1986 in baseball

The following are the baseball events of the year 1986 throughout the world.

List of years in baseball
See also: 1986 Major League Baseball season

Champions

Major League Baseball
  League Championship Series ABC World Series NBC
                 
East Boston Red Sox 4  
West California Angels 3  
    AL Boston Red Sox 3
  NL New York Mets 4
East New York Mets 4
West Houston Astros 2  

Other champions

Awards and honors

MLB statistical leaders
  American League National League
TypeNameStatNameStat
AVGWade Boggs BOS.357Tim Raines MON.334
HRJesse Barfield TOR40Mike Schmidt PHI37
RBIJoe Carter CLE121Mike Schmidt PHI119
WinsRoger Clemens BOS24Fernando Valenzuela LAD21
ERARoger Clemens BOS2.48Mike Scott HOU2.22

Major league baseball final standings

Draft
Main article: 1986 Major League Baseball draft

Events

January

February

March
  • March 10 – Ernie Lombardi, the National League MVP in 1938, and Bobby Doerr, a nine-time American League All-Star, are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee.
  • March 13 – At spring training, the father-and-son team of Hal and Brian McRae appears together in an exhibition game for the Kansas City Royals. Brian, who will be sent back to the minor leagues before the start of the season, will not make his major league debut until the 1990 season. In 1991, Brian will play for his father, when he takes over as Royals manager.

April

May
  • May 1 - The Atlanta Braves ended the New York Mets' record tying 11-game winning streak 7-2. Some Braves experts call it the highlight of the Braves' 1986 season. The Braves hit 4 home runs by 3 different players including 1978 NL Rookie of the Year Bob Horner.
  • May 2 - The Texas Rangers beat the New York Yankees 7-4. Even worse, Yankees manager Lou Pinella was suspended 2 games for his run-in with umpire Tim Tschida. The Yankees still had a 14-7 record and first place in the Al East.
  • May 3- The Lou Pinella less Yankees beat the Texas Rangers 9-4 as Don Mattingly tied a major League record with three sacrifice flys, while Rickey Henderson scored four runs.

June

July
  • July 6 – First baseman Bob Horner of the Atlanta Braves becomes the eleventh player in major league history to hit four home runs in one game. Besides, Horner joined Ed Delahanty as the second player to do so in a losing effort, as his Braves fall to the Montréal Expos, 11–8, at Fulton County Stadium.
  • July 15 – At the Houston Astrodome, the American League wins the All-Star Game 3–2, for its second triumph in the last 15 years. AL starter Roger Clemens pitches three perfect innings to win the Game's MVP Award. The game turns out to be the last major league game ever managed by the defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals' manager Dick Howser. Howser, who admitted he felt sick before the game, is diagnosed with a brain tumor and undergoes surgery. Mike Ferraro takes over as Royals manager for the remainder of the season.
  • July 22 – New York Mets third baseman Ray Knight incited a bench-clearing brawl at Riverfront Stadium against his former teammates, the Cincinnati Reds.[1] Eric Davis, pinch-running for Reds player/manager Pete Rose in the tenth inning, stole second and third base. Knight took the throw from Mets catcher Gary Carter late, brought his glove to Davis' face and knocked his helmet off. A stare-off ensued, followed by a right cross from Knight. The benches emptied and as a result of all the ejections from this fight, Mets manager brought back-up catcher Ed Hearn into the game, and moved Carter from behind the plate to third. Roger McDowell replaced Jesse Orosco on the mound, and Orosco went into right field. They traded positions with two outs in the eleventh, and McDowell traded positions with left fielder Mookie Wilson with one out in the 12th. This rotation continued for the remainder of the game, which the Mets won in fourteen innings.[2]
  • July 29 – Sparky Anderson of the Detroit Tigers becomes the first in baseball to achieve 600 career wins as a manager in both the American and National League.

