Sports obituaries, 2009

BASEBALL

Angels' rookie pitcher killed hours after his season debut in a car crash involving an alleged drunk driver.

Pinch-hitting specialist played in five World Series for the New York Yankees.

Boston Red Sox center fielder and seven-time American League All-Star whose impressive career was overshadowed by his older brother Joe, the Yankee Clipper.

Pitcher whose offbeat antics electrified the city of Detroit and baseball fans everywhere.

Greyhound bus driver transported Dodgers to spring training games and was father of L.A. star Steve Garvey.

Played 14 years in the major leagues and was traded for future home run king Roger Maris.

New York Yankee with knack of delivering clutch hits.

Hall of Fame third baseman outlasted Ted Williams for the 1949 batting title.

Baseball player whose key hit for New York Giants set the stage for Bobby Thomson's dramatic home run in 1951 playoff game against the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Major league infielder in the 1940s and 1950s whose seeming ability to cheat death away from the baseball diamond earned him the nickname "Lucky."

Light-hitting, hard-drinking outfielder who was at his best on baseball's biggest stage.

Pitcher on 1979 world champion Pittsburgh Pirates team.

Pitcher for several major league teams who had the most success with the New York Yankees in the 1950s.

Major league outfielder with the Twins, Indians and Reds.

Oldest living former major league baseball player and a teammate of Babe Ruth.

A pitcher whose eight-year major league career included a World Series appearance for the Milwaukee Braves in 1958.

Pitcher played for five major league teams and led National League in saves in 1964.

BASKETBALL

Basketball player who played more than 20 years for the Harlem Globetrotters and got his start at Jefferson High School in Los Angeles, where he was named city player of the year in 1951.

Chicago Bulls guard and broadcaster.

An All-Star basketball player in the 1970s with the Buffalo Braves -- the precursor to the Clippers -- who once held the NBA record for consecutive games played.

Three-time All-American at Oklahoma who played 12 seasons in the NBA and later became a leading contemporary jazz musician.

NBA player known as the "Human Eraser" for his shot-blocking ability.

BOXING AND WRESTLING

Boxer who won three world titles in the ring but lost several bouts with personal demons outside the ropes. Presumed suicide

Jewish boxer who survived Auschwitz by fighting and whose story was made into the 1989 film "Triumph of the Spirit."

Pro wrestler.

Boxing hall of famer who became a referee and ring judge and had small roles in the "Rocky" movies.

A former two-division champion who gained stardom when he became the first boxer to defeat Shane Mosley, shot to death in an attempted robbery.

Former junior welterweight boxing champion, found dead in Brazil hotel room.

Swede who stunned the boxing world by knocking out Floyd Patterson to win the heavyweight title in 1959.

Colorful boxing trainer and manager.

Wrestling promoter at the Olympic Auditorium.

Popular boxer in the 1960s and '70s who twice lost title fights before sellout crowds at the Forum.

Bantamweight champion won title in 1955.

Former heavyweight boxing champion suffered brain injury in 2001 fight.

Former light heavyweight world boxing champion and Olympic silver medalist.

Football player and All-American wrestler at the University of Oklahoma who was best known for his work in professional wrestling.

COACHES

UCLA football coach in the late 1950s and early '60s.

Football coach who guided Dorsey High to a city championship in the 1980s and taught for nearly 40 years at Southern California schools.

Basketball hall of famer who played for the Buffalo Bisons and the Rochester Royals of the National Basketball League before coaching the Syracuse Nationals to the 1955 NBA championship.

Hall of Fame basketball coach led Detroit Pistons to back-to-back NBA titles and the "Dream Team" to Olympic Gold.

College football star at Michigan who coached Iowa to two Rose Bowl victories in the 1950s.

Football coach at alma mater Pittsburgh.

Former manager of the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs.

Former Padres manager, Dodgers coach and Angels consultant dies nine months after suffering injuries in accident.

Basketball coach and athletic director at San Marino High School.

Soccer coach for N.Y. Cosmos persuaded Pele to play in the United States.

Football coach at University of Washington led Huskies to three Rose Bowls.

One-time Dodger coach who went on to manage the Philadelphia Phillies to three division titles in the 1970s.

