Played & Died During The Same Season

[webmaster]

Today I was asked on Baseball Almanac, "Why did the 1932 Pittsburg Pirates where a black armband?" I advised I had no idea and sent them here to ask a Pirates expert. But I did check to see if anybody from the Pirates had passed away in 1932 who had also played in 1932. Nothing matched, but I was still curious about similar situations.

The list below includes each player who passed away in the same exact season they were playing in or had played in. This DOES NOT include players who died after the following year (finished season in October, but passing away in January / February / March), just those who passed away during the same calendar year.

Played & Died In The Same Calendar Year

Died : Name

1955 : Agganis, Harry
1967 : Bond, Walt
1949 : Bonham, Tiny
1978 : Bostock, Lyman
1930 : Carlson, Hal
1920 : Chapman, Ray
1972 : Clemente, Roberto
1892 : Collins, Hub
1891 : Daily, Ed
1924 : Daubert, Jake
1903 : Delahanty, Ed
1902 : Donahue, Tim
1933 : Finn, Neal
1956 : Gastall, Tom
1925 : Goodwin, Marv
1937 : Hatter, Clyde
1940 : Hershberger, Willard
1970 : Hill, Herman
2002 : Kile, Darryl
1935 : Koenecke, Len
1907 : Leary, Frank
1920 : Leonard, Joe
1929 : Lerian, Walt
1922 : McHenry, Austin
1901 : McJames, Doc
1887 : McKinnon, Alex
1976 : Moose, Bob
1979 : Munson, Thurman
1956 : Peete, Charlie
1909 : Powers, Doc
1902 : Prentiss, George
1909 : Sebring, Jimmy
1928 : Shocker, Urban
1891 : Smalley, Will
1976 : Thompson, Danny
1965 : Wantz, Dick
1890 : Williams, Gus
1993 : Young, Cliff

Hope you found this to be interesting in a sad kind of way...

Sean
Baseball Almanac
"Where what happened yesterday is being preserved today."

[Weasel1956]

Interesting list....I think Clemente and Munson's deaths hurt the most of any in my lifetime.

[comish4lif]

Played & Died During The Same Calendar Year

If you could expand that list to include players who died in the offseason following a season in which they played, I can come up with three more that fall in the first week of January:

01 Jan 77: Danny Frisiella - MIL (Dune Buggy Accident)
05 Jan 75: Don Wilson - HOU (Apparent siucide)
06 Jan 77: Mike Miley - CAL (Auto accident)

[cubbieinexile]

Here is an article about some of those guys and others.

http://www.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/news/mlb_news.jsp?ymd=20020622&content_id=59906&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp

[wprsnpr99]

STL faithful should all mention - DK - Darryl Kile.

The freakish part of his death (in 2002) was that the last game he pitched was in STL...when the Angels came to town...and the Cardinals moved into first in the division...and Jack Buck also passed away - as if he was waiting for his Cardinals to move into first and couldn't until the "angels" came to town and his Cardinals were in first

[MikeCameronFAN]

Does Mike Darr not count because he died during spring training?

[csh19792001]

Lyman Bostock was murdered (shot and killed) in a car in Gary, Indiana. His father had been a great Negro League player. I read the perpetrator was charged with murder but pleaded insanity.

» September 23, 1978: The Angels 27-year-old OF Lyman Bostock, a .311 lifetime hitter, is killed by a shotgun blast while riding in a car in Gary, IN. The shot was meant for one of the other passengers in the car.

» June 20, 1980: Leonard Smith, the man who killed Angels outfielder Lyman Bostock with a shotgun blast on September 23, 1978, but was later acquitted of the crime by reason of insanity, is released from Logansport State Hospital and allowed to return to his home in Gary, IN, because psychiatrists say he is no longer mentally ill.

[curtschilling]

I remember a few years ago there was a player on baltimore who died of ephedra.

[Atlanta Braves Freak]

Steve Bechler was the Orioles pitcher who died of a heat stroke from the use of Ephedra. His family sued the company for $500 million and won the case!
How would you use $500 million?

[eephus75]

senseless loss...

Dernell Stenson played 37 games for the Cincinnati Reds in 2003. A top prospect who had seen AA, AAA and the majors all in one season, he had hit a home run in the Reds last game. The Reds sent Stenson to the AFL, where he played for the Scotsdale Scorpions. He was murdered (apparently for his car) during the AFL season, 11/5/2003.

[MrRuss]

What about the Indians pitchers? They lost a couple in a boating accident (I think I remember Ojeda surviving that) and then I think Mike Hill (?) died in a car accident trying to light a cigarette.

[tulsacubfan]

If you could expand that list to include players who died in the offseason following a season in which they played, I can come up with three more

And:

13 Feb 64: Ken Hubbs - CHC (plane crash)

[Undefined]

STL faithful should all mention - DK - Darryl Kile.

I was at his last game and have a completed scorecard. It is very special to me.

[Big_Mac]

STL faithful should all mention - DK - Darryl Kile.

he was one of my favorites, i was absoluty shocked when i heard he died.

[Zito75]

What about the Indians pitchers? They lost a couple in a boating accident (I think I remember Ojeda surviving that) and then I think Mike Hill (?) died in a car accident trying to light a cigarette.

The Indians pitchers were Steve Olin and Tim Crews. They were both decapitated when their boat slammed into a dock while they were drinking and boating at night. Tragic.