1985 in baseball

Major League Baseball

World Series: Kansas City Royals over St. Louis Cardinals (4-3); Bret Saberhagen, MVP

American League Championship Series MVP: George Brett

National League Championship Series MVP: Ozzie Smith

All-Star Game, July 16 at the Metrodome: National League, 6-1; LaMarr Hoyt, MVP

Other champions

Caribbean World Series: Tigres del Licey (Dominican Republic)

College World Series: Miami (Florida)

Japan Series: Hanshin Tigers over Seibu Lions (4-2)

Little League World Series: Seoul National, Seoul, South Korea

Awards and honors

Most Valuable Player

Don Mattingly, New York Yankees, 1B (AL)

Willie McGee, St. Louis Cardinals, OF (NL)

Cy Young Award

Bret Saberhagen, Kansas City Royals (AL)

Dwight Gooden, New York Mets (NL)

Rookie of the Year

Ozzie Guillén, Chicago White Sox, SS (AL)

Vince Coleman, St. Louis Cardinals, OF (NL)

Manager of the Year Award

Bobby Cox, Toronto Blue Jays (AL)

Whitey Herzog, St. Louis Cardinals (NL)

Woman Executive of the Year (major or minor league): Frances Crockett, Charlotte Orioles, Southern League

MLB statistical leaders

¹Major League Triple Crown Pitching Winner

January–April

January 7 – Outfielder Lou Brock and knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, with Wilhelm becoming the first relief pitcher ever selected. Second baseman Nellie Fox is named on 295 of the 395 ballots (74.7%), but the BBWAA and the Hall of Fame committee decline to round Fox's percentage to the necessary 75%.

March 6 – Enos Slaughter and Arky Vaughan are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee.

March 28 – The April 1 issue of Sports Illustrated comes out, including George Plimpton's hoax article on Sidd Finch.

April 11 – Gorman Thomas hits three home runs and drives in six runs to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 14–6 victory over the Oakland Athletics.

April 28 – Only hours after being swept by the Chicago White Sox in a three-game series at Comiskey Park, the New York Yankees fire Yogi Berra as manager 16 games into the season. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner does not fire Berra personally, but instead dispatches general manager Clyde King to deliver the news for him. Berra is replaced by Billy Martin, whom he replaced as manager after the 1983 season. It is the fourth of Martin's five stints as Yankee skipper. Berra vows after the slight to never again set foot in Yankee Stadium as long as Steinbrenner owns the team.

May–August

May 13 – Against the Philadelphia Phillies at Riverfront Stadium, Tony Pérez of the Cincinnati Reds becomes the oldest player to hit a grand slam. The shot comes in the sixth inning off Dave Rucker with Dave Concepción, Ron Oester and Dave Van Gorder on base and breaks a 3-3 tie; the Reds win by that 7-3 score. Pérez, who will celebrate his 43rd birthday the next day, breaks Honus Wagner's 70-year record as the oldest player to hit a grand slam; Wagner had done so on July 29, 1915, at 41 years, 5 months.

May 20 - 44-year old player-manager Pete Rose hits his first home run since 1982 in a 6-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs. Ironically, Rose would later hit his final career home run, also against the Cubs, on in a 7-5 win on September 6.

June 11 – In a 26-7 romp over the New York Mets, Von Hayes of the Philadelphia Phillies becomes the first player in MLB history to hit two home runs in the first inning of a game. Hayes leads off the bottom of the first with a homer, then hits a grand slam later in the frame. They are the only two home runs hit in the high-scoring affair.

July 2 – Pitcher Joe Niekro of the Houston Astros wins his 200th career game, 3–2 over the San Diego Padres. Joe and Phil Niekro join Jim Perry and Gaylord Perry as the only pitching brother combinations to each win at least 200 games.

