RIP Baseball

The Cincinnati Reds announced the death of first baseman Todd Benzinger, who played for 9 years in the majors with the Reds, Giants, Red Sox, Dodgers & Royals. No exact date or cause of death yet, but Benzinger was 63 years old.

Dave Rosello wasn't much of a power hitter, but he had a key part in two of the Cubs' wildest, high-scoring games from the 1970s. Rosello had a 9-year career as an infielder for Chicago & Cleveland between 1972-81. He died on September 30 at the age of 76.

If there was a Determination Hall of Fame, catcher J.C. Boscan would be a first-ballot inductee. Our latest Weird Stats looks at Boscan's professional career, which lasted for 19 seasons and included a total of 17 big-league games. Read on:

Jeoff Long was a highly touted pitcher, but after 2 seasons of walks & wild pitches, he moved over to first base. He became a slugger and spent parts of 2 seasons in the majors with the Cardinals & White Sox. He also had a post-baseball Happy Gilmore-esque golf career. Long died Sept. 25 at age 84.

RIP to Da Coach, the architect of some of my cherished childhood memories.

Obituary: Don Cooper (1956-2026) The 2005 White Sox went on an 11-1 run in the postseason to bring a World Series championship to Chicago. The pitching staff was guided by coach Don Cooper, who had a 30+ career with the Sox after his own pitching career ended. Cooper died on Sept. 22 at age 70.

RIP to Brian Wolfe, who reached the majors with Toronto in 2007 after two other organizations had already given up on him. He had two sensational seasons as a reliever with the Blue Jays, and then he pitched extensively in Japan through 2018. Wolfe died on September 15 at the age of 45.

50 years ago, the biggest thing in baseball was a bird. Not a Blue Jay, Cardinal or Oriole. It was Mark "The Bird" Fidrych, who pitched inning after inning AFTER INNING for an otherwise unremarkable Detroit Tigers team. Read more about The Bird's spectacular rookie season in Weird Stats by Al Doyle.

In the span of 2 years, Rollie Sheldon went from pitching for the University of Connecticut to the low minors to one of the greatest Yankees teams of the 20th Century. Sheldon pitched from 1961-66 in the majors and was part of 2 championship teams. He died on August 31 at the age of 89. Read more:

The #Phillies lost one of the greats today. Bill Giles was 92 years old. Rest in peace good sir.

Pat Putnam won a Triple Crown in the minors & was the Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year in 1976. He spent 8 seasons in the minors as a hard-hitting first baseman and finished his career with 2 seasons in Japan. Putnam, 72, died in Florida on August 25.

Oh nononononononono. Caleb Williams leaves the game after falling untouched on a wet field.

A few random cards and a request. The offer: Yaz (1994 Ted Williams), Mike Piazza & Barry Bonds (1999 Topps), Ted Lyons (1982 Kramer), Stan Musial (2001 Upper Deck) & Ryne Sandberg (2006 Topps Rookie of the Week). The request: seeking 1988 Donruss Mark Langston Diamond King #20.

It looked like Walpole Joe Morgan's lengthy baseball career would end without him ever landing his dream job as a major-league manager. Then the Red Sox fired John McNamara in July 1988 and hired him as interim manager. What followed was Morgan Magic and a terrific 4-year run as Sox skipper.

Brian Wolfe, who pitched three seasons for the Blue Jays (2007-09) and nine in Japan, where he played with a rookie Shohei Ohtani, died yesterday. Cause unknown. Only 45. RIP.

I should feel badly that instead of retiring peacefully, Mitch McConnell will spend his last days being dressed up and wheeled around like a prop until he can be discarded in a month. I should feel badly about that.

I had forgotten about this story. Anthony Varvaro, a reliever for 6 seasons in the 2010s, retired to become a New York Port Authority police officer. He was killed in a car accident on Sept. 11, 2022, while on the way to that year’s September 11 ceremony in New York. ripbaseball.com/2022/09/13/o...

Rich Rowland may be the only ballplayer in baseball history who set aside a career as a lumberjack for a chance at pro ball. The California native spent parts of 6 seasons in the majors in the 1990s, playing as a catcher for Detroit and Boston. He died on August 27 at the age of 62

A doctor once told 14-year-old Larry Christenson that his back was so bad, he should quit sports and take up the violin. Still, he pitched for 11 seasons with the Phillies, winning 83 games before his career ended from an arm injury even Dr. Frank Jobe couldn't fix. Christenson, 72, died on Aug. 28.

The wind wouldn’t be blowing out at Wrigley Field by any chance, would it?

Legendary Montreal Expos broadcaster and Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Jacques Doucet has died at the age of 86. My condolences to his family and friends. I wrote about him: tinyurl.com/mv6cmw3k

Rich Rowland, a former catcher for Boston & Detroit from 1990-95, has reportedly died at the age of 62. Rowland appeared in 98 games and had a career .213 average. He hit 9 homers in 46 games for Boston in 1994. His son Robby announced the news on Instagram. www.thebiglead.com/red-sox-tige...

