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Vic Davalillo Passes Away

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Longtime major league outfielder Vic Davalillo has passed away at the age of 84, according to a Spanish-language report from El Extrabase.

A native of Venezuela, Davalillo began his pro baseball career in 1958. He signed with the Reds as a relief pitcher. After two and a half minor league seasons, he was traded to the Indians for cash. By the 1962 season, Cleveland had converted him to almost full-time outfield work. Davalillo spent that year in Triple-A before debuting in the big leagues the following season.

Listed at 5’7″ and 150 pounds, Davalillo was a high-contact hitter with a strong defensive reputation. He won a Gold Glove in his first full season in 1964. He was an All-Star selection the following year, receiving down-ballot MVP votes after hitting .301/.344/.372 and stealing 26 bases. The left-hander’s offensive numbers varied over the next few years, although he continued to play regularly in Cleveland for a while.

During the 1968 campaign, the Indians dealt Davalillo to the Angels for former All-Star Jimmie Hall. He swiped 25 bases while combining for a .277/.301/.355 batting line between the two clubs. That was the final year in which he reached 500 plate appearances, but he carved out an extended run thereafter as a depth outfielder.

Davalillo played in the big leagues through 1980. He had multi-year stints with the Cardinals, Pirates, A’s and Dodgers over that stretch. Davalillo was part of pennant-winning rosters with the latter three of those organizations.  He was part of the 1971 Pittsburgh team and ’73 Oakland clubs that won the World Series.

Over a major league career that spanned parts of 16 seasons, he hit .279/.315/.364. Davalillo picked up 36 homers, surpassed 1100 hits and swiped 125 bases. He was a Gold Glove winner, All-Star, and two-time champion. MLBTR sends our condolences to Davalillo’s family, friends and loved ones.

Ron Hodges Passes Away

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12-year major league veteran Ron Hodges passed away today at the age of 74, per an announcement from the Mets. Hodges spent his entire career as a member of the Mets.

Before ultimately landing with the Mets, several other teams attempted to draft Hodges. The Orioles selected him in the sixth round of the 1970 draft, though he did not sign with them. 1971 saw Hodges drafted in both January and June by the Royals and Braves, respectively, though he did not sign with a team until New York selected him in the second round of the secondary phase in the 1972 January draft. After signing, Hodges reached the big leagues fairly quickly, debuting with the major league club in June of 1973.

Hodges took to the role he spent much of his career in during his 1973 rookie campaign, acting as the club’s backup catcher and a pinch-hitter off the bench. After catching Hall of Fame right-hander Tom Seaver in his first career big league game, Hodges went on to make the club’s postseason roster in 1973. Though he did not appear during the NLCS against the Reds, Hodges appeared in Game 1 of the World Series against the A’s as a pinch hitter, drawing a walk in his lone appearance during the series as the Mets went on to lose to Oakland in seven games.

For the first eight season of his career, Hodges was used largely in his aforementioned role as a backup and pinch-hitter. He performed acceptably in that role, slashing .233/.320/.314 in 377 games across those seasons. Hodges broke out somewhat with the bat in 1981, however. Though he only appeared in 35 games, he impressed with a .302/.375/.419 slash line across his 48 trips to the plate that season. That offensive showing earned him some additional playing time during the 1982 season; he split time behind the plate with John Stearns, appearing in 80 games and slashing an above-average .246/.358/.373 in 276 plate appearances.

Hodges’s solid showing in a larger role in 1982 allowed him an even bigger opportunity the following year. He was the Mets’ Opening Day starter behind the plate in 1983, when he caught Seaver in the first start of his return to Queens for his age-38 season. Hodges went on to appear in 110 games with the Mets that season, slashing .260/.383/.308 in 305 trips to the plate that season. It proved to be the penultimate season of his career, as Hodges retired after the 1984 season with 666 career games and 1,683 plate appearances under his belt. A career .240/.342/.322 hitter, Hodges collected 342 hits during his career. Those of us at MLBTR extend our condolences to Hodges’s family, friends, loved ones and teammates.

Willie Hernandez Passes Away

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Three-time All-Star and 1984 World Series champion Willie Hernandez has passed away at the age of 69 after a yearslong battle with a heart condition, per a report from La Primera Hora — a newspaper in Hernandez’s native Puerto Rico. The former American League MVP and Cy Young winner (both in a standout ’84 campaign) had been dealing with heart troubles for around 15 years, his wife tells La Primera Hora. Hernandez himself told Matt Schoh of the Detroit News back in 2019, after throwing out the first pitch during the Tigers’ season opener, that he nearly died in 2007 while having a pacemaker installed in his heart.