August

September

October
  • October 4 – At the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Greg Gagne of the Minnesota Twins hits two inside-the-park home runs in a 7–3 victory over the Chicago White Sox. In the same game, Bert Blyleven – who goes the distance for the victory – gives up his 50th home run of the season (to Daryl Boston) to set a Major League record. Coincidentally, Blyleven had given up Dick Allen's two inside-the-park home runs in a July 31, 1972 game against the White Sox — the last game prior to this one in which one player hit two inside-the-park home runs. That game had been played in the Metrodome's predecessor, Metropolitan Stadium.
  • October 5 - In the season's final day, The Mets beat The Pittsburgh Pirates 9–0 at Shea Stadium for their 108th game of the year. The team set franchise records for wins, home wins (55), road wins (53), home runs (148) a far cry from a team that hit 61 home runs in 1980, batting average (.263) and attendance (2,762,417) all for a team that this year is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
  • October 12 – In Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, the Boston Red Sox, trailing 3 games to 1 to the California Angels and two outs away from elimination, are rescued when Don Baylor delivers a two-run home run off Mike Witt to trim the Angel lead from 5–2 to 5–4. After Witt retires Dwight Evans for the second out, Gary Lucas relieves him and promptly hits Rich Gedman with his first (and only) pitch. Donnie Moore then relieves Lucas and, with one strike away from elimination, Dave Henderson crushes a pitch from Moore into the center field stands for a 6–5 lead. The Red Sox win 7–6 in extra innings (a Henderson sacrifice fly providing the winning run) and extend the series to another game.
  • October 15 – In the longest game in post-season history (until the 2005 National League Division Series), the Mets beat the Astros 7–6 in 16 innings to earn their first trip to the World Series since 1973. New York scores three runs in the top of the 9th to force extra innings. The Mets score three more runs in the top of the 16th, and Houston answers with two of its own before Jesse Orosco fans Kevin Bass to end the game.
  • October 25 – With the Red Sox leading 5–3 in Game 6 of the World Series, and just one out away from winning their first championship since 1918, the Red Sox give up hits to Gary Carter, Kevin Mitchell and Ray Knight, and pitcher Bob Stanley throws a wild pitch that allows Mitchell to score. Then Mookie Wilson hits a slow grounder that keeps bouncing, right between the legs of first baseman Bill Buckner, allowing Knight to score to give the New York Mets an improbable 6–5 win. Boston's Calvin Schiraldi absorbs the loss.
  • October 27 – At Shea Stadium, the New York Mets win Game Seven of the World Series over the Boston Red Sox, 8–5. Third baseman Ray Knight is named the Series MVP.

November
  • November 12 – Roger Clemens of the Boston Red Sox wins the American League Cy Young Award unanimously, joining Denny McLain (1968) as the only pitchers to do so. Clemens finished with a 24–4 record with 238 strikeouts and a 2.48 ERA.
  • November 19 – Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt wins the National League MVP Award, joining Stan Musial and Roy Campanella as the only three-time NL award winners. Schmidt led the NL with 37 home runs and 119 RBI while hitting a .290 average.
  • November 24:
    • The Minnesota Twins announce interim manager Tom Kelly will be their new skipper for the 1987 season. Kelly, who replaced Ray Miller late in the season, will compile a losing record (1140–1244) in his career, but wins two World Championships during his 16-year tenure as the Twins manager.
    • St. Louis Cardinals reliever Todd Worrell, who led the National League with 36 saves, receives the Rookie of the Year honors. Worrell had helped St. Louis to the 1985 World Series as a late-season call-up but was still a rookie the next season as defined by the BBWAA.
  • November 25 – Jose Canseco of the Oakland Athletics, who hit .240 with 33 home runs and 117 RBI, wins the American League Rookie of the Year Award with 16 of 28 first place votes, with the others going to Wally Joyner of the California Angels (.290, 22, 100). Canseco also becomes the first Athletics franchise player to win the award since pitcher Harry Byrd in 1952. Canseco's .240 batting average is the lowest ever for a Rookie of the Year position player.

