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Don Leppert Passes Away

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Former All-Star catcher Don Leppert has passed away at age 91, the Pirates announced this afternoon.

“We are deeply saddened to hear the news on the passing of Don Leppert,” team president Travis Williams said. “He touched many lives during his more than 40 years in baseball and was a valuable part of the Pirates’ coaching staff during the 1971 World Series winning season. Our hearts go out to his wife Daphine, and the entire Leppert family.”

An Indianapolis native, Leppert (not to be confused with a 1950’s infielder of the same name) began his professional career at age 23 in 1955. The right-handed hitter didn’t first reach the majors until 1961. As a 29-year-0ld rookie, he connected on three home runs in 22 games. Leppert appeared in 45 contests for Pittsburgh the following season. He joined the Washington Senators the next year, which proved the best season of his career. The 6’2″ backstop hit .237/.305/.375 over 73 games, earning his All-Star nod in the process.

After struggling in 50 games the following season, Leppert spent two years in Triple-A. He retired as a player after the 1966 campaign. While Leppert only appeared in 190 games through parts of four big league seasons, he earned a trip to the Midsummer Classic and kicked off a lengthy career in the professional ranks. He began managing in the Pirates’ system in 1967 and was promoted to the MLB staff the following year. Leppert would also spend time with the Blue Jays, Astros and Twins for the next couple decades.

MLBTR sends our condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.

Joe Pepitone Passes Away

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The Yankees announced today that former major league first baseman/outfielder Joe Pepitone has passed away at the age of 82. “The Yankees are deeply saddened by the passing of former Yankee Joe Pepitone, whose playful and charismatic personality and on-field contributions made him a favorite of generations of Yankees fans even beyond his years with the team in the 1960s,” the statement reads. “As a native New Yorker, he embraced everything about being a Yankee during both his playing career — which included three All-Star appearances and three Gold Gloves — and in the decades thereafter. You always knew when Joe walked into a room — his immense pride in being a Yankee was always on display. He will be missed by our entire organization, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family, friends and all who knew him.”

Pepitone first signed with the Yankees as an amateur in 1958 and was able to make his major league debut in 1962. He got into 63 games for the Yankees that year, hitting seven home runs and batting .239. He didn’t make any postseason appearances that year, though the Yanks did go on to win that World Series.

He would go on to establish himself more firmly the next season, hitting 27 home runs in 157 games while batting .271. He would remain a fixture of the club’s lineup for the remainder of that decade, playing at least 100 games in each season from 1963 to 1969, hitting at least 13 long balls in each of those. He also won three Gold Glove awards in that stretch, one in 1965, 1966 and 1969, in addition to being selection to the All-Star game three straight years beginning in 1963.

He was traded to the Astros prior to the 1970 season and then was traded to the Cubs midway through that campaign. He’d go onto to spend roughly three years with the Cubs before getting traded to Atlanta in the middle of the 1973 season. He only played three games for Atlanta, which were the last of his major league career. He went to Japan that summer to join the Yakult Atoms, now known as the Yakult Swallows, but he hit just .163 in 14 games.

Pepitone’s major league career finished with him having appeared in 1,397 games. He racked up 1,315 hits, including 219 home runs. He stole 41 bases, scored 606 runs and drove in 721. We at MLB Trade Rumors join others in sending condolences to Pepitone’s family, friends, acquaintances and all those mourning him today.

Luis Andres Ortiz Soriano Passes Away

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The Orioles made a statement this morning announcing the passing of minor league pitcher Luis Andres Ortiz Soriano following a battle with cancer. Ortiz, just 20 years old, signed with the Orioles as an international free agent as part of the 2019 signing class. A left-handed pitcher, Ortiz made his professional debut in the Florida Complex League in 2021, where he appeared in seven games. He did not pitch during the 2022 season.

“Luis was an inspiration to all who knew him, especially as he courageously battled cancer.” the Orioles’s statement reads, “We hope that the cherished and treasured memories of Luis will be a comfort for his family and friends during this devastating time.”

Those of us here at MLB Trade Rumors extend our condolences to Ortiz’s family, friends, and loved ones.

Jesus Alou Passes Away

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Former big league outfielder Jesús Alou passed away today at age 80, reports Enrique Rojas of ESPN. The Dominican Republic native played parts of 15 seasons in the majors during the 1960’s and 70’s.

Alou was a member of one of baseball history’s most famous families. The younger brother of All-Stars Felipe Alou and Matty Alou, Jesús signed with the Giants headed into 1959. After three-plus seasons in the minors, Alou reached the majors during his age-21 campaign in 1963. That was a 16-game cameo but made history when he joined his brothers in the San Francisco outfield during Jesús Alou’s rookie year. While Felipe would find himself traded to Milwaukee the following offseason, Jesús and Matty Alou spent the next few seasons as teammates in San Francisco.