Hernandez is one of just 10 pitchers to ever capture both a Cy Young Award and an MVP in the same season — and one of just three relievers to accomplish that feat (joining Hall of Famers Rollie Fingers and Dennis Eckersley). The lefty’s 1984 campaign was indeed sensational; Hernandez led the Majors in both appearances (80) and games finished (68) while piling up a hefty 140 1/3 innings of relief. He saved 32 games that season and pitched to a pristine 1.92 ERA. He’d go on to add another 9 1/3 innings of 1.93 ERA ball in the postseason, including a pair of saves during a World Series that the Tigers won over the Padres.

That ’84 season kicked off a run of three consecutive All-Star appearances for Hernandez and was just one of many brilliant seasons over the life of a 13-year big league career. Hernandez made his MLB debut with the Cubs as a 22-year-old back in 1977, pitching to a terrific 3.03 ERA in 110 innings. He’d ultimately spend six-plus season in a Cubs uniform, pitching to a collective 3.81 ERA in that time.

Chicago traded Hernandez to the Phillies in May of 1983, and Hernandez delivered 95 2/3 innings of 3.29 ERA ball for the Phils en route to a World Series appearance. Philadelphia fell short to the Orioles in the ’83 Fall Classic, but that wasn’t due to any fault of Hernandez, who fired four shutout frames with four strikeouts during the series.

The Phillies traded Hernandez to the Tigers the following spring, and he went on to spend six seasons in Detroit, where he worked to a collective 2.98 ERA thanks in large part to his often unhittable screwball. His time with the Tigers included the vast majority of his career highlights: all three All-Star appearances, the Cy Young and MVP nods, and of course, the 1984 World Series championship. Elbow troubles in his age-34 season ultimately put an end to Hernandez’s pitching career.

All in all, Hernandez appeared in 744 Major League games, pitching to a lifetime 3.38 ERA with a 70-63 record, 147 saves and 788 strikeouts in 1044 2/3 innings. His postseason work tacks on another 13 2/3 frames of 1.32 ERA ball and three more saves. We at MLBTR express our condolences to Hernandez’s family, friends, former teammates and fans.

Padres Owner Peter Seidler Passes Away

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The Padres have announced that owner and chairman Peter Seidler has passed away at the age of 63.

“The Padres organization mourns the passing of our beloved Chairman and owner, Peter Seidler,” said Padres CEO Erik Greupner. “Today, our love and prayers encircle Peter’s family as they grieve the loss of an extraordinary husband, father, son, brother, uncle, and friend. Peter was a kind and generous man who was devoted to his wife, children, and extended family. He also consistently exhibited heartfelt compassion for others, especially those less fortunate. His impact on the city of San Diego and the baseball world will be felt for generations. His generous spirit is now firmly embedded in the fabric of the Padres. Although he was our Chairman and owner, Peter was at his core a Padres fan. He will be dearly missed.”

The club also announced that they will open the Home Plate Gate at Petco Park beginning this afternoon for those who wish to gather to pay their respects. Free parking will be available at Tailgate Lot. Seidler has been battling an illness for months but his family has requested that the cause of death remain private at this time, per Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Seidler bought a majority stake of the Padres in November of 2020. He was already part of the ownership group but was approved at that time by the 29 other owners to be the control person in San Diego. By doing so, he was following in the footsteps of his grandfather Walter O’Malley, who owned the Dodgers from 1950 to 1979 and moved them from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.

Once he took control of the Padres, Seidler quickly earned a reputation as one of the boldest and most aggressive owners in the sport. Per the calculations of Cot’s Baseball Contracts, the Padres spent much of the first 20 years of this century with payrolls near the bottom of the league and never higher than the middle. But they have been in the top 10 in each of the past three seasons, getting as high as third in 2023. That period has seen them five nine-figure deals to star players like Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts and Joe Musgrove while also making headline-grabbing trades for Juan Soto and Yu Darvish.

The on-field results have been mixed. After making the postseason in 2020, the Friars had high hopes for 2021 but disappointed with a 79-83 record. They finally broke through in 2022, going 89-73 and making the playoffs in a full season for the first time since 2006. They knocked off the Mets and the Dodgers in the postseason before getting eliminated by the Phillies in the NLCS.

2023 was another disappointment, as the club slid to 82-80 and just missed the playoffs. But on the heels of the 2022 campaign and more spending coming into the year, excitement in San Diego was clearly at a high. 2023 saw the club set a franchise record for attendance, per Dennis Lin of The Athletic. However, it appears that the club’s momentum was fading as the 2023-2024 offseason approached.

