OT: Obituaries Thread

[Kris60]

John Thompson, legendary Georgetown coach, dies at 78.  His Hoya teams with Patrick Ewing were iconic.  Won one national championship but was 3 points short of winning 3.

[bayareabadger]

Damn, Clifford Robinson dead at 53.

Was a big part in the Pistons' breakout season in 01-02, unfortunately gone before the title team

Really good longtime pro and early stretch 4/5

[ELA]

John Thompson, legendary Georgetown coach, dies at 78.  His Hoya teams with Patrick Ewing were iconic.  Won one national championship but was 3 points short of winning 3.

I would have guessed he was older than that.  He looked about 78 when he retired, which had to have been two decades ago.

[MrNubbz]

That's what i was thinking what did he pass from?Be suprised if it wasn't COVID

[FearlessF]

I was a huge Hoya fan back in the day

Big John!

[MarqHusker]

Tom Seaver died.  

[longhorn320]

Tom Seaver died. 

just saw that

man do I feel old

[ELA]

Tom Seaver died. 

The earliest piece of sports memorabilia my dad had was a Tom Seaver autograph from Spring Training in 1969.  Rest in Peace

[MarqHusker]

IIRC, he had a really tough last few years, dementia and lyme's disease.  He vanished from public eye.   I know he's the Mets' greatest maybe even most beloved franchise player, but my first impression of him was w the Reds, he was really good in that strike season in '81, overshadowed by Fernando.

[CWSooner]

I just saw it.  Wow.

Tom Terrific.  Rest in peace.

[fezzador]

311 wins and 2.86 career ERA - we may never see those numbers again.

Heck, we may never see another pitcher with 3500 career strikeouts for that matter.  Verlander is the only active pitcher with 3000 career K's (just barely), and there's no guarantee he'll get another 500 more.  If I was a betting man, I'd bet against it.  And if he does make it, my guess is he'd be the last in my lifetime.

[ELA]

311 wins and 2.86 career ERA - we may never see those numbers again.

Heck, we may never see another pitcher with 3500 career strikeouts for that matter.  Verlander is the only active pitcher with 3000 career K's (just barely), and there's no guarantee he'll get another 500 more.  If I was a betting man, I'd bet against it.  And if he does make it, my guess is he'd be the last in my lifetime.

We'll see.  Guys won't get the innings, or the wins, but K rates are up.

If Cole hadn't spent the start of his career in a place that taught pitch to contact, he could have done it

[fezzador]

We'll see.  Guys won't get the innings, or the wins, but K rates are up.

If Cole hadn't spent the start of his career in a place that taught pitch to contact, he could have done it

K's are definitely up the past couple of seasons.  It's been a while since Randy Johnson retired - it was not uncommon for someone with as few as 220 K's lead their league until fairly recently. 

Pitchers are definitely not getting their innings like they used to, as pitch count is still a major factor, plus some clubs are toying with "openers" (i.e. guys who pitch the first couple of innings alone to get a few quick outs) and 6-man rotations.  Though there are a few out there, there just aren't as many top-notch staff aces like there were 15, 20 years ago.  Tom Glavine and John Smoltz were the 2 and 3 guys respectively in their heyday, but both were good enough to be the #1 on multiple clubs.  I think that would still be true even today.

I think injuries (at least more serious ones) are becoming more commonplace in baseball, and I also don't think careers are quite as long as they have been in the past.  I think more baseball players are content to call it a career at 35 than to push into their late 30s/early 40s.  Baseball isn't the concussion machine football or hockey are, but CTE is not unheard of in the sport.

[ELA]

Too many of these guys have been doing nothing but pitch, year round, since they were 12.