July 4–5 – In a bizarre game at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, the New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 16-13 in a 19-inning contest that features Keith Hernandez hitting for the cycle, Mets manager Davey Johnson being ejected, and the Braves coming back to tie the game twice in extra innings, most notably in the bottom of the 18th. Pitcher Rick Camp, a career .074 hitter batting only because the Braves have no position players left, shockingly hits a solo home run in the 18th to re-tie the game at 11-11. At the end of the game, even though the date/time is July 5, 3:15 am, the Braves go ahead and shoot off their scheduled Fourth of July post-game fireworks for the fans who endure to the end. Ironically, Camp struck out to end the game.

July 11 – The Houston Astros' Nolan Ryan becomes the first pitcher to record 4,000 strikeouts, fanning Danny Heep in the sixth inning of Houston's 4–3 win over the New York Mets.

July 15 – Dave Parker wins the first annual All-Star Home Run Derby.

July 16 – The National League beats the American League 6–1 at Minnesota's Metrodome for its 13th win in the last 14 All-Star Games. The San Diego Padres' LaMarr Hoyt allows one unearned run in three innings and is named MVP.

July 20 – Darryl Strawberry collects seven RBIs in the New York Mets' 16-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves at Shea Stadium.

July 23 – At Arlington Stadium, Oddibe McDowell becomes the first Texas Ranger to hit for the cycle as the Rangers defeat the Cleveland Indians 8-4.

August 4

The New York Yankees celebrate "Phil Rizzuto Day" at Yankee Stadium, and retire Rizzuto's number 10.

Tom Seaver of the Chicago White Sox records his 300th career win over the Yankees, regardless of Rizzuto's prediction that the Yankees would deny him that victory.

Rod Carew of the California Angels gets his 3000th career hit; a double off the Minnesota Twins' Frank Viola.

August 5 – Darryl Strawberry hits 3 home runs helping the New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs 7-2.

August 6 & 7 – All parks go dark for a brief strike. All missed games are made up before the season ends.

August 15 – Cal Ripken hits his 100th career home run helping Baltimore Orioles beat the Texas Rangers 9-1.

August 20 – Dwight Gooden strikes out a season high 16 in a 3-0 complete game victory over the San Francisco Giants.

August 25 – With a 9-3 victory over the San Diego Padres, Dwight Gooden becomes the first New York Mets twenty game winner since Jerry Koosman in 1976. It is his 17th victory in a row.

September–December

September 3 – At Tiger Stadium, Reggie Jackson of the California Angels becomes the first player to hit 100 home runs for three different teams. He hits the milestone home run off Detroit Tiger Bob Stoddard in the ninth inning of the Angels' 14-8 loss; he had homered off Dan Petry earlier in the game, in the fourth inning. Jackson had hit 269 home runs with the Kansas City/Oakland Athletics and 144 with the New York Yankees.

September 8 – Pete Rose inserts himself into the Cincinnati Reds' lineup as a late addition, and picks up two singles, the second of which gives him 4,191 hits in his career, tying him with Ty Cobb for the career record. Being that the game is at Wrigley Field, the game is eventually called because of darkness after nine innings, resulting in a rare 5-5 tie.

September 11 – Eric Show of the San Diego Padres goes down in history for pitching Pete Rose's historic 4,192nd career hit; a line drive single to center field. It breaks the tie for the career record which Rose shares with Ty Cobb since September 8.

September 22 – At a hotel bar in Baltimore, the New York Yankees' pitcher Ed Whitson and manager Billy Martin get into a heated argument that spreads to other parts of the hotel. An ensuing fistfight results in Martin suffering a broken arm and bruised right side, while Whitson suffers a cracked rib and a split lip.

September 24 – At Wrigley Field, Andre Dawson of the Montreal Expos (a future Cub) joins Willie McCovey as the only players to hit two home runs in the same inning twice in their careers. The two home runs come in a 12-run fifth inning that gives the Expos a 15-2 lead against the Chicago Cubs. The Expos hold on to win 17-15 after nearly squandering the 13-run lead, as the Cubs score 13 runs in the last four innings, including five in the ninth; the final out is recorded with the tying run at bat. Dawson also hit two home runs in the third inning of the Expos' 19-0 pounding of the Atlanta Braves at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium on July 30, 1978.