The ongoing bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, which operates Bally Sports regional networks, led to Major League Baseball taking over the club’s broadcasts in May. The club reportedly took out a $50MM loan to cover payroll during the season and were reportedly planning to reduce spending this winter. That has led to widespread speculation that the club would consider trading a star like Soto as a cost-cutting move.

It was reported by multiple outlets in September, including the Associated Press, that Seidler was a two-time cancer survivor and he underwent an unspecified medical procedure at that time. It’s unknown if the internal structure of the club changed in recent months with Seidler’s ongoing health situation, but regardless, questions will eventually have to be answered about who is now calling the shots and what the club’s path forward is.

Those questions can be left for another day. Today, the baseball world is mourning an owner who seemed beloved in all corners of the sport. In a few short years, he turned the Padres from a basement-dwelling afterthought into a star-laden club that gave the residents of San Diego pride and excitement. We at MLB Trade Rumors join the rest of the baseball world in sending our condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.

Dennis Higgins Passes Away

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Former MLB pitcher Dennis Higgins passed away last week, according to an obituary from a Missouri funeral home. He was 84.

Higgins was a Jefferson City native who entered the professional ranks out of high school. He signed with the White Sox as an 18-year-old in 1958. The right-hander would spend the next eight seasons in Chicago’s minor league ranks. He reached the big leagues in 1966, turning in a solid rookie year out of the Sox’s bullpen.

In 42 appearances, he posted a 2.52 ERA. As was the case with many relievers of the time, Higgins frequently shouldered multiple innings. He logged 93 frames, picking up 86 strikeouts. In a season in which the average reliever posted a 15.5% strikeout rate, Higgins fanned 23.1% of his opponents.

That would prove to be his best season. Higgins’ control gave him problems from that point forward. He nevertheless managed a sub-4.00 ERA each year from 1968-72 (albeit in a very pitcher-friendly era for baseball). Along the way, the 6’3″ hurler was traded three times, while his contract was sold on two other occasions.

Higgins wound up pitching for the White Sox, Washington Senators, Indians and Cardinals over a big league career that spanned parts of seven seasons. He won 22 games and worked to a 3.42 ERA in 410 1/3 innings. Higgins recorded 339 strikeouts and finished 120 contests. While the save wasn’t introduced as an official stat until midway through his career, he was retroactively credited with 46. MLBTR sends our condolences to Higgins’ family, friends and loved ones.

Lee Richard Passes Away

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Former big league infielder Lee “BeeBee” Richard recently passed away, per an obituary from Serenity Life Celebrations out of Waco, Texas. He was 74 years old.

Richard was born in Lafayette, Louisiana in 1948. He attended Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, getting drafted by the White Sox in 1970. He played for the Sox from 1971 to 1975, getting traded to the Cardinals prior to 1976 for Buddy Bradford and Greg Terlecky. He was released after one year in St. Louis and didn’t make it back to the big leagues in subsequent seasons.

He finished his career having played in 239 games across five seasons. In 535 plate appearances, he recorded 83 hits, including 12 doubles, six triples and two home runs. He scored 71 runs and drove in 29, also stealing 12 bases. He mostly played shortstop but also some second base, third base and outfield.

We at MLB Trade Rumors extend our condolences to Richard’s family, friends, fans and former teammates.

Dick Drago Passes Away

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Former starting pitcher Dick Drago has passed away on Thursday at the age of 78, as noted by Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe. Drago pitched for the Royals, Red Sox, Angels, Orioles, and Mariners throughout his big league career, which spanned 13 seasons from 1969 to 1981. The Royals and Red Sox both mourned the loss on X this morning, extending sympathies to Drago’s friends and family.

Drago’s big league career began as a member of the inaugural Royals team in 1969, a team for which he quickly emerged as one of the better starting options. Drago posted a 3.77 ERA with a 3.67 FIP across 200 2/3 innings of work during his rookie campaign, throwing 10 complete games and appearing in 41 with 26 starts. He largely repeated those results during the 1970 season with even more volume, pitching to a 3.75 ERA and 3.65 FIP across 240 innings of work.

The righty’s star shined brightest during the 1971 campaign, however. Across 35 appearances (34 starts) for Kansas City that year, Drago posted a 2.98 ERA with a nearly matching 2.99 FIP. He did that across 241 1/3 innings of work, recording 15 complete games with four shutouts among them. Drago’s performance led the Royals to the club’s first season above .500 in the young franchise’s history and earned him a fifth-place finish in AL Cy Young award voting that year while the trophy ultimately went to Vida Blue.

