Round 1: Willie StargellHere's Willie's Wikipedia bio. And another bio.
Willie's write-up in The Pittsburgh Pirates Encyclopedia. And in The Biographical Dictionary of American Sports.
Willie's obituary.
Jeremiah Tax rips Willie's 1984 autobiography in a Sports Illustrated review.
Willie as SI's co-Sportsman of the Year in 1979. And an earlier 1979 SI story.
Here are Baseball Digest stories from 1968, 1969 and 1973.
Roy also wrote about Willie in 1970.
Jim's Wikipedia bio. And his listing in The Biographical Dictionary of American Sports.
A Baseball Digest cover story from 1954.
Jim was the starting and winning pitcher in the first major league game I ever saw, in 1966.
Jim Maloney, used car dealer, looks back in 1979. And another "where are they now?" from 1989. He was one of the players featured in a book called "Splendor on the Diamond."
Just because it's fun...the 1961 Reds yearbook on YouTube.
Here's Tony's obituary.
Tony's Wikipedia page. And this from The Biographical Dictionary of American Sports.
Rico Petrocelli wrote about Tony in his book.
From Bill Nowlin's 2007 book about the Red Sox.
Frank Deford writes about Tony as a rookie in Sports Illustrated in 1964.
Baseball Digest profiled him in 1965. Also in 1967 and 1969.
Oh my...Tony singing on the Merv Griffin Show!
Part 1 of an excerpt from Tony's 1970 autobiography that appeared in Sports Illustrated...and Part 2.
A story about Tony after his heart attack in 1982.
A Boston Globe story on the 40th anniversary of Tony's 1967 beaning.
Not only is Whitey still alive, he has an official website!
Whitey in Wikipedia.
Here's a story about Whitey in Baseball Digest in 1951, right after his sensational rookie season. And here's a Baseball Digest story from 1954.
An extensive Sports Illustrated cover story by Bob Creamer from 1956.
Whitey talks about his decision to retire in this 1967 Baseball Digest piece.
The subject of a chapter in Fay Vincent's book "We Would Have Played For Nothing." Also in a 2007 book "Before the Glory."
His pretty lame Wikipedia page.
His bio in The Biographical Dictionary of American Sports.
A Baseball Digest story on Denis from 1969. And one from the December 1967-January 1968 issue.
Here's a 1968 Baseball Digest story about Denis and his Braves/Pelicans teamate Tony Cloninger.
His bio in The Biographical Dictionary of American Sports.
Rico was Sports Illustrated's player of the week in September 1964.
Here's a story about Rico in Baseball Digest from his rookie year, 1964. He was featured again in Baseball Digest in 1970...and again in 1973.
Apparently Rico used to keep his wallet on the field with him...here's a Baseball Digest story that explains why.
Round 7: Al McBean
From The Baseball Biography Project! And The Pittsburgh Pirates Encyclopedia.
Al was profiled in Baseball Digest in 1968.
A fun blog post about Al.
A 1963 story by Myron Cope in SI that includes Al and the other Pirate pitchers.
Deron's obituary. And another one.
From The Baseball Biography Project. And The Biographical Dictionary of American Sports.
A story about Deron from Baseball Digest in 1967. And another from 1969.
Lee's Wikipedia page.
From The Baseball Biography Project.
A 2001 interview with Astros Daily.
Lee's obituary.
Lee Maye was the first batter Bert Blyleven ever faced, and he greeted Bert with a home run.
An extensive baseball and music bio.
More about Lee's music career. And also here. And here. And here.
Lots of photos (music and baseball cards) in this biography.
Round 10: Tony Cloninger
Tony hit two grand slams in a game in 1966. He looked back at that game for Baseball Digest in 1993.
Other Baseball Digest features about Tony were in 1962 and 1965. And another story in 1965.
Tony is included in this Frank Deford SI piece about the 1964 Braves pitching staff.
An anecdote about Tony getting hit in the foot in the 1966 SI with Jim Ryun on the cover.
More from the BR Bullpen.
Round 11: Bob Tillman
Bob's obituary.
From The Baseball Biography Project.
Round 12: Bob Friend
His page from the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame. And his bio in The Biographical Dictionary of American Sports.
A chapter on Bob from the 2002 book "That Was Part of Baseball Then."
A Sports Illustrated update from 2004.
A pretty extensive Wikipedia listing.
The chapter about Bob in The Pittsburgh Pirates Encyclopedia (scroll down a bit from where you wind up).
A 1956 story from Baseball Digest. And one from 1960.
Bob gave up the first of Pete Rose's record 4,256 hits.
Purdue graduates Bob Friend, left, and Moose Skowron back on campus for homecoming in 1962 with Homecoming Queen Sharon Curfman.
Bob was featured in Baseball Digest in 1964 and 1969.
Bob's page in the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame.
Bob was the last man who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers to play in the major leagues, in 1971.
He was also the first Astro to hit a home run in the Astrodome in 1965, one of just five home runs he hit that season.
Round 14: Sammy Ellis
Read about Sammy in Baseball Digest in 1965.
Sammy's Wikipedia page chronicles his extensive experience as a pitching coach since his playing days ended.
Sammy gave up Eddie Mathews' 512th and final major league home run.
Marty's Wikipedia page.
Marty finished his playing career in Japan, in 1968...this is a 1988 article from the Los Angeles Times after Marty's son Matt, the pitcher, went to Japan to play.
Round 16: Bill Henry
Here's a story about Bill from Baseball Digest in 1960.
Did you hear about the guy who was impersonating Bill in recent years? Here's an AP account. Rick Reilly wrote about it in Sports Illustrated in 2007, Kevin Sherrington wrote about it in the Dallas Morning News. Here's the original reporting on the bizarre story from the Lakeland (Fla.) Ledger. And hear Bill talk about it on National Public Radio.
