The Baseball RIP Roster for 2023

Issue #156

Every year the baseball world loses many former major league players. 2023 was no different, as one Hall of Famer (Brooks Robinson) and a host of other well-known players passed away. I did searches at Stathead to review the full lists and compiled the following roster of the most well known players (age of death in parentheses):

In early October I did a lengthy profile of the top player here, Brooks Robinson: Best, Worst, Outliers, and Oddities. He is of course widely regarded as the greatest defensive 3B ever, having won 16 Gold Glove Awards. He won the AL MVP Award in 1964, and retired with 268 HR, 2,848 hits, 1,232 runs, and 1,357 RBI. Plus he generally performed well in the post-season, especially in 1970 when he was World Series MVP.

Although not on his superstar level, we lost two other notable 3B in 2023, making it the most robust position on this RIP roster. Sal Bando was a four-time All-Star and a key part of the Oakland A’s dynasty of the early 1970s. He hit 20+ HR six times and retired with 242 HR and 1,039 RBI, along with a .254/.352/.408 slash line and 119 OPS+. And Mike Shannon played nine years for the Cardinals, splitting his time between 3B and the OF, hitting 10+ HR four times. He was also well-known by Cardinals fans for his career as a radio broadcaster for several decades and in starting several restaurants in the St. Louis area.

While no other position on the above roster had a player of Brooks Robinson’s superstar stature, there were several others who passed away in 2023 who for periods of time were stars of the game, including:

• LF/RF/1B Frank Howard (1958-1973) was a four-time All-Star, won the NL Rookie of the Year for the Dodgers in 1960, and then later led the AL in HR with 44 in each of 1968 and 1970. In all he clubbed 382 HR, and had a .273/.352/.499 slash line and 142 OPS+.

• SS Dick Groat (1952, 55-67) was an All-Star in five seasons, including in 1960 when he led the NL with a .325 average and won the NL MVP Award. Overall he had a .286/.330/.366 slash line but his lack of power and on-base ability produced only an 89 OPS+.

• 1B/CF Joe Pepitone (1962-1973) was a three-time All-Star and won three Gold Gloves at 1B (he also played some in CF as well). He had five seasons with 25+ HR, and retired with a 105 OPS+.

• C Tim McCarver (1959-61, 63-80) was a long-time catcher and an All-Star in 1966 and 1967. Late in his career he was just as often a pinch-hitter as a backstop. Like Shannon, McCarver was a long-time broadcaster after his playing days were over.

• 1B Nate Colbert (1966, 68-76) was a three-time All-Star and hit 20+ HR five times, including 38 in both 1970 and 1972. He wasn’t a high-average hitter (.243) but his power led to a career 119 OPS+.

• LF/CF/3B/1B Frank Thomas (1951-1966) started his career with the Pirates but also played for six other major league clubs. A three-time All-Star, he hit 20+ HR an impressive 10 times, with 288 total HR for his career.

One position on this roster, 2B, was noticeably lacking in stars or even candidates with lengthy major-league careers. Here are a few highlights for the other position players not described so far:

• 1B Mike Ivie (1971, 74-83) was a capable hitter with a career .269/.324/.421 slash line and 110 OPS+. By far his best season was 1979 when he hit 27 HR with 89 RBI while batting .286.

• 2B/3B/SS Bobby Morgan (1950, 52-58) was a career .233 hitter who played in 100+ games in only three seasons. He was versatile defensively, playing almost the same number of games at 2B, 3B, and SS.

• 2B/LF Mel Roach (1953, 56-62) saw at least a little action across eight seasons in the majors, ending his career with a .238 average and 7 HR in 499 career at-bats.

• SS Eddie Bressoud (1956-1967) hit 10+ HR in four seasons, and had 40 doubles in 1962 and 41 doubles in 1964, his one All-Star season when he also had a career high .293 average.

• C Ron Hodges (1973-84) was a part-time Mets catcher for over a decade with a .240 career average.

• C Hobie Landrith (1950-1963) was mostly a backup catcher, but twice played 100+ games in a season, retiring with a .233 average.

• CF Albie Pearson (1958-1966) was AL Rookie of the Year for the Senators in 1958, and then was a key player for the first several seasons of the expansion Los Angeles Angels. He scored 115 runs in 1962 and then was an All-Star the following year when he batted .304 with a .402 OBP. He played nine years in all, retiring with a .270/.369/.355 slash line and 103 OPS+.

• CF Vic Davalillo (1963-74, 77-80) won an AL Gold Glove Award during his second season and then was an All-Star in 1965 when he batted .301 with 26 SB. He retired with a .279 average and 125 SB.

• CF Alex Cole (1990-96) had four seasons with 25+ SB, including 40 in his rookie season when he also hit .300.

• RF/LF Jesús Alou (1963-75, 78-79) was the younger brother of fellow Major Leaguers Felipe Alou and Matty Alou. Jesús hit well over .300 every year in the minors and then was a capable .280 hitter across 15 seasons in the majors (though he didn’t walk much, leading to a .305 career OBP and 86 OPS+).