Drago ultimately spent two more seasons in Kansas City, pitching to a 3.58 ERA and 3.47 FIP across a combined 452 innings of work those seasons. In 1974, Drago began his first stint in Boston, which would only last two seasons. That included, of course, the club’s 1975 World Series run that saw them lose the World Series in seven games against the Reds. While Drago pitched just 72 2/3 innings of 3.84 ERA baseball with the Red Sox during the regular season that year, his contributions in four appearances out of the Boston bullpen during the playoffs were far more impressive: Drago allowed just one run in 8 2/3 innings of work across four appearances that postseason against the A’s and Reds.

After converting to relief work in the 1975 season Drago spent two seasons pitching out of the bullpen for the Angels (for whom he gave up the final home run of Hank Aaron’s career in 1976) and the Orioles, with a 3.99 ERA and 3.86 FIP in 140 innings of work across those two seasons, before returning to Boston in 1978. His second stint with the club lasted three seasons, and saw him do some of his best work as a reliever: he posted identical 3.03 ERAs in back-to-back campaigns in ’78 and ’79 before reaching 100 innings pitched in a season for the first time since 1974, his first season with the Red Sox, during the 1980 campaign, his final in Boston.

Drago’s career then came to a close in 1981, after 39 appearances with the Mariners. Over his 13-season big league career, Drago posted a 3.62 ERA and 3.58 FIP with an above-average ERA+ of 103 across 1875 innings of work. He appeared in 519 games, struck out 987 batters, and accrued 108 wins throughout his career. We at MLB Trade Rumors extend our condolences to Drago’s family, friends, fans and former teammates.

Frank Howard Passes Away

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Former major league player, coach, and manager Frank Howard has passed away, per an announcement from the Nationals. He was 87 years old.

“Growing up a baseball fan in Washington D.C., Frank Howard was my hero,” reads a statement from Nationals managing principal owner Mark D. Lerner. “The towering home runs he hit into the stands at RFK Stadium gave him the nickname ’Capital Punisher,’ but I’ll always remember him as a kind and gentle man. The entire Lerner family would like to offer our thoughts and condolences to Frank’s family during this difficult time. The world of baseball has truly lost a giant.”

Although Howard never played or coached for the Nationals/Expos franchise, he was a beloved figure in the city of Washington thanks to his seven-year tenure with the Senators. From 1965 to 1971 (the team’s last years in the nation’s capital before becoming the Texas Rangers), Howard played in over 1,000 games for the Senators, hitting 237 of his 382 career home runs. He made four consecutive All-Star teams from 1968-71 and earned MVP votes in four separate seasons, finishing fourth in 1969. In 2016, he was selected to the Washington Nationals Ring of Honor for his significant contributions to the game of baseball in Washington, D.C.

After seven years in Washington, Howard moved with the team to Arlington for the inaugural season of Rangers baseball in 1972. However, following an uncharacteristically slow start to the season, his contract was sold to the Tigers in August. He would play one more season in Detroit, the last of his MLB career, before finishing out his playing days with a brief stint for the Taiheiyo Club Lions in Japan. Still, Howard will be best remembered for his time with the Senators/Rangers franchise.

“The Texas Rangers are saddened by the passing of one of the top sluggers in franchise history, outfielder-first baseman Frank Howard, who died this morning at the age of 87. He was the oldest living expansion Washington Senator at the time of his passing,” reads a statement from the Rangers organization. “Howard was a bigger than life personality who was very popular with his teammates and the fans in Washington and Texas. The Rangers extend their deepest condolences to Mr. Howard’s family and friends. He will be greatly missed.”

Before his time with the Senators, Howard played parts of seven seasons for the Dodgers. Indeed, the 6-foot-7 outfielder turned down an opportunity to play in the NBA to sign with baseball’s brand new LA team out of college. He played a handful of games in 1958 and ’59 before breaking onto the scene in 1960, slashing .268/.320/.464 with 23 home runs in 117 games, en route to NL Rookie of the Year honors. Three years later, he was a member of the 1963 World Series champion team. He started in right field in three out of four games, batting .300 with a 1.000 OPS and helping the Dodgers sweep the Yankees to collect their third World Series title. His go-ahead, Game 4 home run off of Whitey Ford is undoubtedly one of the most memorable blasts in franchise history.

