Posting the piece about Lenny Randle reminded me of those end-of-year tributes by many outlets recalling the celebrities who passed away during the year. With that in mind, I thought it was appropriate to look back at the baseball figures who deaths were acknowledged on the Bookshelf. Note that the list includes a couple of people who were not players but to whom baseball was an important part of their lives.
- Bud Harrelson
- Jim McAndrew
- Jerry Grote
- Fritz Peterson
- Carl Erskine, Whitey Herzog, and Ken Holtzman
- Paul Auster
- Willie Mays
- Orlando Cepeda
- Bob Newhart
- Billy Bean
- Don Wert and Mike Cubbage
- James Earl Jones
- Ed Kranepool
- Pete Rose
- Fernando Valenzuela
- Joey Jay and Rudy May
- Rico Carty and Al Ferarra
- Rickey Henderson
- Lenny Randle
Sadly interesting that nine — a full lineup — of the dearly departed were members of the New York Mets at one point during their careers.
The only person on this list with whom I had any connection was Fritz Peterson. Here’s what I wrote on his post:
I met Peterson a few times later in his life. He self-published two books — Mickey Mantle is Going to Heaven and When the Yankees Were on the Fritz: Revisiting the Horace Clarke Years — and was at Yankees Fantasy Camp when I was reporting on a special Jewish program for the NJ Jewish News.
If memory serves (and it sometimes doesn’t), I had a hand in setting up a meeting between Peterson and veteran sportswriter Maury Allen, who first reported on the “trade” between the lefty pitcher and teammate Mike Kekich. Needless to say, it was quite the to-do and Allen became persona non grata to Peterson. I had done a story about Allen when he moved to Cedar Grove, NJ and we developed a friendship that was all too brief (Allen passed away in 2010). During that time, I told him that Peterson was coming to the Yogi Berra Museum (see “Author Appearance” below) to promote his first book. Wouldn’t it be nice to come by and clear the air? To my surprise, Allen agreed and it turned out to be quite a charming scene.
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