October 1 – Ron Darling and John Tudor duel for nine and ten innings, respectively, in this crucial series opener between the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. An 11th inning solo home run by Darryl Strawberry off Ken Dayley is the deciding factor in the Mets' 1-0 victory at Busch Stadium.

October 6 – Phil Niekro of the New York Yankees becomes the second pitcher this year to record his 300th career win, in a 6-0 shutout of the Toronto Blue Jays.

October 19 – Once he took the field for the Royals in Game 1 of the 1985 World Series, Lonnie Smith became the first player in major league history to play in the World Series against a team (St. Louis Cardinals) that traded him away during that same season.

October 27 – The Kansas City Royals burn out the St. Louis Cardinals 11–0 in Game Seven of the 1985 World Series to become only the sixth team to rally from a 3-1 deficit and win the WS. Bret Saberhagen pitches the shutout and wins the Series MVP honors.

October 27 – New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner dismisses manager Billy Martin for the fourth time. Hired to replace him is rookie manager and former Yankees player Lou Piniella.

November 2 – The Hanshin Tigers defeat the Seibu Lions 9-3 in Game Six of the 1985 Japan Series to notch their only Japan Series win in franchise history. Tigers' first baseman and triple crown winner Randy Bass is named Japan Series MVP batting .368 with 3 HR and 9 RBI.

November 15 – The Boston Red Sox trade Bob Ojeda, Tom McCarthy, John Mitchell and Chris Bayer to the New York Mets for Calvin Schiraldi, John Christensen, Wes Gardner and La Schelle Tarver.

November 25 – Chicago White Sox shortstop Ozzie Guillén, who hits .273 and has just 12 errors in 150 games, is named American League Rookie of the Year. Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Teddy Higuera, who posts a 15-8 record with 127 strikeouts and a 3.90 ERA, finishes second in voting.

November 27 – Vince Coleman, who steals 110 bases for the St. Louis Cardinals, joins Frank Robinson (1956), Orlando Cepeda (1958) and Willie McCovey (1960) as the only unanimous winners of the National League Rookie of the Year Award.