Bill's Wikipedia page includes the fact that he had been a basketball star at the University of Houston.
Eddie never got a Topps card in a Houston uniform.
Eddie's Wikipedia page.
He was featured in Baseball Digest in 1958.
A 2008 interview with Eddie. And a much more extensive one from 2004.
The Ol' Lefthander's Wikipedia bio.
His extensive Cincinnati Enquirer obituary, and the special section on the Cincinnati.com web site. His AP obituary. A farewell from Sports Illustrated. And The New York Times.
A Baseball Digest profile from 1957. And a Sports Illustrated feature from 1979.
The story of Joe's big league debut as a 15-year-old is told in this 1960 Sports Illustrated piece.
I got Joe's autograph in the stands at Crosley Field before a Reds game in 1967, when he was getting started in broadcasting. My dad saw him and told me to get his autograph; I was 9 and didn't yet know who Joe was.
Mike was profiled in Baseball Digest in 1964.
Mike's actual first name was Joyner, the same as his dad. Dad was better known as Jo-Jo and was a member of the Detroit Tigers' American League pennant winners in 1934 and '35.
Ed had a Topps card in 1965, but he was shown capless and as a Giant. So I'm using his 1964 card. (Everybody else gets a 1965 card because those photos could have been taken in 1964.)
Ed's Wikipedia entry. And his obituary.
A bio in The Biographical Dictionary of American Sports.
Ed was profiled in Baseball Digest in 1956, the year he made the first of his five All-Star Game appearances.
Round 21: Don Schwall
A great deal of information here.
A Baseball Digest story from 1962.
Don's entry in the book "Rookies of the Year."
Excellent news! Don is available for personal appearances for a mere two grand a day (plus expenses)! That plus some good bio material on his personal web site.
Don's Wikipedia page.
Don's New York Times obituary. And the obit from his hometown paper.
His Wikipedia entry.
A Baseball Digest story from 1967.
"Where is he now?" in 1973.
The final out of Don's no-hitter for the Cubs in 1960.
I'm using Billy's 1964 Topps card for the same reasons as given for Ed Bailey above.
Billy's Wikipedia entry.
Billy struck out all 27 batters he faced in a 1950 high school game. The book "Great Moments In Wisconsin Sports" tells the story. And here's an account in a book called "Oshkosh: A South Sider Remembers."
Baseball Digest stories about Billy from 1953 and 1955.
Billy gave up the first of Harmon Killebrew's 573 major league home runs. Here's the box score.
Billy is mentioned in a 1956 Sports Illustrated article by Bob Creamer called "Are Lefties Human?
Billy retired after the 1966 season to go to work for IBM.
Frank on Wikipedia.
Big feature on Frank in a 1961 Baseball Digest. And Frank was mentioned in a 1955 Baseball Digest story about his older brother Milt, who was also a major league infielder.
Frank was mentioned along with Nellie Fox and Billy Martin in this 1957 Baseball Digest story about top American League second basemen.
Here's a long, chatty recent story about Frank and Milt called "The Bolling Brothers Remember Mobile" (Alabama, their home town). Their mother died last year at age 100.
There's a chapter about the Bolling brothers in the book "Baseball in Mobile."
Orlando did not get a Topps card with the Pirates, so here is his 1966 card with the Tigers.
He had played in the minors for the Columbus (O.) Jets, and after he died in 2007, this was included on a Jets-related web site: "Orlando McFarlane was a golden glove boxer in Cuba before turning his talents to baseball. He played a number of different positions during his minor league career, as the Pirates tried to find a spot for McFarlane's potent bat. For the 1962 Jets, he hit .308 with 11 home runs and 60 RBIs splitting the catching duties with Ron Brand. The following year he hit 21 home runs, with 60 RBIs as he tried to learn the third base position for Columbus.
McFarlane was the first ball player to be named Jesus to play in the major leagues. When this caused friction among conservative broadcasters, McFarlane went by Orlando instead" (He reached the majors a year before Jesus Alou.)
Here he is on Wikipedia.
Tommie is a member of the Long Beach (Cal.) Baseball and Softball Hall of Fame.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette previewed his major league debut on July 19, 1962.
Dick's last Topps card as a player was his 1964 card, at right.
Dick has a very extensive Wikipedia page.
He made the Hall of Fame...but not for his playing skills.
A very long piece from The Baseball Biography Project.
A 1957 Baseball Digest story (I'm going to forego trying to share the many, many, many, many articles written about his managing).
Carroll's last Topps card was in 1963, show here.
There's a lot more on his Wikipedia page than you might expect.
He's a member of the University of Colorado Athletic Hall of Fame.
There was a great column about Carroll in the Los Angeles Times just last month! And here's one from the Boston Globe in December 2009.
Check out his career as a pro football player.
From the book "Boston Red Sox: Where Have You Gone?"
Carroll won a pennant in his only season as a manager...in 1968 in the Northern League at St. Cloud (Minn.), where I lived for 12 years (but not when he was there).
Gary was an all-state high school halfback in 1957 in Rock Falls, Ill. He played football at the University of Illinois as a sophomore in 1959 (there's a reference to him near the end of this SI story).
In this 1987 Baseball Digest story, Gary looks back at when he pinch-ran for Stan Musial to end Stan the Man's major league career. (This was the lengthy Sports Illustrated story about Stan's final days.)
Al's last Topps card, shown here, was in 1964.
Al's obituary.
His Wikipedia entry. And his entry in The Biographical Dictionary of American Sports.
Al first played professionally in the Negro Leagues
He looked back on his career in the 1975 Baseball Digest piece. During his playing days, he was featured in that publication in 1955 and 1958.
