RIP for non-HoFers 2022

[bluesky5]

RIP Fred Valentine

In 1966, Griffith Stadium was the home of the Washington Senators. It was most often described as quite large, at least big enough to keep any Senator player in 1966 from reaching the 20 HR mark. Frank Howard led the team with 18 in his 146 games that year. Fred Valentine also played 146 games that year, and had his best season as a reserve outfielder. His stats must be considered in the context of that large park and that era. Valentine was second on the team in BA and HRs to Frank Howard that season. His 29 doubles, 7 triples, and 16 dingers combined with 22 steals and a .276 BA to leave him with a few MVP votes.

Obituaries also mention he excelled in football, but chose baseball once given the option out of school.

RIP Fred Valentine

Didn’t the second iteration of the Senators play exclusively at RFK?

[That_guy]

Gotta admit to an oversight there. Still, RFK brought big outfields too. The two parks were similar. Although CF was 10' shorter, it was still 410'. Frank Howard learned how to hit his jacks at RFK, but had trouble in 1966.

[bluesky5]

Gotta admit to an oversight there. Still, RFK brought big outfields too. The two parks were similar. Although CF was 10' shorter, it was still 410'. Frank Howard learned how to hit his jacks at RFK, but had trouble in 1966.

I went back and checked and it turned out they did play their first year at Griffith Stadium. I never knew that. Pretty cool

[Jar of Flies]

RIP:

Stefan Weaver: https://ripbaseball.com/2023/01/06/o...ver-1958-2022/

Tom Flanigan: https://ripbaseball.com/2022/12/23/o...gan-1934-2022/

Buddy Harris:

https://ripbaseball.com/2022/12/13/obituary-buddy-harris-1948-2022/

[milladrive]

RIP:

Stefan Weaver: https://ripbaseball.com/2023/01/06/o...ver-1958-2022/

Tom Flanigan: https://ripbaseball.com/2022/12/23/o...gan-1934-2022/

Buddy Harris:
https://ripbaseball.com/2022/12/13/o...ris-1948-2022/

Some good catches, and a really nice resource. They're always sad acknowledgements, but I like that we strive to be as complete as possible.

[That_guy]

RIP Ray Herbert

Since his passing occurred Dec 20th, he is listed as part of this thread. Thank you Jar Of Flies for the headsup.

Ray Herbert was a teammate of Gary Peters while part of the White Sox' rotation in 1963. As stated in the post over Peters' demise just recently, Peters' ROY 1963 season left him the ace of that staff. However, Herbert would have been considered the ace in the Spring Training season of '63, coming off of his 20-9 season. He was an Allstar in '62, with 12 CGs and a 3.27 ERA. Keeping the ball in the ballpark was Herbert's forte, for he led the league with 0.5 HRs per 9 in '62, and repeated that number in '63. This fact helped Herbert finish 1963 with a league leading 7 shutouts, and an ERA of 3.24.

By those two seasons, Herbert was a veteran pitcher. As hinted in the Peters' post, maybe it was Herbert who helped Peters turn the corner as a rookie. That would be anyone's guess at this point.

Ray Herbert pitched batting practice for several decades in his retirement. His arrival in the majors is best summarized in the following paragraph from the link below:
Herbert was a part of a generation of Detroiters who flocked to the diamonds of the city’s historic Northwestern Field, a sandlot that turned out players such as Willie Horton, Bill Freehan and Frank Tanana. It was famed Tigers scout “Wish” Egan who spotted Herbert and his older brother, Donald, on the field so loaded with talent that sponsors, reporters and scouts alike were in attendance.

https://apnews.com/article/mlb-sports-oakland-athletics-philadelphia-phillies-detroit-tigers-5ed4d8f89cf1969a7ed5efb6396db5bd

That is the kind of remembrance which makes reading obits a morbid pleasure.

RIP Ray Herbert