Movies

The Slugger's Wife

January

January 4 – Scott Sizemore

January 7 – José García

January 8 – Matt LaPorta

January 10 – Samuel Gervacio

January 12 – Chris Hatcher

January 16 – Junior Guerra

January 16 – Jeff Manship

January 17 – Emmanuel Burriss

January 17 – Jai Miller

January 20 – Fabio Castro

January 20 – Luis Pérez

January 22 – Scott Cousins

January 23 – Jeff Samardzija

January 24 – Niuman Romero

January 24 – Jay Sborz

January 25 – Shane Lindsay

January 28 – Wesley Wright

February

February 1 – Colin Curtis

February 1 – Elian Herrera

February 2 – Scott Maine

February 5 – Eric O'Flaherty

February 8 – Félix Pie

February 12 – Cole De Vries

February 13 – Logan Ondrusek

February 14 – Tyler Clippard

February 15 – Russ Mitchell

February 16 – Clint Robinson

February 19 – Danny Otero

February 20 – Vinnie Pestano

February 20 – Ryan Sweeney

February 25 – Xavier Paul

March

March 2 – Bud Norris

March 2 – Brandon Wood

March 4 – Cory Luebke

March 4 – Michael McKenry

March 5 – Brad Mills

March 9 – Brian Bocock

March 9 – Jesse Litsch

March 12 – P. J. Walters

March 14 – Steven Hill

March 15 – Jon Jay

March 17 – César Valdez

March 20 – Jonny Venters

March 22 – Justin Masterson

March 28 – Mark Melancon

March 30 – Dan Runzler

April

April 1 – Daniel Murphy

April 3 – Mike McClendon

April 3 – Luis Martínez

April 5 – Lastings Milledge

April 5 – Héctor Olivera

April 5 – Ian Stewart

April 8 – Juan Abreu

April 8 – Matt Antonelli

April 9 – David Robertson

April 10 – Jonathan Diaz

April 10 – Clayton Mortensen

April 12 – Brennan Boesch

April 12 – Adonis García

April 15 – John Danks

April 15 – Aaron Laffey

April 23 – Emilio Bonifacio

April 24 – Ryan Reid

April 26 – Sean Rodriguez

April 28 – John Gaub

April 29 – Chad Huffman

May

May 2 – José Ascanio

May 2 – Jarrod Saltalamacchia

May 3 – Nate Spears

May 10 – Luis Atilano

May 13 – David Hernandez

May 15 – Jim Adduci

May 17 – Todd Redmond

May 18 – Andrew Carpenter

May 20 – Toru Murata

May 21 – Andrew Miller

May 22 – Rick van den Hurk

May 23 – Michael Dunn

May 23 – Matt McBride

May 25 – Brad Lincoln

May 25 – Eric Young

May 26 – Kevin Mulvey

May 26 – Lance Zawadzki

May 30 – Fernando Salas

May 30 – Tony Watson

June

June 3 – Lucas Harrell

June 6 – Trystan Magnuson

June 13 – Pedro Strop

June 15 – Michael Fiers

June 18 – Chris Coghlan

June 19 – Blake Parker

June 20 – Brooks Brown

June 25 – Daniel Bard

June 27 – Steve Edlefsen

June 28 – Colt Hynes

June 30 – Pat Venditte

July

July 1 – Chris Perez

July 3 – Greg Reynolds

July 4 – Jared Hughes

July 7 – Leyson Séptimo

July 15 – David Carpenter

July 18 – Ramiro Peña

July 19 – Ernesto Frieri

July 19 – Evan Scribner

July 21 – Wei-Yin Chen

July 21 – Rob Wooten

July 22 – Denis Phipps

July 25 – Alex Presley

July 26 – Mat Gamel

July 28 – Henry Sosa

July 30 – Dylan Axelrod

August

August 1 – Cole Kimball

August 1 – Adam Jones

August 5 – Travis Denker

August 8 – Deunte Heath

August 8 – Blake Wood

August 12 – Zack Cozart

August 12 – Jhonatan Solano

August 13 – Scott Elbert

August 14 – Esmil Rogers

August 14 – Chris Valaika

August 16 – Daric Barton

August 16 – Matt Harrison

August 19 – Josh Fields

August 20 – Blake DeWitt

August 20 – Matt Hague

August 22 – Ryan Feierabend

August 22 – Sandy Rosario

August 24 – Christian Garcia

August 24 – Anthony Ortega

August 26 – Eric Fryer

August 26 – Darin Mastroianni

August 26 – David Price

August 29 – Marc Rzepczynski

September

September 3 – Chris Nelson

September 3 – Troy Patton

September 4 – David Herndon

September 5 – Tyler Colvin

September 6 – Mitch Moreland

September 7 – Wade Davis

September 10 – Matt Angle

September 10 – Anthony Swarzak

September 10 – Neil Walker

September 11 – Bobby Cassevah

September 13 – Lucas French

September 14 – Brandon Hicks

September 14 – Delmon Young

September 17 – Greg Golson

September 17 – Eric Hurley

September 17 – B. J. Rosenberg

September 19 – Gio Gonzalez

September 20 – Ian Desmond

September 20 – Kevin Mattison

September 21 – Antonio Bastardo

September 23 – Joba Chamberlain

September 25 – Brad Bergesen

September 25 – Bo Schultz

September 27 – Pedro Ciriaco

September 30 – Dan Robertson

