Tom Boerwinkle (1945 - 2013)

Tom Boerwinkle played for the University of Tennessee and helped the team win the 1967 Southeastern Conference championship. The next year he was named a Helms Foundation first-team all-American. In his junior and senior season, he averaged a double-double each season—10.2 points and 12.2 rebounds his junior season and 11.3 points and 15.2 rebounds his senior […]

Buddy Blattner (1920 - 2009)

Buddy Blattner (February 8, 1920 – September 4, 2009), commonly known as “Buddy” or “Bud” Blattner, was an American table tennis and baseball player and radio and television sportscaster. A graduate of Beaumont High School in St. Louis, Buddy Blattner played table tennis in his youth, winning the world men’s doubles championship in 1936. He started […]

Gene Bartow (1930 - 2012)

Gene Bartow coached at Central Missouri State University from 1961 to 1964, Valparaiso University from 1964 to 1970, and Memphis State University from 1970 until 1974, and he led the Memphis State Tigers to the 1973 NCAA national championship game and consecutive Missouri Valley Conference titles in the 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons. He coached the […]

Paul Arizin (1928 - 2006)

After being selected by the Warriors with their first pick in the 1950 NBA draft, Paul Arizin averaged 17.2 points per game in his rookie season and was named NBA Rookie of the Year — a designation not currently sanctioned by the NBA for the 1950-51 season. He became one of the greatest NBA players […]

Jake Daubert (1884 - 1924)

In 1908, Jake Daubert was signed by the Cleveland Indians. However, Daubert never played for Cleveland as they released him shortly thereafter. He left Cleveland and signed with the Nashville club of the Southern Association. He spent the remainder of the season with Nashville. Jake Daubert returned to Ohio for the start of the 1909 season. […]

Mike Darr (1976 - 2002)

Michael Curtis Darr (March 21, 1976 – February 15, 2002) was a Major League Baseball outfielder who played for the San Diego Padres (1999–2001). Mike Darr was a promising young outfielder. The last season he played prior to his death, he appeared in 105 games for the San Diego Padres, compiling a .277 batting average with […]

Ray Chapman (1891 - 1920)

Ray Chapman was born in Beaver Dam, Kentucky, and raised in Herrin, Illinois. He broke into the Major Leagues in 1912 with the Cleveland team, then known as the Naps. Ray Chapman led the American League in runs scored and walks in 1918. A top-notch bunter, Chapman is sixth on the all-time list for sacrifice hits […]

Hal Carlson (1892 - 1930)

Harold Gust Carlson (May 17, 1892 in Rockford, Illinois – May 28, 1930 in Chicago) was a professional baseball pitcher in the Major Leagues from 1917 to 1930, for the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, and Pittsburgh Pirates. Hal Carlson used his curveball exclusively, owing to his lack of speed. He played 7 years for the Pirates, […]

Lyman Bostock (1950 - 1978)

Lyman Bostock’s minor league stops were in Charlotte in 1972, Orlando in 1973, and Tacoma in 1974. His batting averages for those years were .294, .313, and .333, respectively. He was promoted to the major leagues in April 1975, and batted .282 in 98 games for Minnesota (and .391 in 22 games for the AAA […]

Tiny Bonham (1913 - 1949)

In a 10-season career, Tiny Bonham posted a 103-72 record with 478 strikeouts and a 3.06 ERA in 1551.0 innings pitched. Bonham kept opposing batters off balance with an assortment of deliveries. He started his professional baseball career with the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League in 1935. He worked his way up through the […]

Walter Bond (1937 - 1967)

Walter Bond (October 19, 1937 – September 14, 1967) was an American professional baseball player who appeared in six Major League Baseball seasons between 1960 and 1967 for the Cleveland Indians, Houston Colt .45s/Astros and Minnesota Twins. An outfielder and first baseman, he played the last five seasons of his 11-year professional career after being […]

Tony Boeckel (1892 - 1924)

In 1917, Tony Boeckel made his MLB debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates. During his first game, he had to be carried off the field due to heat prostration. He returned to the field two days later and was struck in the head by a line drive. The head wound required several stitches and he missed […]

Marty Bergen (1871 - 1900)

Born in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, Marty Bergen attracted attention while playing for a series of teams from 1892 to 1895. But his behavior was mercurial. Batting .372, Bergen left the Kansas City Blues suddenly in 1895 over a perceived slight, and never again played for the team. Boston had scouted him, and was quick to […]

Steve Bechler (1979 - 2003)

Steve Bechler attended South Medford High School in Medford, Oregon. He graduated in 1998. Playing for the school’s baseball team, he was named to the All-Oregon third team in his senior year. Heading into the 1998 Major League Baseball draft, Baseball America rated Bechler the best high school prospect from the state of Oregon. The Baltimore […]

Don Wilson (1900 - 1982)

Don Wilson began his radio career as a singer over Denver radio station KFEL in 1923. By 1929, he was working at KFI, and shortly afterwards for Don Lee at KHJ, in Los Angeles. In a 1978 appearance on Tomorrow with Tom Snyder, Wilson claimed he was fired from KHJ because he had bought a […]