Jesús Alou saw fairly significant action by his second season. He’d top 100 games every year from 1964-71. Alou played in San Francisco through 1968, hitting .279/.301/.348 in 633 games in a Giant uniform. During the 1968-69 offseason, he went to the Expos as part of the expansion draft. Alou would never play a game in Montreal, however. A couple months after selecting him, the Expos dealt Alou with right-hander Jack Billingham and lefty reliever Skip Guinn to Houston for All-Star outfielder Rusty Staub.

Alou played with the Astros until midway through the 1973 season, when Houston sold his contract to the Athletics. He was a role player for Oakland’s World Series winning clubs in 1973 and ’74. While he only got into 132 combined games in green and gold, he picked up a pair of championship rings. Alou signed with the Mets for the ’75 season and returned to Houston late in the decade in a minor role. He played professionally in Mexico before retiring after the 1980 campaign.

In 1380 career big league contests, Alou hit .280/.305/.353. Never much of a power threat, he only connected on 32 home runs but he tallied 1216 hits and topped the double-digit mark in doubles in eight consecutive seasons. While he never achieved the lofty heights his brothers reached as players, he spent a decade and a half as a major leaguer and won a pair of World Series.

Alou’s baseball career also went well beyond his playing days. He spent some time on the Houston coaching staff and eventually transitioned into scouting roles with the Expos and Red Sox. He’d worked for the Boston organization since 2002 and eventually spent more than six decades in the game. MLBTR sends our condolences to Alou’s family, loved ones, friends and colleagues throughout the sport.

Rays Radio Broadcaster Dave Wills Passes Away

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Longtime radio announcer Dave Wills passed away today at age 58, the Rays announced.  Wills has been the voice of the Rays since 2005, teaming with partner Andy Freed to work in alternating play-by-play/color roles for the last 18 seasons.

“Dave was an outstanding broadcaster, a great friend and an even better person.  He had a remarkable talent for bringing the game to life for our fans and was a vital part of the Rays family.  We will miss him dearly and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time,” said Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg.

A Chicago native, Wills worked as a baseball coach at Elmhurst College and the University of Chicago before taking on play-by-play duties with the Kane County Cougars (then an A-ball affiliate for the Orioles and Marlins) from 1991-95.  Wills’ other duties for the WMAQ and WMVP stations included pregame and postgame duties for Notre Dame football and basketball, and well as White Sox baseball, with Wills also getting some fill-in work for regular radio broadcaster John Rooney.

Today’s scheduled radio broadcast of the game between the Rays and Orioles won’t take place, and the Rays will honor Wills with a special pregame tribute at some point during the 2023 season.  We at MLB Trade Rumors extend our condolences to Wills’ family, friends, and fans.

Dave Nicholson Passes Away

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Former major league outfielder Dave Nicholson passed away over the weekend (obituary via 97.3 FM WRUL in Carmi). He was 83 years old.

A St. Louis native, Nicholson signed with the Orioles as an 18-year-old in 1958. He spent a couple seasons in the minor leagues and reached the majors at age 20. He struggled over 54 games as a rookie and spent most of the following year in Double-A. Nicholson returned to the big leagues for 97 games with Baltimore in 1962. The ensuing offseason, he was involved in a massive trade that involved a pair of future Hall of Famers.

Baltimore traded the right-handed hitting Nicholson alongside two-time ERA champ Hoyt Wilhelm, third baseman Pete Ward and former Rookie of the Year Ron Hansen for three-time All-Star Al Smith and nine-time Gold Glove shortstop Luis Aparicio. Nicholson spent a couple seasons as Chicago’s primary left fielder. He and Ward tied for the team lead with 22 home runs in 1963. Nicholson ultimately compiled a .213/.314/.384 line in just under 1000 plate appearances for Chicago over parts of three seasons.

The Sox dealt him to the Astros over the 1965-66 offseason in a deal that sent reliever Jack Lamabe to Chicago. Nicholson played in exactly 100 games for Houston, hitting at a career-best .246/.356/.411 clip. The next offseason, he was involved in another trade for an all-time great nearing the end of his career: this time going to the Braves with pitcher Bob Bruce in a deal that sent Eddie Mathews to Houston. Nicholson spent most of the next two seasons in the upper levels of the Atlanta farm system, only appearing in 10 MLB games. After playing the 1969 campaign in Triple-A with the Royals, he retired at age 29.

Nicholson ultimately played in 538 major league games over parts of seven years in the 1960’s. He hit .212/.318/.381 with 61 homers, 179 runs batted in and 184 runs scored in a big league career that spanned four teams. MLBTR sends our condolences to Nicholson’s family, friends and loved ones.

Albie Pearson Passes Away

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Former big league outfielder Albie Pearson has passed away, the Angels announced. A former Rookie of the Year winner and All-Star, Pearson was 88 years old.

