 1954 through 1958, doubled as general manager of the Orioles, helping build the club that dominated the American League in the late 1960s and early 1970s; also helped build the Houston Colt.45s/Astros franchise as GM of the expansion team from September 1961 through 1965, then served as GM of the Atlanta Braves.
  • May 4 – Johnny Williams, 68, three-time All-Star pitcher for the Birmingham Black Barons and Cincinnati–Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League between 1943 and 1948.
  • May 6 – Len Schulte, 69, middle infielder and third baseman who played from 1944 through 1946 for the St. Louis Browns; brother of Ham Schulte.
  • May 14 – Frank O'Rourke, 92, Canadian ballplayer who performed at all four infield positions, primarily at third base, while debuting as the third youngest player in the National League at 17 years age, playing for six teams in part of 13 seasons spanning 1912–1931, mostly with the St. Louis Browns of the American League from 1927 to 1931, and later serving as a longtime scout for the New York Yankees, being inducted posthumously into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.
  • May 14 – Joe Sparma, 44, pitcher who posted a 52–52 record and a 3.94 ERA for the Detroit Tigers and Montreal Expos in seven seasons from 1964 to 1970, and also a member of the 1968 World Series champion Tigers.
  • May 14 – Tom Turner, 69, catcher who played with the Chicago White Sox and the St. Louis Browns in five seasons from 1940 through 1944.
  • May 18 – Spades Wood, 77, pitcher who played from 1930 to 1931 for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
  • May 23 – Hugh McMullen, 84, part-time catcher for the New York Giants, Washington Senators and Cincinnati Reds over four seasons between 1925 and 1929.
  • May 28 – Taylor Douthit, 85, outfielder who played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs in 11 seasons from 1923 to 1933, also a member of the 1926 World Series Champion Cardinals, whose glove is in the Baseball Hall of Fame for a record he set in 1928, when he made 547 putouts in center field for St. Louis, the most in a season by an outfielder in Major League Baseball history.
  • May 28 – Paul Florence, 86, backup catcher for the 1926 New York Giants, whose baseball career spanned almost 60 years, while playing 12 seasons in the minor leagues and later working as a scout and executive in the Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros organizations.
  • May 31 – Dixie McArthur, 84, pitcher who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in its 1914 season.