Ross Youngs (1897 - 1927)

Ross Youngs reported to spring training in Marlin, Texas with the Giants in 1917. They initially assigned him to the Rochester Hustlers, a team in the International League with which the Giants had a working relationship. Giants manager John McGraw told Mickey Doolan, the manager of the Hustlers, “I’m giving you one of the greatest […]

Nick Altrock (1876 - 1965)

Born in Cincinnati, Nick Altrock was one of the better pitchers in baseball for a brief period from 1904 to 1906 with the Chicago White Sox. He was instrumental in the White Sox World Series championship in 1906, going 20-13 with a 2.06 ERA in the regular season and 1-1 with a Series-best 1.00 ERA […]

Forrest Allen (1885 - 1974)

Forrest Allen coached at William Chrisman High School (then known as Independence High School) in Independence, Missouri, the University of Kansas, Baker University, Haskell Institute, and Warrensburg Teachers College in Warrensburg, Missouri. Allen began classes at the University of Kansas in 1904, where he lettered three years in basketball under James Naismith’s coaching, and two years […]

William Afflis (1929 - 1991)

William Afflis started his career in Chicago in 1955 under the Bruiser moniker where he faced Verne Gagne and Lou Thesz. From there into the late 1950s, Dick the Bruiser wrestled live every Thursday on TV in the Detroit area. His typical opponent was “an up and coming young (unknown) wrestler” who would be pulverized […]

Joe Adcock (1927 - 1999)

Joe Adcock (October 30, 1927 – May 3, 1999) was a major league baseball player who also managed in the Major and Minor Leagues. He was best known as a first baseman and right-handed slugger with the powerful Milwaukee Braves teams of the 1950s, whose career included numerous home run feats. A sure-handed defensive player, […]

Dorothy Kamenshek (1925 - 2010)

Dorothy Kamenshek (December 21, 1925 – May 17, 2010) was an All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player. She batted and threw left-handed. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Kamenshek played outfield for a local softball league, and at the age of 17 she was spotted by a scout from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. After tryouts […]

Jackie Mitchell (1913 - 1987)

Jackie Mitchell was born August 29, 1913 in Chattanooga, Tennessee to Virne Wall Mitchell and Dr. Joseph Mitchell. When she learned how to walk, her father took her to the baseball diamond and taught her the basics of the game. Her next door neighbor, Dazzy Vance, taught her to pitch and showed her his “drop […]

George Low (1956 - 2008)

Selected by NASA in May 1984 as an astronaut candidate, George Low became an astronaut in June 1985. He held a variety of technical assignments including work on the Remote Manipulator System (RMS), on Extra-vehicular activity (EVA), and Orbiter test and checkout tasks at the Kennedy Space Center. Low served as a spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM) […]

William McCool (1961 - 2003)

William McCool completed flight training and was designated a Naval Aviator in August 1986. He was assigned to Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 129 (VAQ-129) at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington, for initial EA-6B Prowler training. His first operational tour was with Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 133 (VAQ-133), where he made two deployments aboard the aircraft carrier […]

Ellison Onizuka (1946 - 1986)

Ellison Onizuka was selected for the astronaut program in January 1978, and completed one year of evaluation and training in August 1979. Later, he worked in the experimentation team, Orbiter test team, and launch support crew at Kennedy Space Center for the STS-1 and STS-2. At NASA, he worked on the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory […]

Robert Overmyer (1936 - 1996)

Robert Overmyer was the Pilot for STS-5, the first fully operational flight of the Shuttle program, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on November 11, 1982. He was accompanied by spacecraft commander Vance D. Brand and two Mission Specialists, Joseph P. Allen and William B. Lenoir. STS-5, the first mission with a four-man crew, […]

Alan Poindexter (1961 - 2012)

Selected by NASA in June 1998, Alan Poindexter reported for training in August 1998. Initially, Poindexter served in the Astronaut Office Shuttle Operations Branch performing duties as the lead support astronaut at Kennedy Space Center. In December 2002, he was named as Pilot on STS-120 mission to deliver the Harmony connecting node to the International […]

Dick Scobee (1939 - 1986)

Dick Scobee enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1957, where he served as a reciprocating engine mechanic at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. While off duty, he attended San Antonio College, and eventually received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Arizona in 1965. He […]

Michael Smith (1945 - 1986)

Michael Smith was born April 30, 1945, in Beaufort, North Carolina. He graduated from Beaufort High School in 1963, and went on to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Naval Science from the United States Naval Academy in 1967. He subsequently attended the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey, California, from which he graduated […]

Charles Veach (1944 - 1995)

Charles Veach was born September 18, 1944, in Chicago, Illinois, but considered Honolulu, Hawaii, to be his hometown. He was married to Alice Meigs Scott of Waycross, Georgia, he had two children. He enjoyed surfing, bicycling, reading and activities with his family. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Marshall E. Veach, reside in Honolulu, Hawaii. He […]