December

Births

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Deaths

January
  • January   1 – Bill Hall, 57, backup catcher who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates over part of three seasons spanning 1954–1958.
  • January   2 – Bob Finley, 70, catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies during the 1943 and 1944 seasons.
  • January   2 – Bill Veeck, 71, executive who owned the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox, best known for breaking the American League's color barrier by signing Larry Doby in 1947 and also as the last owner to bring Cleveland a World Series title in 1948, though he is perhaps best remembered for the wacky promotions he used to draw crowds and entertain fans at the ballpark, which included using midget Eddie Gaedel in a 1951 White Sox game, and installing fireworks in the Comiskey Park scoreboard.
  • January   3 – Chico Hernández, 70, Cuban backup catcher who played from 1942 to 1943 for the Chicago Cubs.
  • January   4 – Dave Morey, 96, a five-sport star at Dartmouth College and Major League Baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics in 1913, who later became a prominent coach of football and baseball at the Lowell Technological Institute, Middlebury College, Auburn University, Fordham University and Bates College in the period between 1916 and 1939.
  • January   7 – Joseph Burns, 98, backup outfielder who played with the Cincinnati Reds in 1910 and for the 1913 Detroit Tigers in 1913.
  • January 10 – Roy Johnson, 76, one of few ballplayers associated with Native American descent in the pre-World War II era, like his younger brother Bob Johnson, as well as one of the most fearing outfielders in Pacific Coast League history,[3] who later played in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Boston Bees in a span of ten seasons from 1929 to 1938, leading the American League in at-bats (640) and doubles (45) in a rookie season where he amassed 201 hits, and later with 19 triples in 1931,[4] compiling at least a .314 batting average in four seasons and 100 or more runs three times,[4] while leading the 1933 Red Sox in average, home runs and RBI and earning a World Series ring with the Yankees in 1936.
  • January 12 – Eddie Solomon, 34, trustworthy relief pitcher who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox over ten seasons spanning 1973–1982.
  • January 13 – Mike Garcia, 62, three-time All-Star pitcher who played for three teams in 14 seasons from 1948- 1961, mostly with the Cleveland Indians in a span of 12 years, winning 142 games for the Indians, including 20 or more wins and leading the American League in earned run average twice each, being also a member of their storied 'Big Four' pitching rotation in its 1954 season, along with Bob Feller, Bob Lemon and Early Wynn, as they started 147 of the 156 games of the team, while posting a collective record of 93–36 and 2.85 ERA, guiding the Indians to the World Series for the first time in six years and the third in 34 years.[5]
  • January 15 – Fred Thomas, 93, third baseman for three American League clubs from 1918 to 1920, who was also a member of the 1918 World Series Champion Red Sox and a World War I veteran.
  • January 24 – John Boozer, 47, pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies over seven seasons between 1962 and 1969, who has the distinction of being one of only four Major League Baseball pitchers to be ejected from a game for violation of the spitball rule.
  • January 28 – Tom Grubbs, 91, pitcher who played for the New York Giants in its 1920 season.

February
Red Ruffing Goudey Card
  • February 13 – Ed McGhee, 61, fourth outfielder who played with the Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago White Sox over part of four seasons spanning 1950–1955.
  • February 17 – Red Ruffing, 80, Hall of Fame and six-time All-Star pitcher who played for the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox in a span of 22 seasons from 1924 to 1947, whose 273 career victories included four straight 20-win seasons for the Yankees from 1936 to 1939, also helping the team win six World Series titles and going 7–2 in nine series decisions, while hitting a .269/.306/.389 slash line with 36 home runs and 273 runs batted in in 882 regular games, including at least a .303 batting average eight times.
  • February 20 – Bob Rice, 86, third baseman who played for the 1926 Philadelphia Phillies.
  • February 25 – George Susce, 78, catcher and long-time coach whose career spanned more than 40 years, appearing sporadically in the majors while catching for the Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Browns in part of four seasons from 1929 to 1940, later becoming a regular with the Cleveland Indians from 1941 through 1944 and serving as their pitching coach from 1941 through 1949, winning a 1948 World Series ring, and also coaching for the Boston Red Sox, Kansas City Athletics, Milwaukee Braves and the expansion Washington Senators / Texas Rangers between 1950 and 1972.

March
  • March   3 – Paul Castner, 89, pitcher for the 1923 Chicago White Sox.
  • March   7 – Jimmy Moore, 82, outfielder who played from 1930 to 1931 for the Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Athletics.
  • March 12 – Fred Hancock, 65, shortstop who played for the Chicago White Sox in 1949.
  • March 13 – Jack Warner, 82, third baseman whose career spanned from 1921 through 1946, including stints in the major leagues with the Detroit Tigers, Brooklyn Robins and Philadelphia Phillies during eight seasons between 1925 and 1932.
  • March 15 – Bill Patton, 73, backup catcher for Philadelphia Athletics in the 1935 season.
  • March 24 – Hank Grampp, 82, pitcher who played for the Chicago Cubs in the 1927 and 1929 seasons.
  • March 25 – George Grant, 83, pitcher who played for the St. Louis Browns, Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates in a span of seven seasons from 1923 to 1931.
  • March 26 – Mel Bosser, 72, pitcher who played for the Cincinnati Reds in the 1945 season.