June

July

  • July 2 – Peanuts Lowrey, 68, former child actor who became an All-Star outfielder and third baseman; played for the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies through 13 seasons from 1942 to 1955, appearing in 978 games and being regarded as one of the best utility men and pinch-hitters of his generation; posted a.310 batting average and.678 OPS for the Cubs in the 1945 World Series; also performed during the 1940s in offseason exhibition games, occasionally playing alongside future Hall of Famers including Cool Papa Bell, Jimmie Foxx, Ralph Kiner, Bob Lemon, Buck Leonard, Satchel Paige and Ted Williams; spent 18 years as an MLB coach for five teams between 1960 and 1981.
  • July 3 – Bill McCahan, 65, pitcher who posted a 16–14 record and 3.84 ERA in 57 games for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1946 to 1949, including a no-hitter game against the Washington Senators in 1947.
  • July 4 – Oscar Roettger, 86, first baseman and pitcher who played for the New York Yankees, Brooklyn Robins and Philadelphia Athletics over part of four seasons from 1923 to 1932; brother of Wally Roettger.
  • July 6 – Eddie Yuhas, 61, pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals during two seasons from 1952 to 1953.
  • July 8 – Johnny Cooney, 85, pitcher, outfielder and first baseman for the Boston Bees/Braves, Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees in 20 seasons from 1921 to 1944; a longtime coach who also managed the Braves for the final five weeks of 1949 during the medical leave of Billy Southworth; son and brother of big-league players.
  • July 8 – Skeeter Webb, 76, middle infielder who played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, and Philadelphia Athletics over part of 12 seasons between 1932 and 1948.
  • July 9 – Red Lucas, 84, solid two-way pitcher and prolific pinch-hitter, who played for the New York Giants, Boston Braves, Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates in a span of 15 seasons from 1923 to 1938, posting a 157–135 record with a 3.72 ERA in 396 pitching appearances and amassing 204 complete games and 22 shutouts, while recording a.280 batting average and 404 hits, 114 of them in pinch-hitting duties, including three home runs.
  • July 10 – Harl Maggert, 72, outfielder who appeared in 66 games for the 1938 Boston Bees; his father, also an outfielder, had a brief MLB career.
  • July 14 – Wally Holborow, 72, pitched in 21 MLB games for the 1944–1945 Washington Senators and 1948 Philadelphia Athletics.
  • July 20 – Bill Steinecke, 79, catcher who played four games for 1931 Pirates but whose long minor-league career as a player and manager spanned 1925 to 1964.
  • July 25 – Ted Lyons, 85, Hall of Fame and All-Star pitcher who spent his entire 21-year career with the Chicago White Sox, from 1923 through 1942, and again in 1946; served in United States Marine Corps in the Pacific during wartime; compiled a 260–230 record and 3.67 ERA in 594 games for a usually mediocre team, while leading the American League in wins, innings pitched, complete games and shutouts twice each; went 22–15 with AL-leading totals of 29 complete games and innings for a 62–92 team in 1930; completed every one of his 20 starts in 1942, at the age of 41, going 14–6 and leading the league with a 2.10 ERA; threw a no-hitter in 1926 against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, which took just one hour and 45 minutes to complete; managed the White Sox from May 26, 1946, through 1948, posting a 185–245 record; then served as pitching coach of Detroit Tigers and Brooklyn Dodgers between 1949 and 1954.
  • July 26 – Webb Schultz, 88, pitcher who played for the 1924 Chicago White Sox.
  • July 27 – Bud Hafey, 73, outfielder who played for the Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies in a span of three seasons from 1935 to 1939.
  • July 28 – Cliff Melton, 74, left-handed pitcher for the New York Giants over all or part of eight seasons spanning 1937–1944; went 20–9 as rookie for pennant-winning Giants.
  • July 28 – Joe Oeschger, 94, pitcher known for his durable arm while pitching for six different teams in 12 seasons from 1914 to 1925, who shares an MLB record for the most innings pitched while playing for the Boston Braves in 1920, locked in a pitching duel with Leon Cadore of the Brooklyn Dodgers during 26 innings in a 1–1 tie eventually called because of darkness, as both pitchers had gone the distance.
  • July 28 – Carl Whitney, 72, outfielder who played for the New York Black Yankees and Newark Eagles of the Negro National League in 1942.
  • July 30 – Mickey Heath, 82, first baseman who played from 1931 to 1932 for the Cincinnati Reds.

August

  • August 9 – Clarence Maddern, 64, outfielder for the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians over part of three seasons spanning 1946–1951.
  • August 11 – Tom Gorman, 67, who pitched for the New York Giants in 1939 and went on to serve as a National League umpire from 1951 to 1976, working in five World Series, five All-Star games, two NL Championship Series and nine no-hitters, before becoming a league supervisor.
  • August 17 – Walt Lanfranconi, 69, pitcher who played with the Chicago Cubs in 1941 and for the Boston Braves in 1947.
  • August 17 – Sammy Vick, 91, part-time right fielder who played for the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox during five seasons between 1917 and 1921.
  • August 22 – Lamb Barbee, 70, outfielder for the 1945 Cincinnati–Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League.
  • August 22 – Charlie Eckert, 89, pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics in a span of three seasons from 1919 to 1922.
  • August 23 – William Evans, 87, outfielder for seven Negro leagues clubs, including the Homestead Grays, between 1924 and 1937; great-great-uncle of Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex.
  • August 24 – George Diehl, 68, pitcher for the Boston Braves in the 1942 and 1943 seasons.

