2007 Obituaries -- Misc
Bing Devine (Died: Jan. 27, 2007 in St. Louis, Missouri)
Devine worked in a number of front office positions in the minor leagues
before joining the Cardinals in 1956 as Assistant GM. He served as the
team's general manager from 1957 to 1964. He held the same position with the
Mets from 1965 to 1967. He returned to the Cardinals as GM in 1967 and held
the same position until he was fired in 1978. He also served as president of
the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals from 1981 to 1986.
Eddie Feigner (Died: Feb. 9, 2007 in
Huntsville, Ala.)
Feigner, 81, a softball star who put together barnstorming teams, died from
a respiratory ailment. According to published reports, Feigner's pitch was
once clocked at 104 mph. He is credited with 930 no-hitters, 238 perfect
games and 141,517 strikeouts in more than 10,000 games. He was inducted into
the National Senior Softball Hall of Fame in 2000. His playing career was
ended after he suffered a stroke in 2000 at the age of 75. In a televised
exhibition at Dodger Stadium in 1964, he struck out Willie Mays, Willie
McCovey, Maury Wills, Harmon Killebrew, Roberto Clemente and Brooks Robinson
in order.
Ken Beardslee (Died: March 5, 2007 in Milford,
IN)
Beardslee served as a scout and scouting supervisor for the Pittsburgh
Pirates for 20 years. According to wire reports, Beardslee had signed with
the New York Yankees after a stellar performance as a high school pitcher.
He played for several years at the minor league level, but never made it to
the major leagues.
Bowie Kuhn (March 15, 2007)
Kuhn, 80, spent 15 years as commissioner of Major League Baseball. During
his tenure as commissioner, which began in 1968, the game was transformed
into one involving free-agents and long-term contracts. He was not in
attendance when Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run to break Babe Ruth's
career record. One of the low-lights of his tenure came in 1981 when there
was a 50-day work stoppage that split the season in half. During Kuhn's
tenure, which ended in 1984, Major League Baseball had expanded to 26 teams
in four divisions, there was an designated hitter in the AL and the average
salary was $330,000.
David Halberstam (Died: April 23, 2007 in San Francisco, Calif.)
Halberstam, a Pulizer Prize-winning author, died in a car accident. He was
73. In 1989, he wrote "Summer of '49," a book that focused on the pennant
race between the REd Sox and the Yankees. His other books included "Playing
for Keeps" which focused on Michael Jordan and "The Education of a Coach"
which focused on Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
Vern Hoscheit (Died: June 11, 2007 in Pierce, Nebraska)
Hoscheit coached on four World Series winners with the Oakland Athletics
and New York Mets. He was a career minor-league catcher whose career was
interrupted for service during World War II. Following his plaing career, he
worked in the minor leagues as a general manager and president. Later, he
worked for the Baltimore Orioles, the Athletics, the Andels and the Mets.
Shag Crawford (Died: July 11, 2007 in Philadelphia, Pa.)
Jerry "Shag" crawford began his career as a major league umpire in the
1950s. According to his obituary, he called more than 3,000 National League
games from 1956-1975. His duties included three World Series, two NL
championships and three All-Star Games. He ejected Baltimore manager Earl
Weaver during Game 4 of the 1969 World Series.
According to his obituary, Crawford decided to end his career in 1975 after
getting into a dispute with baseball over the rotation of umpire in the
World Series. Crawford has been one of the founders of the umpires' union.
His son, Jerry, is a major league umpire.