Former coach and general manager of the Los Angeles Kings.

Knighted British soccer coach

Coached O.J. Simpson in the NFL and ran the New York Yankees for George Steinbrenner during a well-traveled career.

Cal Poly Pomona basetball coach who won three Division II national championships.

College football coach had an unbeaten regular season at Arizona State University.

Hall of Fame women's basketball coach at North Carolina State who won more than 700 games while earning fans with her fight against breast cancer.

FOOTBALL

Former professional football player who became a successful figurative painter.

Played on the American Football League's first championship team after lettering for three seasons at USC.

Heisman Trophy winner was Mr. Inside in Army's famous running-back tandem that included Mr. Outside Glenn Davis.

Los Angeles Rams running back for 11 seasons in the 1970s and '80s.

Tackle who played on three national championship teams at Notre Dame and helped the Detroit Lions to the 1952 NFL title.

Orange County supervisor who advocated mass transit in the 1970s and helped move the Rams football team to Anaheim.

Former USC lineman was NFL coach with the Detroit Lions.

Offensive end and flanker for the Los Angeles Rams and USC.

UCLA football player from 1939 to 1941 who became a football coach and an administrator at Riverside City College.

Detroit Lions lineman headed NFL players union in first collective bargaining agreement with owners.

USC football recruit paralyzed in car accident became scholar, coach.

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver, died after falling out of a pickup truck in a domestic dispute.

Played in three Super Bowls as linebacker for the Washington Redskins.

Former professional football star and Republican Party stalwart who advocated tax cuts and supply-side economics.

Sure-handed Hall of Fame receiver who helped the Cleveland Browns build a pro football dynasty in the 1940s and '50s.

An explosive threat playing both offense and defense for the Chicago Bears in the 1940s.

Former NFL quarterback who was named co-most valuable player in 2003, shot to death by girlfriend.

Pro Bowl player with the New York Giants who helped form one of the NFL's best linebacking corps in the early 1980s.

Former USC linebacker died of Lou Gehrig's disease.

Football player for both USC and UCLA in Rose Bowl games during the 1940s before a standout NFL career.

Garden Grove High football player died during a game.

Star athlete at USF whose team refused to play bowl game without African American players. Became first African American NFL game official

Played on 2 national title teams at Notre Dame and played five seasons with L.A. Rams

HORSE

Jockey rode 20-1 shot Bold Venture to victory in the 1936 Kentucky Derby.

Shoe shiner worked at Santa Anita for 74 years.

Thoroughbred trainer who won his only graded stakes race in November at Hollywood Park.

One of horse racing's great European trainers.

Hall of fame jockey who won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in 1958 and 1968.

MOTOR

Drag-racing pioneer who continued to innovate in the sport after polio paralyzed him from the chest down at 20.

Star of a daredevil sport known as freestyle motocross who died after a crash in competition.

Stock-car driver who won a record 54 races in the 1960s and '70s in NASCAR's West Coast regional series.

First woman to win a Sports Car Club of America national championship and a participant in the original "Cannonball Run."

Driver raced in the Indianapolis 500 for 18 straight years and won the 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race.

OLYMPIC

Three-time Olympic gold medal hurdler.

Equestrian won two Olympic silver medals despite being paralyzed below the knee by polio.

Coach of the U.S. track and field team at the 1968 Olympics.

Known as the "Mother of Judo" partly for her role in bringing women's judo to the Olympic Games.

Shot-putter who won bronze medal at 1984 Olympics, shot to death by prowlers at Oxnard home.

Only American alpine skier to win two gold medals in a single Olympics and who went on to become a leading conservationist in the Eastern Sierra.

Swim coach who won a record 13 NCAA titles at Auburn, Stanford and Texas and also led the U.S. Olympic teams in 1988, 1996 and 2000.

Believed to be Britain's oldest Olympian and winner of gold medal in the 4x400-meter relay at the 1936 Berlin Games.

Austrian who in 1956 became the first skier to win all three Alpine gold medals at a Winter Olympics.

Sailor with Lou Gehrig's disease won a gold medal at the 2008 Paralympic Games.

Winner of the gold medal in the women's hammer throw at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, collapsed while training.