September

  • September 2 – Jim Wilson, 64, whose career spanned more than four decades as an MLB pitcher, scout and front-office executive; played for five teams in 12 seasons between 1945 and 1958, primarily with the Boston/Milwaukee Braves from 1951 to 1954; selected to the All-Star team three times and gained fame by pitching the first no-hitter game in Milwaukee MLB history in 1954; general manager of Milwaukee Brewers and head of the MLB Scouting Bureau.
  • September 4 – Hank Greenberg, 75, Hall of Fame and five-time All-Star first baseman and left fielder who won MVP awards at both positions; member of four Detroit Tigers World Series teams which won championships in 1935 and 1945; led the American League in home runs and runs batted in four times each, including career-highs with 58 HR in 1938 and 184 RBI in 1937; won the 1945 AL pennant on last day with a grand slam, ending his career with a slash line of.313/.412/.605 with 331 homers and 1,276 RBI in 1,134 games; after finishing his playing career with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1947, he became a front office executive, serving as farm system director and general manager of Cleveland Indians and vice president/GM of Chicago White Sox; held ownership stakes in Indians and White Sox.
  • September 11 – Otho Nitcholas, 77, pitcher who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers in its 1945 season.
  • September 12 – Jim Shilling, 72, middle infielder and third baseman who divided his playing time between the Cleveland Indians and the Philadelphia Phillies in 1939.
  • September 14 – Gordon McLendon, 65, broadcaster and entrepreneur whose Liberty Radio Network carried his "Baseball Game of the Day" broadcasts—most of them studio recreations and many announced by McLendon, as "The Old Scotchman", himself—into small cities and towns across the U.S. between 1949 and 1952.
  • September 27 – Chuck Sheerin, 77, part-time infielder for the 1936 Philadelphia Phillies.
  • September 29 – Artie Gore, 78, National League umpire from 1947 to 1956; worked in 1,464 contests over his ten NL seasons, plus two World Series and two All-Star games.

October

  • October 3 – Vince DiMaggio, 74, oldest brother of Joe and Dom, two-time All-Star center fielder who played for the Boston Bees, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies and New York Giants in a span of ten seasons from 1935 to 1946, whose career highlights included batting 21 home runs and 100 runs batted in for the 1941 Pirates, four grand slams for the Phillies from 1945 to 1946, and collecting a home run, triple, single, a pair of runs and one RBI over three at-bats in the 1943 All-Star Game.
  • October 3 – Heinie Mueller, 74, who played every infield position for the Philadelphia Phillies in part of four seasons from 1938 to 1941, being best known by hitting a leadoff home run in his first major league at bat.
  • October 8 – Max Surkont, 64, pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, Boston/Milwaukee Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals and New York Giants over nine seasons from 1949 through 1957, who set a major league record with eight consecutive strikeouts while pitching for the Braves in 1953, as the record stood until 1970, when future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver struck out ten in a row.
  • October 9 – Jo-Jo White, 77, starting center fielder for the Detroit Tigers teams that won the American League pennant in 1934 and the 1935 World Series, who also played for the Philadelphia Athletics and Cincinnati Reds and later coached for five teams from 1959 through 1969, including a brief stint as a manager with Cleveland Indians in August 1960; father of Mike White.
  • October 10 – Russ Van Atta, 80, pitcher for the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Browns over a seven-season career from 1933 to 1939, who made history in his debut pitching a four-hit shutout against the Washington Senators, 16–0, while recording four hits in four at-bats, becoming the only American League pitcher ever to get four hits in his major league debut, as well as one of only seven players in AL history to do so in a debut game, being the last the Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett, who registered four singles in his first MLB appearance with the Minnesota Twins in 1984.
  • October 12 – Norm Cash, 51, first baseman who appeared in just 71 games with the Chicago White White Sox from 1958 to 1959 before becoming a fixture of the Detroit Tigers for the next 15 years, winning the American League batting title with a.361 average in 1961 and gaining a World Series ring in 1968, being selected to five All-Star Games, collecting 40 home runs and 132 RBI in 1961, 30 or more homers four more times and at least 20 in six seasons, as he holds Tigers career defensive records at first base in games, putouts, assists, double plays and fielding average, while his 373 home runs with the Tigers rank second in franchise history behind Al Kaline.
  • October 15 – Larry Kopf, 95, shortstop who played with four different teams in a span of ten seasons from 1913 to 1923, as well as a member of the 1919 World Series Champions Reds, whose greatest single feat came at Weeghman Park in 1917, when he broke up the famous double no-hit game pitched by Hippo Vaughn of the Chicago Cubs and Fred Toney of the Reds, as Kopf hit a one-out single in the 10th inning, advanced to second base on an error by center fielder Cy Williams, and later scored on an infield hit by legendary Jim Thorpe, being able to beat the throw to home plate and score the game's only run, while Toney completed his no-hitter in the bottom of the inning for a 1–0 Reds victory.
  • October 19 – George Pipgras, 86, American League starting pitcher, umpire and scout, who played for the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox over 11 seasons spanning 1923–1935, leading the American League with 24 wins, 38 starts and innings in 1928, also winning four World Series rings with the Yankees between 1923 and 1932, while umpiring from 1939 to 1945, including officiating in the 1944 World Series as well as the 1940 All-Star Game, finishing his baseball career supervising umpires from 1946 to 1949 and working as a scout for the Red Sox.
  • October 23 – Paul Gehrman, 74, pitcher for the 1937 Cincinnati Reds.
  • October 26 – Ed Holley, 87, pitcher who played with the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates over part of four seasons spanning 1928–1934.