“The Angels Organization was saddened to learn of the passing of former Angels All-Star Albie Pearson,” the team said in a statement. “As a key member of the expansion Angels, Albie’s impact on our franchise was immediate. In the Club’s inaugural game in 1961, he would etch his name into the record books by scoring the organization’s first run. … While Albie will always be a treasured member of the Angels Organization, his greatest achievements may have come away from the diamond. For over 20 years, he and his wife Helen dedicated their time towards impacting countless communities through their tremendous work with Father’s Heart Ranch. We would like to extend our deepest condolences to Albie’s wife, Helen, their five daughters and the entire Pearson family.”

A native of Southern California, Pearson began his professional career in 1953. He signed with the Red Sox as a 19-year-old and played four-plus seasons in their minor league system. Before the 1958 campaign, Boston traded Pearson with first baseman Norm Zauchin to the Washington Senators for infielder Pete Runnels.

Runnels finished tenth in AL MVP balloting that season and would eventually earn three All-Star selections in five years with Boston. Pearson, meanwhile, hit .275/.354/.358 over his first 146 MLB games to secure that season’s American League Rookie of the Year award. Early in his second season, Pearson found himself on the move again. Washington traded him to the Orioles for outfielder Lenny Green. Pearson spent a season and a half in Baltimore but struggled offensively, spending some time in Triple-A in 1960.

Over the 1960-61 offseason, the Angels nabbed him as an expansion pick. Pearson would play six seasons with the Halos to wrap up his career. Consistently running high walk totals, the 5’5″ outfielder would go to put up a .275/.379/.366 line in just under 2700 plate appearances as an Angel. He hit .288/.420/.400 during his first season in Los Angeles and led the American League with 115 runs scored in his second. Pearson’s best year came in 1963, when he posted a .304/.402/.398 line in 684 trips to the plate. He earned his only career All-Star selection and finished 14th in AL MVP voting.

Pearson remained effective through 1965, when he hit .278/.370/.369 in 122 games. Unfortunately, he was limited to just two games the following season by back injuries. He retired after 1966, his age-31 campaign. As the organization referenced, Pearson became a minister in his post-playing days. He and his wife co-founded a group home for abused or neglected young boys.

Over parts of nine major league seasons, Pearson hit .270/.369/.355 in just under 1000 games. He only connected on 28 home runs but picked up 831 hits and scored 485 times. MLBTR sends our condolences to Pearson’s family, former teammates, friends and loved ones.

Tim McCarver Passes Away

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Long-time major league baseball player and broadcaster Tim McCarver passed away today, per multiple reports. He was 81 years old.

“Tim McCarver was an All-Star, a World Series Champion, a respected teammate, and one of the most influential voices our game has known,” reads a statement from MLB commissioner Rob Manfred. “As a player, Tim was a key part of great Cardinals and Phillies teams in his 21-year career. In the booth, his analysis and attention to detail brought fans closer to our game and how it is played and managed. Tim’s approach enhanced the fan experience on our biggest stages and on the broadcasts of the Mets, the Yankees and the Cardinals. All of us at Major League Baseball are grateful for Tim’s impact on sports broadcasting and his distinguished career in our National Pastime. I extend my deepest condolences to Tim’s family, friends and the generations of fans who learned about our great game from him.”

A native of Tennessee, McCarver was signed by the Cardinals as a 17-year-old catcher in 1959. He got brief stints in the majors over the next few years before cementing himself as a major leaguer in 1963. He got into 127 games that year and hit .289. The next season, he held that batting average fairly steady at .288, helping the Cardinals win the pennant before defeating the Yankees in the 1964 World Series. McCarver caught every inning of every game in that series and hit .478 along the way.

He would be a mainstay of the Cardinals for the next five years as well, winning another World Series in 1967 and making the All-Star team in 1966 and 1967. He was traded to the Phillies prior to the 1970 campaign and stayed with them until a trade to the Expos midway through the 1972 campaign. He returned to the Cardinals in 1973 and part of 1974, then went to the Red Sox for a time before going back to the Phillies. He would stick in Philadelphia for the later part of his career, from midway through the 1975 season through the 1980 campaign. While he served as Steve Carlton’s “personal catcher,” the Phils won the National League East division in three straight years starting in 1976. He technically retired after 1979 but returned to the club late in 1980 so he could become the 11th player in history to play in four different decades.

For many baseball fans, McCarver is more recognizable as a broadcaster than as a player. He joined the Phillies’ broadcast team in 1980 and stayed with that club through 1982. During that time, he got his first experience of nationally-televised games with NBC’s Game of the Week. He then started calling Mets’ games, a gig that he held from 1983 through 1998. That period of time also saw him work with ABC on Monday Night Baseball and work on the World Series for the first time in 1985.