April
  • April   9 – Dick Kokos, 58, fourth outfielder who played for the St. Louis Browns and Baltimore Orioles over part of five seasons spanning 1948–1954.
  • April 10 – Luther Harvel, 80, whose baseball career spanned nearly five decades, playing at center field for the Cleveland Indians in 1924 and in the minor leagues in 14 seasons between 1929 and 1949, managing also from 1933 to 1949, while later scouting for the Kansas City and Oakland Athletics, Cleveland Indians and Los Angeles Dodgers in a span of eight years from 1967 through 1974.
  • April 14 – Doc Land, 82, center fielder who played in 1929 for the Washington Senators.
  • April 18 – George Durning, 87, right fielder for the 1925 Philadelphia Phillies.
  • April 20 – Eddie Feinberg, 68, middle infielder/utility player for the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1938 and 1939 seasons.
  • April 27 – Marty Karow, 81, one of the finest all-around athletes in Ohio State University history during the early 1920s, who later played at shortstop and third base for the Boston Red Sox in its 1927 season.
  • April 28 – Pat Seerey, 63, outfielder who played from 1943 through 1949 for the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox, and one of a select group of players who have hit four home runs in a single game.
  • April 30 – Bill Higdon, 62, outfielder who played for the Chicago White Sox in its 1949 season.

May
  • May   1 – Ed Wells, 85, pitcher who played for the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees and St. Louis Browns in all or part of eleven seasons spanning 1923–1934, posting an overall record of 68–69 and a 4.65 ERA, leading the American League in shutouts in 1926 and winning a 1932 World Series ring while pitching for the Yankees.
  • May   4 – Hal Luby, 72, one of many ballplayers that only appeared in the major leagues during wartime, who played just in 120 games at second base and third base with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1936 and the New York Giants in 1944, while performing as a regular in the minors for the Oakland Oaks and San Francisco Seals over nine seasons spanning 1938–1948, playing 866 consecutive games between 1939 and 1943, batting a .296 average in 2,824 games, including three seasons with .300 or better and amassing 3,165 hits, earning an induction into the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame.[6]
  • May   4 – Paul Richards, 77, catcher, manager and executive, who played from 1932 through 1946 with the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers, later managed the Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles in a span of 12 seasons from 1951 to 1961, and served as a general manager for the Orioles team that dominated the American League in the late 1960s and early 1970s, working additionally as an executive for the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves.
  • May   6 – Len Schulte, 69, middle infielder and third baseman who played from 1944 through 1946 for the St. Louis Browns.
  • May 14 – Frank O'Rourke, 92, Canadian ballplayer who performed at all four infield positions, primarily at third base, while debuting as the third youngest player in the National League at 17 years age,[7] playing for six teams in part of 13 seasons spanning 1912–1931, mostly with the St. Louis Browns of the American League from 1927 to 1931, and later serving as a longtime scout for the New York Yankees, being inducted posthumously into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996.[8]
  • May 14 – Joe Sparma, 44, pitcher who posted a 52–52 record and a 3.94 ERA for the Detroit Tigers and Montreal Expos in seven seasons from 1964 to 1970, and also a member of the 1968 World Series champion Tigers.
  • May 14 – Tom Turner, 69, catcher who played with the Chicago White Sox and the St. Louis Browns in five seasons from 1940 through 1944.
  • May 18 – Spades Wood, 77, pitcher who played from 1930 to 1931 for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
  • May 23 – Hugh McMullen, 84, part-time catcher for the New York Giants, Washington Senators and Cincinnati Reds over four seasons between 1925 and 1929.
  • May 28 – Taylor Douthit, 85, outfielder who played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and Chicago Cubs in 11 seasons from 1923 to 1933, also a member of the 1926 World Series Champion Cardinals, whose glove is in the Baseball Hall of Fame for a record he set in 1928, when he made 547 putouts in center field for St. Louis, the most in a season by an outfielder in Major League Baseball history.[9]
  • May 28 – Paul Florence, 86, backup catcher for the 1926 New York Giants, whose baseball career spanned almost 60 years, while playing 12 seasons in the minor leagues and later working as a scout and executive in the Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros organizations.
  • May 31 – Dixie McArthur, 84, pitcher who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in its 1914 season.