November

  • November 3 – John Middleton, 86, pitcher for the Cleveland Indians in its 1922 season.
  • November 10 – Doc Sykes, 94, pitcher in the Negro leagues and Black baseball between 1914 and 1924; became a dentist and practiced in Alabama and Maryland after his playing career.
  • November 12 – Rocky Stone, 68, pitcher who played for the Cincinnati Reds in 1943.
  • November 12 – Joe Strong, 84, pitcher/outfielder and graduate of Wilberforce University who appeared for eight Negro leagues teams between 1922 and 1937; twice led his circuit's pitchers in earned run average, and batted.268 lifetime.
  • November 13 – Dixie Upright, 60, slugging minor league first baseman who made nine appearances as a pinch-hitter by the St. Louis Browns in 1953, going 2-for-8 with a home run, one RBI and three runs scored.
  • November 13 – Les Webber, 71. pitcher who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cleveland Indians in part of six seasons spanning 1942–1948.
  • November 30 – Roy Bruner, 69, one of many ballplayers who interrupted their careers to serve during wartime, pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1939 through 1941 before becoming a bomber pilot with the rank of lieutenant, flying in 50 missions in Europe while being shut down on at least one occasion.

December

  • December 3 – Bob Moorhead, 48, original New York Met and the second pitcher in franchise history, relieving starter Roger Craig in the fourth inning on Opening Day, April 11, 1962; appeared in 38 games for the hapless 1962 Mets and nine more for the 1965 edition.
  • December 5 – George Abrams, 87, pitcher who made three relief appearances for the Cincinnati Reds in its 1923 season.
  • December 7 – John Bogart, 86, pitcher who played with the Detroit Tigers in 1920.
  • December 8 – Pip Koehler, 84, part-time outfielder for the 1925 New York Giants.
  • December 10 – Si Burick, 77, sportswriter for the Dayton Daily News for 58 years, who covered the Cincinnati Reds and became the first writer from a non-major league city to be honored by the Hall of Fame with the J. G. Taylor Spink Award.
  • December 12 – Johnny Wyrostek, 67, two-time All-Star outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds over 11 seasons between 1942 and 1954.
  • December 16 – Jake Caulfield, 69, backup shortstop for the 1946 Philadelphia Athletics.
  • December 18 – Bill Shanner, 92, pitcher who made one appearance for the Philadelphia Athletics in its 1920 season.
  • December 19 – Al Stokes, 86, catcher who played from 1925 to 1926 for the Boston Red Sox.
  • December 20 – Joe DeSa, 27, Puerto Rican first baseman who played with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1980 and for the Chicago White Sox in 1985.
  • December 23 – Dan Wilson, 71, five-time All-Star as an outfielder for five Negro leagues clubs between 1936 and 1947; brother of Emmett Wilson.
  • December 27 – Jack Wallaesa, 67 part-time shortstop for the Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago White Sox in a span of five seasons from 1940 to 1948.
  • December 28 – Harry Else, 80, catcher for the Memphis Red Sox, Kansas City Monarchs and Chicago American Giants of the Negro leagues between 1932 and 1940.
  • December 31 – Provine Bradley, 79, pitcher/second baseman/outfielder for the Cincinnati Tigers and Memphis Red Sox of the Negro American League in 1937–1938.