This is the longest piece I've ever written for RIP Baseball. But Tommy John had a 26-year playing career and more than a half-century of baseball pop culture fame because of the arm surgery that bears his name. Without getting into a Hall of Fame argument, Tommy John had a legendary baseball life.

I can tick “Being quoted by PolitiFact” off my to-do list.

Do you want a story about a 19th-Century baseball star that also involves a shipwreck, heroism, harrowing tales of survival, long-distance romance, lost love and, somehow, James Garfield’s assassin? Check out this story from the life of “Long” John Reilly. ripbaseball.com/2021/08/20/j...

RIP to Butch Huskey, who reached the majors as a hard hitting third base prospect. He spent 7 seasons in the majors, topping 20 homers twice, while playing for the Mets, Mariners, Red Sox, Twins & Rockies. He died from a blood clot in his lungs on August 14 at the too-young age of 54.

RIP to Tommy John, who told the baseball world farewell in a message just a few days ago. Hopefully he will get his due in the Hall of Fame someday. www.mynbc5.com/article/tomm...

Sad to hear that Butch Huskey has passed away at age 54. He played for 7 seasons with 5 teams, had a lifetime .267 batting average with 86 homers, including 2 20+ seasons. He wore #42 as a way to honor Jackie Robinson, before MLB retired the number. www.mlb.com/news/butch-h...

it sounds like Tommy John is dying, sad :(

I never thought I would ever write an obituary for a tree, but the Ponce de Leon magnolia was the last remnant of the ballpark that was home to the Atlanta Crackers and Black Crackers. It was the only tree I know of that was IN the field of play, though just two sluggers ever reached it on the fly.

RIP to Gil Blanco, a left-handed pitcher who made his big-league debut as a 19-year-old and appeared in 28 games in the majors. The lifelong Phoenix, AZ, resident died on July 9 at the age of 80. Blanco played for the New York Yankees in 1965 and the Kansas City Athletics in '66.

RIP to the famous magnolia tree that once stood in the outfield of Ponce de Leon Park. It fell down within the last day or so, evidently. It was more than 160 years old. Here are a few photos from a SABR Magnolia outing in 2022. Yes, this is the tree that gave the Atlanta chapter its name.

I wrote this piece a few years ago, and it shows that 19th Century baseball was a wild business. Frank Bell spent 10 games with Brooklyn in 1885 before finding steady work as a violent, abusive security guard in Cincinnati. He was shot to death in 1891 at age 28. ripbaseball.com/2020/08/03/g...

It's a shame Scott Brown's career lasted 10 games, because he was well on his way to becoming baseball's next folk hero. Compared to Dizzy Dean, Brown was a hard-throwing country boy from Western Louisiana & pitched for the 1981 Reds before arm injuries ended his career. Brown, 69, died on July 21.

Oswaldo and Orlando Arcia may have been born 39 months apart, but they are baseball "twins" in one sense. These two well-traveled brothers had nearly identical seasons, eight years apart. Read more in our latest Weird Stats article.

In his one year as a full-time closer, the late Duane Ward led the AL in saves and set a new Toronto single-season saves record that still stands. He was a standout reliever on the team's championship teams in 1992 and '93, and he is a member of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

Michael Burns, your days are numbered. Well, at least your gravestone is. Arlington National Cemetery.

Ron Hunt was one of the toughest ballplayers of his time. He perfected the art of getting hit by pitches, leading the NL for 7 straight seasons in that category and setting a modern-day record for career HBPs. Hunt, 85, died from complications of Parkinson's disease, a possible effect of those hits.

I’m on the road today but stopped at a rest stop in Virginia to find that former Blue Jays closer Duane Ward has died. It sounds as if he was in Toronto for a celebration of the Blue Jays’ 1992-93 championship teams but fell ill there. He was just 62.

A 7-hour drive game me the chance to catch up on my podcast backlog, and this was a really great episode. There was a bunch of stuff I learned from it, so great job, guys!

Back-to-back road trips have kept me away from a keyboard for most of the last two weeks, but fortunately Al Doyle has provided a couple of Weird Stats pieces. Here are a few of the statistical oddities that have popped up over the first half of the 2026 season.

New Episode on Slivers the Clown and his famous one man pantomime baseball game that brought baseball to the Big Top! A big cultural moment for baseball, clowns and mascots! Big thanks @ripmlb.bsky.social & @johnthorn.bsky.social for their articles and research! podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/s...

Are people JUST NOW figuring out that Philadelphia fans are kind of assholish?

I still don’t think the “in threes” thing is real but would love to be proven wrong.

The 1983 Philadelphia Phillies had stars all over the field -- Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Steve Carlton -- but the man whose late-season saves led the team to the NL pennant was closer Al Holland. The Virginia native who played for parts of 10 seasons in the majors died on July 4, age 73.

RIP to Al Holland, a former All-Star closer for the Phillies. He died on July 4 at age 73. www.qcitymetro.com/people/phill...

Happy Fourth of July from foggy Chicago… or possibly London.