June
  • June   5 – Joe Mulligan, 72, pitcher for the 1934 Boston Red Sox.
  • June   5 – Jesse Winters, 82, pitcher who played from 1919 through 1923 for the New York Giants and Philadelphia Phillies.
  • June   6 – John Carmichael, 83, Chicago sportswriter from 1927 to 1972, primarily for the Chicago Herald-Examiner and later for the Chicago Daily News, where he wrote his famed column, The Barber Shop, winning a J. G. Taylor Spink Award in 1974.
  • June   9 – Milton Richman, 64, sportswriter who spent 42 years with United Press International, being honored with the J. G. Taylor Spink Award in 1981, while receiving nominations for the Pulitzer Prize in both 1957 and 1981.
  • June 21 – Arnie Portocarrero, 54, pitcher who played with the Philadelphia and Kansas City Athletics from 1954 to 1957 and for the Baltimore Orioles from 1958 to 1960, who as a rookie became the winningest pitcher for the Athletics who lost 103 games that year,[10] while his career-best season came in 1958, when he won 15 games for the helpless Orioles, fifth most wins in the American League, finishing tenth in earned run average (3.25), including three shutouts and five consecutive complete game victories.[11]
  • June 24 – Loy Hanning, 68, pitcher who played for the St. Louis Browns over part of two seasons spanning 1939–1942.

July
  • July   2 – Peanuts Lowrey, 68, All-Star outfielder and third baseman who played for the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies through 13 seasons from 1942 to 1955, appearing in 978 games and being regarded as one of the best utility men and pinch-hitters of his generation, while posting a .310 batting average and .678 OPS for the Cubs in the 1945 World Series, and also performing during the winters in the 1940s in offseason exhibition games, occasionally playing along with future Hall of Famers including Cool Papa Bell, Jimmie Foxx, Ralph Kiner, Bob Lemon, Buck Leonard, Satchel Paige and Ted Williams.[12]
  • July   3 – Bill McCahan, 65, pitcher who posted a 16–14 record and 3.84 ERA in 57 games for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1946 to 1949, including a no-hitter game against the Washington Senators in 1947.[13]
  • July   4 – Oscar Roettger, 86, first baseman and pitcher who played for the New York Yankees, Brooklyn Robins and Philadelphia Athletics over part of four seasons from 1923 to 1932.
  • July   6 – Eddie Yuhas, 61, pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals during two seasons from 1952 to 1953.
  • July   8 – Johnny Cooney, 85, pitcher, outfielder and first baseman for the Boston Bees and Braves, Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees in 20 seasons from 1921 to 1944, who also managed the Braves in 1949 and later became a longtime coach.
  • July   8 – Skeeter Webb, 76, middle infielder who played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, and Philadelphia Athletics over part of 12 seasons between 1932 and 1948.
  • July   9 – Red Lucas, 84, solid two-way pitcher and prolific pinch-hitter, who played for the New York Giants, Boston Braves, Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates in a span of 15 seasons from 1923 to 1938, posting a 157–135 record with a 3.72 ERA in 396 pitching appearances and amassing 204 complete games and 22 shutouts, while recording a .280 batting average and 404 hits, 114 of them in pinch-hitting duties, including three home runs.[14]
Ted Lyons in 1930
  • July 25 – Ted Lyons, 85, Hall of Fame and All.Star pitcher who spent his entire 21-year career with the Chicago White Sox, from 1923 through 1942, and again in 1946,[15] following three years of service during wartime, collecting a 260–230 record and 3.67 ERA in 594 games for a usually mediocre team, while leading the American League in wins, innings pitched, complete games and shutouts twice each,[15] going 22–15 with AL leading totals of 29 complete games and ​297 2⁄3 innings for a 62–92 team in 1930 and completing each and every one of his 20 starts in 1942, at the age of 41,[15] going 14–6 and leading the league with a 2.10 ERA, and also pitching a no-hitter in 1926 against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, which took just one hour and 45 minutes to complete.[16]
  • July 26 – Webb Schultz, 88, pitcher who played for the 1924 Chicago White Sox.
  • July 27 – Bud Hafey, 73, outfielder who played for the Chicago White Sox, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies in a span of three seasons from 1935 to 1939.
  • July 28 – Cliff Melton, 74, pitcher for the New York Giants over parts of eight seasons spanning 1937–1944.
  • July 28 – Joe Oeschger, 94, pitcher known for his durable arm while pitching for six different teams in 12 seasons from 1914 to 1925, who shares an MLB record for the most innings pitched while playing for the Boston Braves in 1920, locked in a pitching duel with Leon Cadore of the Brooklyn Dodgers during 26 innings in a 1–1 tie eventually called because of darkness, as both pitchers had gone the distance.[17][18]
  • July 30 – Mickey Heath, 82, first baseman who played from 1931 to 1932 for the Cincinnati Reds.

