Aaron lauded for grace amid racism during home run pursuit
Joe Carter met his childhood idol when he won the first Hank Aaron Award in 1986 after leading the majors in RBIs. Hank Aaron. Aaron broke Ruth's record with his 715th home run for the Atlanta Braves in 1974 in former President Jimmy Carter's native Georgia. โHe grew up poor and faced racism as he worked to become one of the greatest baseball players of all time. Itโs going to be at the Hall of Fame, it was Hank Aaron, Joe Morgan, and Frank Robinson.
Don Sutton, Hall of Fame pitcher for Dodgers, dies at 75
The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, said Sutton died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, after a long struggle with cancer. (AP Photo, File) (AP Photo, File)LOS ANGELES โ Don Sutton, a Hall of Fame pitcher who was a stalwart of the Los Angeles Dodgersโ rotation spanning an era from Sandy Koufax to Fernando Valenzuela, died Tuesday. The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, said Sutton died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, after a long struggle with cancer. Shortly before the start of the following season, Sutton broke his left leg. Sutton pitched for Dodgers Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda, who died on Jan. 7.
From Kobe to Maradona, a year of staggering losses in sports
Not long after came a seismic jolt, the helicopter crash of Kobe Bryant in the fog-shrouded California hills that reverberated across sports and across continents. Deep into the year, a bookend to Bryant, Diego Maradona died from a heart attack in Argentina weeks after brain surgery, the waves of grief rippling across soccer. The losses, of course, came against a backdrop of a pandemic, its number of fatalities rolled out daily on TV screens. Niekro won 318 games and pitched until he was 48, his knuckleball dancing and mystifying batters across the decades. Kurt Thomas in 1978 became the first U.S. male gymnast to win a world title but lost an Olympic shot in 1980 because of the boycott.
Final goodbye: Recalling influential people who died in 2020
The world also said goodbye to U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement who died in July. Other former political figures who died this year include Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, New York Mayor David Dinkins, Arizona Gov. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2020 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___David Stern, 77. The guitarist who supplied the scratching, seething sound that fueled the highly influential British punk band Gang of Four. He fused African rhythms with funk to become one of the most influential musicians in world dance music.
Rest in peace: Celebrities we lost in October
Sean Connery and Eddie Van Halen were among some of the more well-known, universally loved celebrities the world lost in October. (CNP/Getty Images)Actress Conchata Ferrell arrives at the CBS celebration of a Monday-night season premiere on Sept. 19, 2007 in Los Angeles. (Getty Images)Pitcher Charlie Haeger of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws a knuckleball against the Colorado Rockies on May 8, 2010. (WireImage for Tractenberg & Co. via Getty Images)American composer Philip Glass and his ensemble photographed in New York City in 1993. (Sygma via Getty Images)American singer-songwriter Johnny Nash during his first visit to London for various public appearances in September 1968.
Riley HR in 9th leads Braves past Dodgers 5-1 in NLCS opener
(AP Photo/Eric Gay)ARLINGTON, Texas โ Atlanta Braves fans were still doing tomahawk-chop chants as they filed out of the stadium, real people who replaced the cardboard cutouts players got so accustomed to this season. One game, but a big boost for the Braves in their first National League Championship Series since 2001. โIt was awesome โ fun to play in front of fans again,โ Braves slugger Freddie Freeman said. Riley became the youngest player with a go-ahead homer in the ninth inning of a postseason game or later since Braves star Chipper Jones in 1995. Dodgers: Kershaw, the ace lefty from nearby Dallas, has 19 strikeouts in his two starts this postseason โ both wins.
Margot's homer, catch highlight Rays' 4-2 win over Astros
Asked which was bigger in the 4-2 victory against the Houston Astros, Margot said through a translator: โDefinitely the home run. He played one game in right field in 2016 and the rest of his time in San Diego was spent in center. โTo have the ability to know where youโre at, and kind of be able to say, โForget it, I know Iโm going to hit something but Iโm going in,โ and still hang on to the ball, was really, really impressive,โ manager Kevin Cash said. It was an unbelievable play that he made on the right field line, putting himself in a dangerous place. โEverybody is really, really supportive of him and just so happy for what he's accomplished.โMorton improved to 4-0 with a 0.90 ERA in the last two postseasons.
Joe Morgan, driving force of Big Red Machine, dies at 77
Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan has died. And to his star-powered teammates, Joe Morgan was a driving force, too. โJoe Morgan was quite simply the best baseball player I played against or saw,โ Reds Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench texted to The Associated Press. โSmall in stature like his idol Nellie Fox, Joe played every game at the highest level. โณBench probably had the most raw baseball ability of any of us,โ Morgan said before his Hall of Fame induction.
Let's play ... 20! MLB has fullest schedule since 1974
(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)Major League Baseball had its fullest schedule in nearly a half-century Friday with 20 games set to be played, including five doubleheaders caused by postponements for weather, the coronavirus and protests of racial injustice. The last time 20 games were on the schedule was Aug. 4, 1974, when there were nine doubleheaders, the Elias Sports Bureau said. There were 12 complete games thrown that day, including nine-inning efforts by Catfish Hunter, Luis Tiant and Dave McNally. Only three of those 20 games back then took over 2 hours, 40 minutes. On Friday, the Blue Jays needed 2:42 for Torontos 8-7 win in seven innings at Fenway Park.
John McNamara, manager of ill-fated '86 Red Sox, dies at 88
He took over in Boston, his fifth, in 1985 and guided the Red Sox to the AL pennant the next year. The Mets won Game 7, leaving Boston without a championship until they finally won it all in 2004. The Boston Globe first reported McNamara's death on Wednesday a day the Red Sox were also in New York to play the Mets. Boston won the game 6-5 the same score by which the Red Sox lost that fateful Game 6. Current Cleveland manager Terry Francona, who was the Red Sox skipper when they ended their title drought, said he first met McNamara in Oakland in 1969-70.
'A dark past': MVPs say time to pull Landis name off plaques
FILE - In this Jan. 22, 2006, file photo,a Joe DiMaggio 1947 MVP Award Plaque is displayed at a news conference in New York. The plaque features the name and image of Kenesaw Mountain Landis. The other name engraved on the trophy: Kenesaw Mountain Landis. If you have the Jackie Robinson Award and the Kenesaw Mountain Landis Award, you are at diametrically opposed poles, Thorn said. Larkin recalled that shortly after he was voted MVP, he got a call from two-time NL MVP Joe Morgan.