September 30 – Jamie Romak

September 30 – Danny Worth

October

October 1 – Mitch Atkins

October 1 – Darren Ford

October 1 – Jeremy Horst

October 6 – Andrew Albers

October 7 – Evan Longoria

October 7 – Kris Medlen

October 8 – Cody Eppley

October 10 – Yoennis Céspedes

October 16 – Enerio Del Rosario

October 17 – José De La Torre

October 17 – Carlos González

October 23 – Sam Demel

October 25 – Wilkin Ramírez

October 27 – Kyle Waldrop

October 31 – Javy Guerra

October 31 – Andrew Parrino

November

November 1 – Paulo Orlando

November 2 – Daryl Thompson

November 4 – Joe Savery

November 5 – Jarrett Grube

November 6 – Corey Brown

November 7 – Mitch Harris

November 8 – Darwin Barney

November 13 – Asdrúbal Cabrera

November 15 – Duane Below

November 18 – Bruce Billings

November 19 – Brad Harman

November 20 – Chuckie Fick

November 20 – Greg Holland

November 22 – Adam Ottavino

November 23 – Pedro Figueroa

November 26 – Matt Carpenter

November 26 – Jhonny Núñez

November 30 – Luis Valbuena

December

December 1 – Eddy Rodríguez

December 4 – Andrew Brackman

December 4 – Carlos Gómez

December 8 – Robbie Weinhardt

December 12 – Josh Donaldson

December 17 – Fernando Abad

December 19 – Michael Taylor

December 21 – Ed Easley

December 21 – Matt Mangini

December 21 – Brian Schlitter

December 22 – Daniel Stange

December 24 – Andrew Romine

December 26 – Chris Carpenter

December 30 – Sean Gallagher

December 31 – Evan Reed

January

January 16 – Ken Chase, 71, pitcher for the Washington Senators, Boston Red Sox and New York Giants between 1936 and 1943

January 28 – Bobby Young, 60, second baseman who hit .248 in an eight-year career with the Cardinals, Browns, Orioles and Indians from 1948–58

January 30 – Joe Bradshaw, 87, pitcher for the 1929 Brooklyn Robins

February

February 10 – Johnny Mokan, 89, outfielder who hit .291 in 582 games for the Pirates and Phillies between 1921 and 1927

February 12 – Van Lingle Mungo, 73, All-Star pitcher whose antics delighted Brooklyn Dodgers fans; led NL in strikeouts, shutouts and innings once each

February 17 – George Washington, 77, outfielder who hit .268 with two home runs for the Chicago White Sox from 1935–36

February 20 – Syl Johnson (baseball), 84, pitcher who posted a 112-117 record with four different teams, and a member of the 1931 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals

February 26 – George Uhle, 86, pitcher for the Indians and Tigers who won 200 games and is credited with having developed the slider pitch in the 1920s; also batted .289, one of the highest averages for a pitcher

March

March 1 – George Banks, 46, third baseman/outfielder who hit .219 in 106 games for the Twins and Indians from 1962 to 1966

March 8 – Al Todd, 83, catcher for the Phillies, Pirates, Dodgers and Cubs between 1932 and 1943

March 10 – Bob Nieman, 58, left fielder for six teams who batted .300 twice for the Orioles; first player to hit home runs in his first two major league at-bats, later a scout

March 17 – Ike Pearson, 68, pitcher who played for the Phillies and White Sox between 1939 and 1948

March 25 – Curt Barclay, 53, pitcher who posted a 10-9 record with a 3.48 for the Giants from 1957 to 1959

March 25 – Joe Wood, 65, infielder who played briefly for the 1943 Detroit Tigers

April

April 8 – Joe Sullivan, 74, knuckleball pitcher for three teams from to 1935 to 1941, and a member of the 1935 World Champion Detroit Tigers

April 16 – Benny Zientara, 67, second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds in the 1940s

April 23 – Bob Wilson, 60, right fielder for the 1958 Los Angeles Dodgers

April 23 – Whitey Wistert, 73, pitcher for the 1934 Cincinnati Reds, and a World War II veteran

May

May 4 – Bill Kunkel, 48, AL umpire since 1968 who worked two World Series and four ALCS; previously a relief pitcher for the Athletics and Yankees, and father of major league shortstop Jeff Kunkel

May 5 – Joe Glenn, 76, catcher for the New York Yankees, St. Louis Browns and Boston Red Sox, who caught Babe Ruth during his last pitching game in 1933, and also caught Ted Williams in a rare relief appearance in 1940

May 6 – Kirby Higbe, 70, All-Star pitcher for five NL teams who won 22 games for the 1941 Brooklyn Dodgers