August
  • August   9 – Clarence Maddern, 64, outfielder for the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians over part of three seasons spanning 1946–1951.
  • August 11 – Tom Gorman, 67, who pitched for the New York Giants in 1939 and went on to serve as a National League umpire from 1951 to 1976, working in five World Series, five All-Star games, two NL Championship Series and nine no-hitters, before becoming a league supervisor.
  • August 17 – Walt Lanfranconi, 69, pitcher who played with the Chicago Cubs in 1941 and for the Boston Braves in 1947.
  • August 17 – Sammy Vick, 91, part-time right fielder who played for the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox during five seasons between 1917 and 1921.
  • August 22 – Charlie Eckert, 89, pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics in a span of three seasons from 1919 to 1922.
  • August 24 – George Diehl, 68, pitcher for the Boston Braves in the 1942 and 1943 seasons.

September
  • September   2 – Jim Wilson, 64, whose career spanned more than four decades as an MLB pitcher, scout and front-office executive, playing for seven different teams in 12 seasons between 1945 and 1958, primarily with the Boston and Milwaukee Braves from 1951 to 1954, being selected for the All-Star Games three times and gaining notoriety by pitching the first no-hitter game in Milwaukee franchise history in 1954,[19] a 2–0 shutout while facing future Hall of Famer Robin Roberts and the Philadelphia Phillies at Milwaukee County Stadium.[20]
Hank Greenberg, Hall of Famer and two-time MVP
  • September   4 – Hank Greenberg, 75, Hall of Fame and five-time All-Star first baseman and left fielder who won MVP awards at both positions,[21] being a member of four Detroit Tigers World Series teams which won championships in 1935 and 1945, leading the American League in home runs and runs batted in four times each, including career-highs with 58 HR in 1938 and 184 RBI in 1937,[21] and also winning the 1945 AL pennant on last day with a grand slam,[21] ending his career with a slash line of .313/.412/.605 with 331 homers and 1,276 RBI in 1,134 games.[21]
  • September 11 – Otho Nitcholas, 77, pitcher who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers in its 1945 season.
  • September 12 – Jim Shilling, 72, middle infielder and third baseman who divided his playing time between the Cleveland Indians and the Philadelphia Phillies in 1939.
  • September 27 – Chuck Sheerin, 77, part-time infielder for the 1936 Philadelphia Phillies.

