It has been a rough few days for baseball.
Frank Saucier, outfielder for the St. Louis Browns. He had a limited career due to injuries and the Korean War. Baseball Reference.
He is perhaps most famous as a historical footnote.
He was the only major league player removed from a game by his manager in favor of a 3-foot-7 circus performer.
Yes, he was the player who got benched in favor of Eddie Gaedel.
Art Schallock, pitcher for the Yankees and Orioles. He was, at the time of his death, the oldest living major league player. Baseball Reference.
Athol Fugard, South African playwright. He’s another one of those folks I’ve heard a lot about, but have no personal experience with his work.
It also hasn’t been a good time for music. D’Wayne Wiggins, of Tony! Toni! Tone!.
Joey Molland, the last surviving member of Badfinger. I feel like this is one of those areas where pigpen51 is better equipped to comment than I am.
Geoff Nicholson, author. I’ve never read any of his books, but the NYT obit makes him sound interesting.
His death, in a hospital, was from chronic myelomonocytic leukemia, his partner, Caroline Gannon, said. It is a rare bone marrow cancer, though, as Mr. Nicholson mordantly observed, “not rare enough, obviously.”
…
Mr. Nicholson was married for a time to Dian Hanson, a former model who edited a fetishist magazine, Leg Show. After living together in New York, the couple moved to Los Angeles when Ms. Hanson became the editor of sex-themed books for the luxury art publisher Taschen. Mr. Nicholson reveled in the 1960s kitsch of his home in a geodesic dome in the Hollywood Hills.
This entry was posted on Monday, March 10th, 2025 at 10:53 am and is filed under Books, Music, Obits, Sports, Theatre. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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I don’t know much about Badfinger’s backstory other than to say that they had a lot of radio play during my high school years. They seemed to be pretty tight as a band, with their music being well produced. Apparently they were not so tight as people, with 2 of their members killing themselves.
One thing that has always bothered me is when groups like Badfinger and so many others from the 60’s and 70’s continue on long after most of their original members no longer are with the group.
It is not like say the Beatles, who replaced their original drummer, and then continued to record and tour as the Beatles. Some groups from my youth even continue to tour under their original name, when they no longer have any of the original members left.
Groups as diverse as Yes, Blood, Sweat, and Tears, Molly Hatchet, and even Lynyrd Skynyrd. They may be very good, even sounding similar to their original groups. But to call yourself Lynyrd Skynyrd and not have a single original member is a step too far. It is almost akin to prostitution, selling yourself for money, or in this case selling your name for money.
Even worse is the groups that have toured even though their best days are far behind them. While groups like The Rolling Stones and Aerosmith are now stopped touring, I believe, they kept it up long after their badly aging members were too old to play the rockstars that they were. Seeing tapes of their concerts when they were well into their 70’s was simply sad and pathetic.