Whether from a baseball history standpoint or as a collector, I enjoyed this article in the Chron…
Some factoids from the article:
Of the 685 players/managers represented in the 787-card set, 238 (35%) have died while 447 (65%) are still living
Among players only it’s 33% and 67% respectively
The only managers still living are Bill Virdon, Ken Aspromonte and Dave Bristol
The first death of anyone pictured in the set was Mets manager Gil Hodges who died of a heart attack even before the '72 season began
Six players in the set died while their careers were still active: Clemente, Don Wilson, Bob Moose (car accident), Dan Frisella (dune buggy accident), Danny Thompson (leukemia) and Thurman Munson
Oldest living player is Willie Mays at 90 while the youngest living player is ex-Astro Mike Ivie at 68
Besides Mays others living to see 90 were managers Red Schoendienst, Frank Lucchesi, Ralph Houk and Virdon
59 of the deaths or 25% were from cancer
37 of the deaths or 16% were from heart disease
2 deaths (Grant Jackson, Lindy McDaniel) were directly related to COVID-19 while for 2 others with dementia (Jay Johnstone, Tom Seaver) it was a contributing factor [I wasn’t even aware until now that Jay Johnstone had even passed away]
Not surprisingly given the ages of these men deaths are now spiking with 20 passing away in 2020 and 15 already having died in 2021
And just out of curiosity, who among you besides myself still even has a subscription to the Chron?
I get the Austin paper, but I’m about to change to internet only. They still do some good stuff locally, but the quality has gone completely in the crapper, mostly since it became part of USA Today.
Coffee and physical newspaper in the morning has been a routine of mine for a long time, I’ll miss it.
Cool article. That was during my collection intermission for cards … It seemed too juvenile for an army sergeant. I sure remember the players, though. And number 3 on his list (John Bateman) brought back one of my favorite baseball memories. I do not recall the date or even the year, but the radio call of him failing to score from third on a double is seared in my memory.
The Austin paper outsourced its printing to another town (SA?) several years ago so coffee and two-day old news were not appealing to me. I dropped home delivery a couple of years ago and read online.
I last subscribed to the Amnesiac Spaceman in 2012, though at the time it was due to my carrier’s inability to deliver the thing before 7:00 in the morning.