October
  • October   3 – Vince DiMaggio, 74, oldest brother of Joe and Dom, two-time All-Star center fielder who played for the Boston Bees, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies and New York Giants in a span of ten seasons from 1935 to 1946, whose career highlights included batting 21 home runs and 100 runs batted in for the 1941 Pirates, four grand slams for the Phillies from 1945 to 1946, and collecting a home run, triple, single, a pair of runs and one RBI over three at-bats in the 1943 All-Star Game.[22]
  • October   3 – Heinie Mueller, 74, who played every infield position for the Philadelphia Phillies in part of four seasons from 1938 to 1941, being best known by hitting a leadoff home run in his first major league at bat.
  • October   8 – Max Surkont, 64, pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, Boston and Milwaukee Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals and New York Giants over nine seasons from 1949 through 1957, who set a major league record with eight consecutive strikeouts while pitching for the Braves in 1953, as the record stood until 1970, when future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver struck out ten in a row.[23]
  • October   9 – Jo-Jo White, 77, starting center fielder for the Detroit Tigers teams that won the American League pennant in 1934 and the 1935 World Series, who also played for the Philadelphia Athletics and Cincinnati Reds and later coached for six teams from 1959 through 1969, including a brief stint as a manager with the Kansas City Royals in this last season.
  • October 10 – Russ Van Atta, 80, pitcher for the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Browns over a seven-season career from 1933 to 1939, who made history in his debut pitching a four-hit shutout against the Washington Senators, 16–0, while recording four hits in four at-bats, becoming the only American League pitcher ever to get four hits in his major league debut, as well as one of only seven players in AL history to do so in a debut game, being the last the Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett, who registered four singles in his first MLB appearance with the Minnesota Twins in 1984.
Norm Cash in 1966
  • October 12 – Norm Cash, 51, first baseman who appeared in just 71 games with the Chicago White White Sox from 1958 to 1959 before becoming a fixture of the Detroit Tigers for the next 15 years, winning the American League batting title with a .361 average in 1961 and gaining a World Series ring in 1968, being selected to five All-Star Games, collecting 40 home runs and 132 RBI in 1961, 30 or more homers four more times and at least 20 in six seasons, as he holds Tigers career defensive records at first base in games (1,912), putouts (14,926), assists (1,303), double plays (1,328) and fielding average (.992), while his 373 home runs with the Tigers rank second in franchise history behind Al Kaline (399).[24]
  • October 15 – Larry Kopf, 95, shortstop who played with four different teams in a span of ten seasons from 1913 to 1923, as well as a member of the 1919 World Series Champions Reds, whose greatest single feat came at Weeghman Park in 1917, when he broke up the famous double no-hit game pitched by Hippo Vaughn of the Chicago Cubs and Fred Toney of the Reds, as Kopf hit a one-out single in the 10th inning, advanced to second base on an error by center fielder Cy Williams, and later scored on an infield hit by legendary Jim Thorpe, being able to beat the throw to home plate and score the game's only run, while Toney completed his no-hitter in the bottom of the inning for a 1–0 Reds victory.[25]
  • October 19 – George Pipgras, 86, American League starting pitcher, umpire and scout, who played for the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox over 11 seasons spanning 1923–1935, leading the American League with 24 wins, 38 starts and ​300 2⁄3 innings in 1928, also winning four World Series rings with the Yankees between 1923 and 1932, while umpiring from 1939 to 1945, including officiating in the 1944 World Series as well as the 1940 All-Star Game, finishing his baseball career supervising umpires from 1946 to 1949 and working as a scout for the Red Sox.[26]
  • October 23 – Paul Gehrman, 74, pitcher for the 1937 Cincinnati Reds.
  • October 26 – Ed Holley, 87, pitcher who played with the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates over part of four seasons spanning 1928–1934.

November
  • November   3 – John Middleton, 86, pitcher for the Cleveland Indians in its 1922 season.
  • November 12 – Rocky Stone, 68, pitcher who played for the Cincinnati Reds in 1943.
  • November 13 – Dixie Upright, 60, slugging minor league first baseman who made nine appearances as a pinch-hitter by the St. Louis Browns in 1953, going 2-for-8 with a home run, one RBI and three runs scored.
  • November 13 – Les Webber, 71. pitcher who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Cleveland Indians in part of six seasons spanning 1942–1948.
  • November 30 – Roy Bruner, 69, one of many ballplayers who interrupted their careers to serve during wartime, pitching for the Philadelphia Phillies from 1939 through 1941 before becoming a bomber pilot with the rank of lieutenant, flying in 50 missions in Europe while being shut down on at least one occasion.[27]

December
  • December   5 – George Abrams, 87, pitcher who made three relief appearances for the Cincinnati Reds in its 1923 season.
  • December   7 – John Bogart, 86, pitcher who played with the Detroit Tigers in 1920.
  • December   8 – Pip Koehler, 84, part-time outfielder for the 1925 New York Giants.
  • December 10 – Si Burick, 77, sportswriter for the Dayton Daily News for 58 years, who covered the Cincinnati Reds and became the first writer from a non-major league city to be honored by the Hall of Fame with the J. G. Taylor Spink Award.
  • December 12 – Johnny Wyrostek, 67, two-time All-Star outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds over 11 seasons between 1942 and 1954.
  • December 16 – Jake Caulfield, 69, backup shortstop for the 1946 Philadelphia Athletics.
  • December 18 – Bill Shanner, 92, pitcher who made one appearance for the Philadelphia Athletics in its 1920 season.
  • December 19 – Al Stokes, 86, catcher who played from 1925 to 1926 for the Boston Red Sox.
  • December 20 – Joe DeSa, 27, Puerto Rican first baseman who played with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1980 and for the Chicago White Sox in 1985.
  • December 27 – Jack Wallaesa, 67 part-time shortstop for the Philadelphia Athletics and Chicago White Sox in a span of five seasons from 1940 to 1948.

References
  1. "Best of the bunch. Mets no strangers to fisticuffs on the diamond". Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  2. "New York Mets 6, Cincinnati Reds 3". 1986-07-22.
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