DEATHS ; Notable Passings; The Thread to Pay Last Respects

[dhermann1]

Who didn't like Don Meredith? Nobody didn't like Don Meredith.
"Turn out the lights, the party's over."
RIP, dandy Don.

 

[Foofoogal]

Who didn't like Don Meredith? Nobody didn't like Don Meredith.

Really....RIP Don Meredith.

 

[Greyfox]

RIP Dandy Don.

 

[Tomasso]

[video=youtube;a3xsDv6yCnY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3xsDv6yCnY[/video]

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Elizabeth Edwards has passed away...
RIP

 

[Widebrim]

Elizabeth Edwards has passed away...
RIP

Sad. She battled six years with cancer, and quite some time with marital distress.

 

[Foofoogal]

Elizabeth Edwards Rest in Peace.

Very sad indeed.

 

[LizzieMaine]

One of the greatest baseball players of the 20th century, Cleveland Indians pitcher Bob Feller, has died at the age of 92.

Breaking into the American League in 1936 as a 17-year-old Iowa farm boy, Feller quickly established himself as a cultural phenomenon: in one of his first appearances, he struck out 17 batters, achieving such notoriety that his high school graduation was broadcast live over NBC radio. He quickly established a reputation as the most intimidating pitcher in the game, with a consistent fastball estimated at well over 95 miles per hour. He was well on his way to a Hall Of Fame career with the Indians when World War 2 interrupted his career. On December 8th 1941, Feller enlisted in the Navy, and insisted on being immediately assigned to combat duty. He served with distinction in the Pacific theatre, earning eight battle stars. He resumed his baseball career in 1946, continuing with the Indians for another decade. He never pitched an inning of minor league baseball, and he never pitched an inning for any other major league team but Cleveland.

After retiring, Feller remained an active spokesman for his team and for the game in general -- and an outspoken critic of the excesses and abuses of modern sports culture.

And until just a few years ago, he was still suiting up for the occasional exhibition or old-timers-game appearance -- with a still-respectable fastball.

 

[dhermann1]

I've always felt that Feller deserved a lot of consideration for greatest pitcher of all time. If you look at his career stats, 266 wins and 162 losses it's impressive enough. But factor in that he spent almost 4 years of his absolute prime in the service during WW II, his numbers look even better. He was winning an average of about 25 games a year going into 1942, so if you add maybe another 100 wins to that total, or even 85, he winds up with about 350 career wins. And this was without anything more powerful going into his system than Wheaties. And he was throwing huge numbers of innings, too. In 1946 he threw 371 innings! 36 complete games! And today guys who throw barely 200 innings and maybe 3 or 4 complete games are getting tens of millions of dollars.
Bob Feller was a giant. As they say, we will not see his like again.

 

[Tomasso]

So long, Rapid Robert.

 

[Greyfox]

A great one gone. RIP Mr. Feller.

 

[in/y]

Though growing up in a National League town (Philadelphia), I've been an Indians fan since '67 when I decided that "Sudden" Sam McDowell looked cool on a baseball card, consequently, I can't help but have some added admiration for Rapid Robert.

I only saw him once, at Fenway Park in 2005. He threw the first pitch of a game between the Red Sox & the Tribe. Even from my seat beyond first base on the first base line, I recognized him as soon as he started on the field before he was announced. Folks sitting around me seemed a bit confused by my more than enthusiastic yell/cheer when I saw him start out on the field.

Though I never personally met Mr. Feller, everyone I ever met who did couldn't say enough as to how great and pleasant a person he was. Certainly this nice guy didn't finish last.

Bob appeared on an episode of The Jack Benny Program in 1948. Here's a link to the show: http://cotr.otrshareandtrade.com/Old%20Time%20Radio/Jack%20Benny/JB48-06-20%20661%20From%20Cleveland%20Palace%20Theater.mp3 (unfortunately the show runs a bit fast, but listen to the audience when Bob Feller shows up!)

 

[Miss Golightly]

Blake Edwards - RIP:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12013186

 

[Foofoogal]

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2010/12/16/breakfast-tiffanys-director-blake-edwards-dead/

RIP

 

[in/y]

Don Van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart R.I.P.

Perhaps not quite to everyone's musical taste but he still looked good in a fedora.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/dec/18/captain-beefheart-died-provocative-unpredictable

 

[W4ASZ]

Don Van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart R.I.P.

Perhaps not quite to everyone's musical taste but he still looked good in a fedora.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/dec/18/captain-beefheart-died-provocative-unpredictable

Even after all these years what the world needs is a good two dollar room, a good two dollar broom.

R.I.P.

 

[Widebrim]

Blake Edwards - RIP:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12013186

He wrote some very clever early episodes for Richard Diamond, Private Detective. And he was quite a good-looking guy in his movie debut of Strangler of the Swamp.

 

[Tomasso]

Bob appeared on an episode of The Jack Benny Program in 1948. Here's a link to the show: http://cotr.otrshareandtrade.com/Old%20Time%20Radio/Jack%20Benny/JB48-06-20%20661%20From%20Cleveland%20Palace%20Theater.mp3 (unfortunately the show runs a bit fast, but listen to the audience when Bob Feller shows up!)

It's at 15:44


And you're right, it does run fast.....Jack and Bob sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks.......

 

[fluteplayer07]

Did anyone read that sad story about the girl who died from Lou Gehrig's disease? I saw it in the news while opening up my webmail today. Sabrina Parker; an otherwise normal kid who passed away a couple weeks ago. Utterly depressing. Don't know why that story got to me so much. Hope this deserves a spot here, though, even though she wasn't famous.





God bless,

 

[LizzieMaine]

Baseball has lost another of its handful of remaining 1930s players, with the passing of Phil Cavarretta at the age of 94.

A tough, hard-boiled player, Cavaretta was a fixture at first base for the Chicago Cubs from 1934 to 1953, and then spent a couple more years across town with the White Sox before retiring in 1955. He led the Cubs to their last pennant in 1945, earning the National League Most Valuable Player award, but perhaps his most unusual distinction was that he was the final living man to have played in a regular-season game against Babe Ruth.