McCarver would also have stints working on the broadcast teams for the Yankees and Giants, as well as national gigs for CBS and The Baseball Network. But arguably the most significant development of this part of his career when was Fox acquired the rights for the World Series in 1996. They installed McCarver on the team with Joe Buck and he stayed there through 2013, eventually working the World Series in 23 different seasons. His last season with Fox was 2013, and he would call Cardinal games on a part-time basis in the years after that.

McCarver played in 1,909 major league games, racking up 1,501 hits, 97 home runs, 590 runs scored and 645 runs batted in. He won a pair of World Series titles, made a pair of All-Star teams and caught a pair of no-hitters. He then spent close to four decades as a broadcaster, including a lengthy stint as one of the most recognizable voices of the game.

We at MLB Trade Rumors join others in extending our condolences to his family, friends, fans and all those throughout the baseball world who are mourning him today.

Ted Lerner Passes Away

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Ted Lerner, the real estate developer who purchased the Washington Nationals in 2006, has passed away, reports Jonathan Karl of ABC News. Lerner was 97 years old. The cause was complications from pneumonia, per a report from Adam Bernstein and Matt Schudel of The Washington Post.

Major League Baseball took over ownership of the struggling Montreal Expos franchise in January of 2002 and started looking for new locations for the club. That process led to the team being moved to Washington, D.C. for the 2005 season and Lerner purchased the club in 2006.

The first few seasons in Washington were times of transition for the franchise. They initially played in RFK Stadium, which opened in 1961, as plans for a new stadium were put in place. Nationals Park then opened in 2008, with the team playing there to this day. In terms of results, the team finished 5th in the National League East division in five out of its first six seasons. The silver lining of all that losing is that the club received strong draft picks that it used to build a stockpile of young talent, including players like Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon.

Those players and others would eventually help the club emerge as perennial contenders for an extended stretch. Beginning in 2012, the club posted a winning record in eight straight seasons, qualifying for the postseason in five of those. The first four trips to the playoffs resulted in quick exits, but the Nats eventually pushed through and won the World Series in 2019.

Since hoisting that trophy, the club has fallen on hard times again, posting losing records in the three subsequent seasons. That has prompted the club to lean into a rebuild, trading away star players like Max Scherzer, Trea Turner and Juan Soto. Their 55-107 record in 2022 was the worst in the majors for that season and the worst for the franchise since the move to Washington.

The Lerner family is still the club’s primary owner, though Ted transferred control of the club to his son Mark in 2018, when the former was 92 and the latter 64. It was reported in April last year that the family was going to explore a sale of the club, though the most recent reporting indicates that not much progress has been made on that front.

Regardless of how that eventually unfolds, most baseball fans in the Washington area will likely look fondly on the most recent era of Nationals baseball. Though it took some time to get going, the club was eventually transformed from a basement dweller into a champion in the Ted Lerner era, though their one title did come shortly after he ceded official control.

MLBTR extends its condolences to all those around the baseball world mourning Lerner today, including his family, friends and many others around the game who crossed paths with him over the years.

Twins’ VP Of Player Personnel Mike Radcliff Passes Away

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Twins vice president of player personnel Mike Radcliff passed away today following a three-plus year battle with cancer, the organization announced. He was 66 years old.

“The Minnesota Twins today mourn the loss of Mike Radcliff,” the franchise said in a statement. “Mike was the heart and soul of our scouting department for over 30 years, a man who was beloved and respected by staff, players, fellow scouts, agents and his peers alike. One of baseball’s most revered talent evaluators, his character, work ethic, kindness and sense of humor set the tone for our player development and evaluation processes.

His baseball legacy lives on in the number of Twins Hall of Famers, All-Stars and great teams that bear his fingerprints, while his impact as a person will be forever felt by those that knew him. In the words of his trade, Mike was the epitome of a five-tool player, and he will be greatly missed across Twins Territory. Our deepest sympathies are with his wife Sherry, son Brett, daughter Erin and the entire Radcliff family during this difficult time.”

Radcliff spent the better part of four decades with Minnesota. First hired as an area scout in 1987, he’d worked his way to scouting director within six years. During his tenure as scouting director, the Twins selected numerous players who logged key roles on the Minnesota teams of the 2000’s — including Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter and recent Twins’ Hall of Fame inductee Joe Mauer.

In 2007, the organization gave Radcliff the title of vice president of player personnel — a role he would hold for the rest of his career. He remained involved in the scouting department and played a part in the franchise’s drafting and/or signing of players like Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco.

The 2011 recipient of the Midwest Scout of the Year Award from Major League Baseball, he was inducted into the Professional Scouts Hall of Fame a few years ago. Radcliff’s passing has resulted in a flood of tributes from colleagues, peers and media personnel. MLBTR joins countless others around the game in sending our condolences to Radcliff’s family, friends, colleagues and the number of players whose careers he impacted.

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