• RF/LF Joe Christopher (1959-1966) played in the Major Leagues for parts of eight seasons, with 1964 being by far his best campaign as he hit .300 with 16 HR, 8 triples, and 76 RBI.

• RF/CF/LF Román Mejías (1955 57-64) played in 100+ games twice, with 1962 being his best season when he hit .286 with 24 HR and 12 SB.

• LF/RF Mike Young (1982-1989) hit 15+ HR three times, with 1985 being by far his best season with 28 HR, 81 RBI, and a career high .273 average.

• LF Jerry Turner (1974-1983) played in 100+ games in four seasons with highs of 10 HR and 12 SB in 1977.

Amongst pitchers, Vida Blue, Tim Wakefield, and Gary Peters were clearly the most prominent starting pitchers who passed away in 2023.

• Vida Blue (1969-83, 85-86) was a six-time All-Star who after pitching a bit in the majors in 1969-70, really burst onto the scene in 1971 with a 24-8 record, 301 strikeouts, and an AL-leading 1.82 ERA—all of which earned him both the AL Cy Young Award and the AL MVP Award. Blue later won 20+ games two more times, and had 17-18 wins three times. Overall he retired with a 3.27 ERA and 108 ERA+.

• Tim Wakefield (1992-93, 1995-2011) pitched in 19 seasons, starting 463 of his 627 major league games. A knuckleballer, he won 15+ games four times, ending his career with a 200-180 record, 4.41 ERA, and 105 ERA+.

• Gary Peters (1959-1972), after pitching just a handful of games over four seasons in the majors, won the AL Rookie of the Year in 1963 after going 19-8 with a league-leading 2.33 ERA. He led the AL with 20 wins the following year, and then led the league with a 1.98 ERA in 1966. He retired with a 3.25 ERA and 106 ERA+.

Here are some highlights for the other starting pitchers listed above:

• Roger Craig (1975-1966) was a mixed starter and reliever for the Dodgers for seven years, and then later for five other clubs. He was a workhorse for the lowly, early expansion New York Mets teams, going 10-24 in 1962 and 5-22 in 1963. He later was a pitching coach, and also Major League Manager for the Padres (1978-79) and Giants (1985-92).

• Bobby Bolin (1961-1973) started 164 out of his 495 major league games. Overall, he had a 88-75 record, 51 saves, 3.40 ERA, and 104 ERA+.

• Dick Drago (1969-1981) began as a starting pitcher, including going 17-11 with a 2.98 for the Royals in 1971, before switching to the bullpen for four other teams.

• Dave Frost (1977-1982) had a relatively short major league career, but in 1979 went 16-10 with a 3.57 ERA for the Angels.

• Dave Stenhouse (1962-1964) pitched three seasons for the Senators, including being an All-Star in his rookie season in 1962 when he posted a 3.65 ERA.

As for this roster’s bullpen, there are a few who had success as late-inning relief specialists, including most notably Willie Hernández (1977-1989). He had some success for the Cubs before having his career year for the World Series champion Tigers in 1984. That year he posted a 1.92 ERA to go with a 9-3 record and 32 saves, pitching 140.1 innings in relief while leading the AL with 80 games pitched. That earned him the AL Cy Young Award in a close vote over fellow reliever Dan Quisenberry, and also the AL MVP Award over teammates Kirk Gibson and Alan Trammell, as well as Kent Hrbek, Don Mattingly, Eddie Murray, Dave Winfield, Tony Armas, and others.

Here are some highlights for the other relief pitchers listed above:

• Bill Campbell (1973-1987) pitched in 700 games over 15 seasons, during an era when closers often pitched 2+ innings. In 1974 for the Twins he had 19 saves and a 2.62 ERA, and then in 1976 had a 17-5 record in relief along with 20 saves and a 3.01 ERA. Pitching for the Red Sox in 1977 he posted a 13-9 record, with a 2.96 ERA and a league-leading 31 saves.

• Dick Hall (1955-57, 59-71) was a mixed starter/reliever early in his career before becoming exclusively a reliever in 1960s. He had impressive ERAs in several seasons, including 2.28 in 1962, 1.85 in 1964, 2.20 in 1967, and 1.92 in 1969. He retired with 71 saves, a 3.32 ERA, and a 111 ERA+.

• Jack Baldschun (1961-67, 69-70) pitched in 457 major league games, all in relief, accumulating 60 saves with a 3.69 career ERA.

• George Frazier (1978-1987) pitched for five clubs across 10 seasons, retiring with a 4.20 ERA over 415 relief appearances.

• Jim Poole (1990-2000) pitched for eight teams across 11 seasons, retiring with a 4.31 ERA over 431 relief appearances (not a typo with those two 4-3-1 numbers!)

• Don Hood (1973-80, 82-83) pitched for five teams, starting 72 of his 297 total games in the major leagues, retiring with a 3.79 ERA and 101 ERA+.

Did you know? I wrote a book with the same title as this Substack newsletter / blog: Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises. It was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports, the publisher of the annual Bill James Handbook and other popular titles. You can learn more about it at www.NowTakingTheField.com, or buy directly at Amazon and other booksellers.