Remembered
Selected baseball personalities who died in 2004
Bygone baseball by C. Philip Francis – January 15, 2005
EDDIE LAYTON, the long-time Yankee Stadium organist who had retired in 2003, died at the age of 77 on December 27th at his home in Forest Hills, N.Y. after a brief illness. New York Yankees owner, George Steinbrenner, said, “Eddie was a treasured member of the Yankee family, and, as a gifted musician, he made Yankee Stadium a happier place. “ Layton began working at the stadium in 1967, and was the first person to play organ music at the New York ballpark.
After his retirement was announced during the seventh-inning stretch at a game in September, 2003, the fans began chanting, “EDDIE, EDDIE” as he played “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” Layton said that his time with the New York team was the most important days of his long life.
ANGELO “TONY” GIULIANI, a reserve catcher for the St. Louis Browns, Washington Senators, and Brooklyn Dodgers in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s, died on October 8th at the age of 92. He appeared in 243 games, ended his career with a batting average of .233, and hit no home runs. Tony was behind the plate the day Joe DiMaggio had his major league debut, and was also on the field with the Senators in 1939 when Lou Gehrig made his famous July 4th farewell address at Yankee Stadium:
Angelo went on to scout for the Senators and Twins after the team moved to Minnesota in 1961, and retired in 1987.
GERTRUDE DUNN who played in the All-American Girl’s Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) that was immortalized in the 1992 film A League of Their Own died in a plane crash on September 29 in New Garden, PA. Gertrude was at the controls of a single-engine plane that had just taken off when the engine suddenly quit. She was flying alone at the time.
Gertrude was voted Rookie of the Year in 1952 when she led her team to the league championship, and later starred in lacrosse and field hockey. After the girl’s baseball league folded in 1954 Miss Dunn attended West Chester University where she majored in physical education that she later taught, and was involved in field hockey until her death.
ROD KANEHL spent eight years in the Yankee farm system before drafted by the expansion New York Mets in 1962. Rod is best remembered for hitting the first Mets’ grand slam on July 6, 1962 at the New York Giants’ Polo Grounds. Kanehl was with the Mets for three years as utility player, and retired with a batting average of .241 and six home runs.
Rod died on December 14 at the age of 70 following a heart attack.
KEN BURKHART was one of the few major league ballplayers who later became a major league umpire. (Note: See Comments and Questions – Part 2 of January 1, 2005.) The tall right-hander came up with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1945, and had a record of 18 wins and 8 losses in his rookie year. Following an elbow injury Ken won only nine games in the next four years, and was gone by 1950.
Burkhart was considered an excellent arbiter, and was behind the plate for two consecutive no-hitters in 1968 thrown by Gaylord Perry and Ray Washburn.
Burkhart was involved in a famous and controversial play in the opening game of the 1970 World Series with the Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles. After Baltimore catcher Elrod Hendricks snagged the ball in front of the place the ump became tangled up with Bernie Carbo who was sliding in from third, and was on the ground and out of place when he made the call. He called Carbo out although replays show Hendricks made the tag with an empty glove. Baltimore won the game 4-3, and the Series in five games.
Burkhart died December 29th in Knoxville, Tennessee of emphysema at the age of 88.
JOSEPH DURSO, sportswriter for the New York Times for 51 years, died of cancer on December 31st in Stony Brook, New York. Joseph covered the Yankees and Mets, and also wrote on thoroughbred racing. His name is among the writers and broadcasters honored at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
KEN CAMINITI had 15 years in the major leagues retiring in 2001. He was the 1996 National League MVP when he hit a career-high .326, 40 home runs, 130 RBIs, and a three-time All-Star third baseman with Houston, San Diego, Texas, and Atlanta. In 1998 Caminiti, Tony Gwynn, and Greg Vaughn led the Padres to the World Series where they were swept by the New York Yankees.
Caminiti’s baseball accomplishments were recently overcome after admitting to using steroids during his major league career, and estimated that “half the players in the big leagues were also using them.” He had also been jailed for the possession of cocaine.
The California-born third baseman died of a heart attack at the age of 41 in New York City on October 10th. Tests showed the cause of death was “acute of intoxication due to the combined efforts of cocaine and opiates”, and that the drugs had weakened his heart.
Caminiti had hoped to get back in the game to help younger players avoid his mistakes.
ROSE GACIOCH never went to high school, but for 10 years she pitched for the Rockford, Illinois Peaches in the All-American Girls’ Professional League where she was depicted by Rosie O’Donnell in “A League of Their Own.”
A native of Wheeling, West Virginia, Miss Gacioch was orphaned at 15, and hired in 1944 by the South Bend, Indiana Blue Sox. After one year she moved to the Peaches where she was a member of four championships, and voted All-Star pitcher in 1952 and 1954.
Rose died last September in a nursing home near Detroit, Michigan at the age of 89.
A niece had once said of Rose, “I always looked forward to her coming to visit as a kid…She taught me how to whistle, how to play ball, and to pitch.”