Following his days as a player, Howard wasted little time getting back in the dugout. He spent four seasons as a coach for the Brewers from 1977-80 before earning his first managerial gig with the Padres. The former slugger lasted just one year at the helm for San Diego (the strike-shortened 1981 campaign) but got right back on his feet with the Mets, who offered him a coaching job in 1982 and another brief shot in the manager’s chair in 1983. Howard spent most of the next 16 years in various coaching roles around baseball, working for the Mets and Brewers again, as well as the Mariners, Yankees, and Rays (then the Devil Rays). He stepped down from coaching in 2000, instead taking on a job as a player development instructor for the Yankees.

From Rookie of the Year to world champion, from perennial All-Star to home run king, Howard went by many names and titles throughout his decades-long career in professional baseball. Still, he will always be remembered as “Hondo,” a promising up-and-comer in LA, a local legend in Washington, and a true baseball lifer. We at MLB Trade Rumors extend our condolences to Howard’s family, friends, and loved ones.

Rob Gardner Passes Away

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Former major leaguer Rob Gardner has passed away, per an obituary from the Press & Sun-Bulletin out of Binghamton, New York. He was 78 years old.

Gardner was a left-hander pitcher who played in the majors from 1965 to 1973, bouncing around the league as a frequently-traded journeyman. His career began as a starter with the Mets in 1965. He created a memorable piece of baseball trivia in his final start of that season, taking the ball for the Mets’ game against the Phillies in October 2. Gardner tossed 15 shutout innings, an unfathomable accomplishment in today’s game, as both clubs failed to score. It was eventually declared a 0-0 draw after 18 innings.

The southpaw served a swingman role for the Mets in 1966, tossing 133 2/3 innings with a 5.12 ERA, the largest major league workload of his career. He was traded to the Cubs for the 1967 season and then to Cleveland for the campaign after that, playing a limited role with both clubs. He was stuck in the minors for all of the 1969 campaign but was traded to the Yankees before the following season.

That set the stage for Gardner to create another memorable piece of trivia in the coming years, though not for anything he did on the field. He and Ron Klimkowski were traded to the Athletics for Felipe Alou in April of 1971. Gardner was traded back to the Yankees in May and stayed with them through the 1972 season. Then he was traded to the A’s yet again, this time with Felipe’s brother Matty Alou going to the Yankees, giving Gardner the distinction of having twice been traded from the Yankees to the A’s with one of the Alou brothers going the other way.

Gardner also spent some time with the Brewers in 1973, then spent a couple more years in the minors before hanging up his cleats. He finished his career with a 4.35 ERA in 331 innings, having struck out 193 opponents. After retiring from baseball, he spent time as a firefighter and paramedic in Binghamton. MLBTR sends our condolences to all his family, friends and loved ones.

Tom Walker Passes Away

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Former major league reliever Tom Walker passed away today, per an announcement from the Pirates. He was 74.

“The Pirates are deeply saddened by the passing of Tom Walker,” the organization said in a statement. “Tom was a part of the Pirates local alumni group and was always looking to make an impact on others in the Pittsburgh community. Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Walker family, including his wife Carolyn, daughter Carrie, and sons Matt, Sean and Neil, in addition to his son-in-law Don Kelly and the Kelly family.”

Walker, a Tampa native, never played in a regular season game for the Pirates. He was selected by the Orioles with the ninth overall pick in the 1968 draft. He topped out at Double-A in the Baltimore system before being selected by the Expos in the 1972 Rule 5 draft. Walker pitched three years in Montreal, keeping a sub-4.00 ERA in each season. He threw 74 2/3 innings as a rookie and topped 90 frames in each of the following two years.

After the 1974 campaign, the Expos traded him alongside catcher Terry Humphrey to the Tigers for starter Woodie Fryman. Walker logged a career-high 115 1/3 innings over 36 appearances (including nine starts) in Detroit. One year later, the Tigers sold his contract to the Cardinals. Walker pitched a season in St. Louis, then returned to Montreal as a free agent. He made 11 appearances as an Expo and closed his MLB career with one game for the Angels in 1977 after California claimed him on waivers. Walker signed with the Pirates for 1978 but didn’t make the MLB roster. He retired after eight games for Pittsburgh’s Triple-A affiliate.

While Walker didn’t take the mound in Pittsburgh, he was a longtime resident of the city and had strong family connections to the organization. Walker’s son Neil Walker played with the Bucs from 2009-15, spending the bulk of that time as Pittsburgh’s starting second baseman. Kelly has spent the past four seasons as Derek Shelton’s bench coach.

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