Olympic silver medalist in beach volleyball and a star on the professional tour for 15 seasons, suicide from carbon monoxide inhalation.

OTHER SPORTS

Broke into the male-dominated sport of bullfighting at 13 and became one of the world's first famous female matadors.

Longtime instructor at Rancho Park Golf Course.

Ski instructors who taught at Badger Pass ski area in Yosemite National Park for more than 50 years.

Hall of Fame trainer of race horses.

Persistent sports publicist who promoted events including New York City Marathon and Evil Knievel's jump of the Snake River Canyon.

Surfer and board shaper was inducted into Surfers' Hall of Fame in September.

Muscle Beach bodybuilder who won several best abdominal titles in three decades of competition.

Tennis champion became a top promoter and driving force in players' gaining wealth and influence.

Dodger Stadium organist and one of the last surviving working accompanists from the silent-film era.

Longtime pro at Hillcrest Country Club taught legions of stars how to golf.

Theatrical skating sensation of the 1940s and 50s who captivated audiences with her balletic agility on roller skates and later on ice.

Member of the New York Rangers' 1940 Stanley Cup championship team who later coached the club.

Sportsfishing pioneer.

First African American to build, own and operate a golf course.

Golfer won the 1959 PGA Championship and became one of the first TV announcers to rove the course along with the players.

Manchester United soccer player who was one of the survivors of the 1958 Munich air disaster.

Hall of Fame hockey player and two-time winner of the Lady Byng Trophy.

Muscle Beach bodybuilder won U.S. titles in 1949 and 1950.

OWNERS, ADMINISTRATORS AND AGENTS

Owned both the Julius Erving-led New York Nets of the ABA and the fledgling New York Islanders of the NHL in the 1970s.

NCAA president best remembered as the Indiana University president who fired legendary basketball coach Bob Knight.

A part owner of the San Francisco Giants who was a close friend of home run king Barry Bonds.

Detroit Pistons' Hall of Fame owner and noted philanthropist.

Former Cleveland Indians vice president and part-owner of the baseball team from 1949 to 1962.

Former Pacific-10 Conference commissioner who oversaw the league's expansion from eight to 10 schools.

Wife of hockey great Gordie Howe and one of the first female sports agents.

Former owner of Cleveland Indians revived team's fortunes.

Car sales mogul and owner of the Utah Jazz NBA team.

Owner of Minnesota Twins baseball team and one of the richest men in America, said to be worth $3.8 billion.

Washington Wizards owner who brought an NBA championship to the nation's capital.

Longtime high school sports commissioner

REPORTERS AND ANNOUNCERS

Major leaguer and sportscaster who paired with Don Wells on Angels radio broadcasts in the 1960s.

Professor and associate dean of the USC School of Cinematic Arts who filmed football games from the roof of the Coliseum press box and oversaw the school's film archives.

UNLV and NBA player turned to broadcasting.

Sports broadcaster for ABC and NBC called World Series and Super Bowl games as well as college sports.

Longtime columnist for the Daily Racing Form known as the dean of American turf writers.

Veteran sports broadcaster for Los Angeles radio stations KFWB, KMPC and KSPN.

Longtime voice of baseball's Philadelphia Phillies who also had a familiar role as an NFL Films narrator.

Sportscaster did radio re-creation of San Francisco Giants games for New York fans abandoned when team moved West.

Chicago Bulls coach who spent more than three decades as a broadcaster for the NBA team.

Chicago Bulls guard and broadcaster.

Sportscaster whose extensive use of game highlights from across the country on his nationally syndicated show has now become the norm in the industry.

Writer and editor who co-founded Track & Field News.

L.A. sportswriter covered 39 consecutive Super Bowl games.

Los Angeles Times sportswriter who made headlines in 2007 when he announced that he was transsexual.

Sportswriter for the American Communist Party newspaper the Daily Worker who crusaded to end segregation in major league baseball in the 1930s and '40s.

Golfer won the 1959 PGA Championship and became one of the first TV announcers to rove the course along with the players.

Sportscaster called games for Oakland A's and Loyola University of Chicago.

Author and journalist who co-wrote the bestselling golf book "Harvey Penick's Little Red Book."