May 6 – Red Peery, 78, pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Braves between 1927 and 1929

May 11 – Bud Teachout, 81 pitcher and outfielder for the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals from 1930 to 1932

May 14 – Harry Byrd, 60, All-Star pitcher and Rookie of the Year in 1952, who posted a 46-54 career record with a 4.35 ERA for five teams of the American League

May 14 – Bill Morley, 95, second baseman for the 1913 Washington Senators

May 16 – Johnny Broaca, 73, pitcher who posted a 44-29 record with a 4.08 ERA in 121 games for the Yankees and Indians from 1934 to 1939

May 21 – Archie McKain, 74, left-handed reliever who posted a 26-21 record with a 4.26 ERA and 16 saves for the Red Sox, Tigers and Browns from 1937–43

May 21 – Grover Powell, 44, left-handed pitcher for the 1963 New York Mets, who hurled a four-hit shutout in his first start but was struck out in the face by a Donn Clendenon pitch in his next start and never won other game; his uniform #41, previously worn by Clem Labine, was retired by the Mets

May 23 – Whitey Wilshere, 72, pitcher who posted a 10-12 record with a 5.28 ERA for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1934 through 1936

May 29 – Billy Zitzmann, 89, outfielder who hit a .267 career average with Cincinnati and Pittsburgh between 1919 and 1929

May 31 – Jake Early, 70, catcher who hit .241 with 32 home runs and 264 RBI in 747 games for the Washington Senators and St. Louis Browns from 1939 to 1949

June

June 2 – Dorothy Mueller, 59, All-Star pitcher and a member of three champion teams of the AAGPBL from 1947 to 1953

June 10 – Bob Prince, 68, broadcaster for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1948 to 1975

June 23 – Alf Anderson, 71, pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the early 1940s

June 26 – Wes Schulmerich, 83, outfielder who hit .289 in 429 games with the Boston Braves, Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds from 1931 to 1934

July

July 2 – Guy Bush, 83, pitcher who won 176 games, most with the Chicago Cubs, but was best remembered for having given up Babe Ruth's last home run

July 14 – Larry Drake, 64, outfielder who played from 1945 through 1948 for the Washington Senators and Philadelphia Athletics

July 24 – Ted Kleinhans, 86, left handed reliever who posted a 4-9 record with a 5.08 ERA and one save for the Reds, Yankees and Phillies from 1934 to 1938

July 27 – Smoky Joe Wood, 95, pitcher for the Red Sox who posted a 34-5 record with an 1.91 ERA in 1912, and went on to win three games in the World Series against the New York Giants; after wearing out his arm by age 26 with a record of 117-57, returned as an outfielder with the Indians and batted .366 while platooning in 1921; later coached at Yale for 20 years

July 27 – Carl Yowell, 82, pitcher for the Cleveland Indians in the 1920s

August

August 3 – Cloy Mattox, 82, backup catcher who hit a .167 average for the 1929 Philadelphia Athletics

August 7 – Johnny Rucker, 68, center fielder who hit .272 in 705 games for the New York Giants from 1940-'46, leading his team in at-bats (622), hits (179), doubles (38), triples (9) and runs (95) during the 1941 season

August 15 – Sam Streeter, 84, Negro league baseball player

August 16 – Dick Drott, 49, pitcher for the Cubs and Colt .45s from 1957-'63, who posted a 15-11 record with a 3.58 in his season debut, ending third in the Rookie of the Year vote behind pitcher Jack Sanford (19-8, 3.08) and first baseman Ed Bouchee (.293, 17 HR, 76 RBI)

August 20 – Clarence Fieber, 71, left handed reliever for the 1932 Chicago White Sox

August 21 – Roy Luebbe, 84, backup catcher for the 1925 New York Yankees

August 25 – Dick Wakefield, 64, All-Star left fielder who played for the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees and New York Giants between 1941 and 1952

August 26 – Stu Clarke, 79, backup infielder who hit .273 in 61 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1929 to 1930

