The final farewell
Sending out a last goodbye to some of the athletes who died in a year of loss
Therewere somany this year. Sports in 2020 was an unending state of mourning. It was as if every week, sometimes days, another luminary fell, bringing a cascade of condolence and remembrance.
It began New Year’s Day, a harbinger of what the year held, with the deathsofDavidSternandDonLarsen. Not long after came a seismic jolt, the helicopter crash of Kobe Bryant in the fog- shrouded California hills that reverberated across sports and across continents.
Deep into the year, a bookend to Bryant, Diego Maradona died from a heart attack in Argentina weeks after brain surgery, the waves of grief rippling across soccer. It seemed a whole wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame was ripped away — Al Kaline, Tom Seaver, Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, WhiteyFord, JoeMorgan, PhilNiekro. Football lostabigpieceof its heart: Don Shula, Gale Sayers, Paul Hornung, Bobby Mitchell. Gone from college basketball was John Thompson, as imposingandimportantacoachasany.
Thelosses, ofcourse, cameagainsta backdropof apandemic, itsnumberof fatalities rolledoutdailyonTVscreens. Sportstookitsplaceinthegrimprocession, even if COVID- 19 was not listed on the death certificate. For fans of a certain age, it was as if the lights dimmed on a generation of players who long illuminated the game. What was leftwere snapshots and YouTube montages and endless conversations.
Bryant was among nine who died that January day, including 13- yearold daughter Gianna, on his way to a youthtournament. Bryantisthegame’s fourth- leading scorer. He spent 20 yearswiththeLakers, 18asanAll- Star, andwonfivetitles. “It doesn’tmakeno sense,” theLakers’LeBronJamessaid. “But the universe just puts things in your life.”
Maradonawasthesoul ofArgentine soccer whose magic extended to Italy, where he bewitched Napoli fans. He carried Argentina to the 1986World Cuptitle, histwogoals inaquarterfinal againstEnglandamongsoccer’s greatest: the “Hand of God” goal— he later acknowledged it came with his hand, not head — and another in which he shredded an entire defense. He died at 60, his health undercut by cocaine and obesity.
Kaline spent 22 years with the Tigers, elegantly covering right field and in 1955 hitting .340 at age 20 to become the youngest player to win the American League batting title. In Cincinnati, Morgan, his elbow twitching at the plate like the wing of an agitated chicken, was a maestro at secondbase, atwo- timeMVPandvital part of the Big Red Machine before becoming aTVvoice.
Ford was the dependable “Chairman of the Board,” a left- hander who played on six title winners and might havebeenthe greatest starting pitcher inYankees history. InSt. Louis, Gibson wonsevenstraightWorld Series starts and in 1968 had a 1.12 ERA. A month earlier, Cardinals fans also grieved for Brock, who became one of the game’s great leadoff hitters and base stealers.
Threedays earlier, itwasSeaver. He was “Tom Terrific” and “The Franchise,” both nicknames apt. He was a three- time Cy Young Award winner and cornerstone of a team he transformed from woebegone to World Series champion in 1969. Niekro won 318gamesandpitcheduntilhewas48, hisknuckleballdancingandmystifying batters across the decades.
Larsenwas 81- 91 over 14 big league seasons, butononeOctoberdayin1956 the gods of the game visited an Everyman. The Yankees pitcher did what no one in baseball ever had— throwa perfectgamein theWorld Series.
Baseball also remembered Dick Allen, a fearsome slugger and seventime All- Star who withstood torrents of abuse in Philadelphia. Two other hardhitters left: JimWynn, theAstros’ “Toy Cannon,” and BobWatson, who laterwiththeYankeesbecamethefirst Black generalmanagertowinaWorld Series.
Three Dodgers went in the space of a week — reliever Ron Perranoski and outfielders “Sweet” Lou Johnson and Jay Johnstone. A trio of second basemen — Glenn Beckert, Frank Bolling, TonyTaylor— diedasdidJohn McNamara, who in 1986 managed the Red Sox to within one strike of a World Series crown. AndPhilLinz, the light- hittingbackupwhoseharmonica playingontheteambusbecamepart of Yankees lore.
In basketball, Stern became NBA commissioner in 1984 and inherited a league in perilous financial shape. He sprung it to life. Thompson, a towel draped over his shoulder, guided Georgetownto the 1984NCAAchampionship. Hewas the first Black coach to take the title. TherewasK. C. Jones, the guard who shut down the best of players and won eight straight titles with the Celtics before coachingthem to another two. Jones played on those Bill Russell teams with two Hall of Famers who died in 2020: Thompson and TomHeinsohn, whowould go on to coach and broadcast for the Celtics.
Gone, too, wereWes Unseld, with his whipping outlet passes, star sixth man Cliff Robinson, Harlem Globetrotter dribblingwizardCurlyNealand ex- ABA Commissioner Mike Storen. Therewas a roster of coaches in Jerry Sloan, EddieSutton, LouHenson, Carl Tacy, BillyTubbsandMorganWootten.
The NFL lost dazzling running backsinSayers, HornungandMitchell.
Shula once said that in judging greatness the stats should speak for themselves. Here are his: He guided theDolphinstotheonlyperfectseason in NFL history — 17- 0 in 1972 — set a league record with 347 victories and coached in six SuperBowls.
ThePackers alsomourneddefensive greatsHerbAdderley, WillieWoodand Willie Davis while the Dolphins did likewise with running back JimKiick. Two linebackers were remembered: MikeCurtis, whohelpedtheColtswin a Super Bowl, and Kevin Greene, his longblondhairflowingwhileinmanic pursuitofquarterbacks. TomDempsey, born without toes on his kicking foot, made a then- record 63- yard field goal. His was among the COVID- 19 deaths. Among the coaches lost: Joe Bugel, Pat Dye, JohnnyMajors, Ray Perkins, George Perles, Pepper Rodgers, Harland Svare, SamWyche.
Hockey sent offHenri Richard, the diminutivecenterwhowonarecord11 Stanley Cups with the Canadiens. He was the “Pocket Rocket” and younger brotherofsuperstarMaurice“Rocket” Richard. Therewas also Eddie Shack, thealways entertainingwinnerof four Stanley Cups with theMaple Leafs; and Dale Hawerchuk, who spent 16 years intheNHL, notablywiththeJets.