Strat-O-Matic Baseball 365

It seems inconceivable to me that even as bad as 2020 has been for everyone, on top of that we've lost seven truly great baseball stars from our youth:

Al Kaline - April 6

Tom Seaver - August 31

Lou Brock - September 6

Bob Gibson - October 2

Whitey Ford - October 8

Joe Morgan - October 11

Phil Niekro - December 27

Yet I don't recall ANY of them falling victim to the Coronavirus.

Maybe someday Dick Allen and Jimmy Wynn will be inducted into the hall of fame as well.

I'm sure there have been other years where multiple hall of fame players have passed away, but what stands out to me from the list you have here is, all seven of them were elected by the BBWAA, not a single one snuck in the back door via a Veterans Committee. We have lost greats who were considered by the baseball writers to be the very best, the cream of the crop.

Add Hall of Famers Don Sutton (Jan 18) and Henry Aaron (Jan 22) to the list of all-time greats who've passed away during the past 12 months

I don't know the date off the top of my head but Tommy Lasorda is in there somewhere. Willie Mays could be on the horizon. He is no longer strong enough to attend the HOF inductions.

I think the effect it has had on many of us in this community is indicative of our median age...maybe it is natural to view prior times as better times, but it does seem like these guys were larger than life at a time when they got paid less, were treated worse, and were generally "working class" warriors.

At least to me anyway. Tough year+ to be sure.

A special time for baseball and its players. Football, basketball, etc. not yet diverting a lot of sports attention. I can recall and visualize the baseball players not so much with other sports.