August 27 – Johnny Lindell, 68, 1943 All-Star outfielder, who hit .273 in a 12-year career, posted a 8-18 record with a 4.47 ERA as a pitcher, and won three World Series rings with the Yankees in 1943, 1947 and 1949

August 31 – Lefty Smoll, 71, pitcher for the 1940 Philadelphia Phillies

September

September 4 – Art Bramhall, 74, backup infielder for the 1935 Philadelphia Phillies

September 12 – Steamboat Struss, 76, pitcher for the 1934 Pittsburgh Pirates

October

October 9 – Tom Cooper, 58, Negro league baseball player

October 9 – Rusty Yarnall, 82, pitcher for the 1926 Philadelphia Athletics

October 14 – Ossie Bluege, 84, All-Star third baseman who played his entire 18-year career for the Washington Senators; later the team's manager, coach and farm director

October 17 – Bud Sheely, 64, backup catcher who hit .210 in 101 games for the Chicago White Sox from 1951 to 1953

October 20 – Hal Goldsmith, 87, pitcher who posted a 6-10 record with a 4.04 ERA for the Boston Braves and St. Louis Cardinals from 1926 to 1919

October 26 – Bob Scheffing, 72, backup catcher who hit .263 with 20 home runs and 187 RBI in 517 games for the Cubs, Reds and Cardinals between 1941 and 1951

November

November 11 – Roy Lee, 68, left handed pitcher for the 1945 New York Giants

November 11 – Frank Mulroney, 82, pitcher for the 1930 Boston Red Sox

November 12 – Augie Walsh, 81, pitcher who went 4-10 with the Philadelphia Phillies from 1927 to 1928

November 14 – Oscar Harstad, 93, pitcher who posted a 3-5 record with a 3.40 ERA in 32 games for the 1915 Cleveland Indians

November 14 – Luke Nelson, 91, relief pitcher who posted a 3-0 mark with a 2.96 ERA in nine appearances with the 1919 New York Yankees

November 15 – Riggs Stephenson, 87, left fielder who batted .336 lifetime while usually platooning, mainly with the Cubs

November 23 – Sam West, 81, All-Star center fielder for the Washington Senators and St. Louis Browns who batted .300 eight times

November 25 – Ray Jablonski, 58, All-Star third baseman, mainly with the Cardinals, Reds and Giants, who had 100 RBI in his first two seasons

November 26 – Monk Sherlock, 81, first baseman who hit .324 in 92 games for the 1930 Philadelphia Phillies

November 30 – Jim Grant, 91, pitcher for the 1923 Philadelphia Phillies

December

December 6 – Burleigh Grimes, 92, Hall of Fame pitcher, most notably for the Dodgers, who won 270 games with five 20-win seasons using the spitball, of which he was the last permitted practitioner; later a manager and coach

December 8 – Dave Madison, 64, relief pitcher who played from 1950 through 1953 for the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns and New York Yankees

December 8 – Bill Wambsganss, 91, second baseman for the Cleveland Indians, who made the only unassisted triple play in World Series history and later became a manager in the AAGPBL

December 14 – Roger Maris, 51, All-Star right fielder who hit 61 home runs in 1961 to break Babe Ruth's long-standing record, earning his second consecutive MVP award, but whose career faltered under the public stress accompanying the accomplishment

December 17 – Elmer Bowman, 88, pinch-hitter for the 1920 Washington Senators

December 17 – Ken O'Dea, 72, All-Star catcher who hit a .255 average with 40 home runs and 323 RBI in a 12-year career with three teams, and was a member of the St. Louis Cardinals teams that won the World Series in 1942 and 1944

December 21 – Joe Genewich, 88, pitcher who went 73-92 with the Boston Braves and New York Giants from 1922 to 1930, who led Major League pitchers with 17 putouts in the 1917 season

December 26 – Les Bell, 84, third baseman who hit .290 with 66 home runs and 509 RBI in a nine-season career with three teams, and a member of the 1926 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals

December 26 – Jim Bilbrey, 61, pitcher for the 1949 St. Louis Browns