2026 - They died this year

[Bazza]

I saw the Oils in concert in the 90's at Orlando's Hard Rock Cafe and it was one of the best concerts I've ever seen.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

I saw the Oils in concert in the 90's at Orlando's Hard Rock Cafe and it was one of the best concerts I've ever seen.

I didn't remember the name, but definitely remember this song. RIP.

 

[Toddrn]

Alabama football legend Bear Bryant once called ‘the best’ has died

Tarrant native, 2-time All-SEC pick, was 77

www.yahoo.com

 

[crimsonaudio]

RIH Aldrich Ames

Aldrich Ames, C.I.A. Turncoat Who Helped the Soviets, Dies at 84

As chief of the counterintelligence branch of the C.I.A.’s Soviet division, he had access to some of the nation’s deepest secrets. He had been serving a life sentence since 1994.

www.nytimes.com

Aldrich Ames, the most murderous turncoat in the history of the Central Intelligence Agency, whose betrayal in working for the Soviet Union went undetected for almost a decade, died on Monday. He was 84 and had been a federal prisoner, serving life without parole, since 1994.

The death was recorded in the federal Bureau of Prisons inmate database. A spokesman said he died at the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Md.

The son of an alcoholic C.I.A. officer, Mr. Ames failed upward through the agency ranks for 17 years until he attained a headquarters post of extraordinary sensitivity.

It's criminal he wasn't executed.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Wilbur Wood, knuckleball pitcher for mostly the White Sox, dies at 84. He went 164-156 (would have guessed he did better) in 17 seasons. He won 20 games three times, including 24-20 in 1973, becoming the AL’s last 20/20 man. Phil Niekro did it for the Braves in 1979.

Knuckleballers almost inevitably have terrible records as pitchers.

Bill James spelled out years ago why this happens:

Did you ever notice that no knuckleball pitcher has ever won the Cy Young Award? The one sort-of exception is Early Wynn, 1959; Wynn threw four pitches, including a knuckleball, but wasn’t a true knuckleball pitcher.

When I was developing the Win Shares system, I was interested to see who would be listed as the top pitcher in the American League in 1971. Vida Blue won the MVP Award (24–8, 1.82 ERA)
and the Cy Young as well, but the Cy Young was a close and disputed vote, as Mickey Lolich pitched 376 innings that year and won 25 games. I remember having an argument with a friend about who ought to win that award. I said Blue.
According to the Win Shares system, the best pitcher in the American League in 1971, and by a pretty decent margin, was Wilbur Wood. Wood also had a great year—334 innings, 22–13 won-lost record, 1.91 ERA—and he did draw one vote in the Cy Young balloting, but only one. Why wasn’t he a larger part of the discussion?

It is the direct and indirect effect of throwing the knuckleball.

Looking more carefully at the data, I found that six knuckleball pitchers show up as deserving of the Cy Young Award (actually, three pitchers including Phil Niekro four times)—but none of them won it. The direct effect could be illustrated by looking at the 1962 Award, which was won by Don Drysdale. Both Drysdale and Bob Purkey had fine seasons. Drysdale was 25–9 with a 2.83 ERA. But Bob Purkey, who threw the knuckleball about 20–40% of the time, had a won-lost record just as good (23–5) and almost the same ERA (2.81), although Purkey pitched for a team that wasn’t quite as good, and pitched in a park (Crosley Field) that was much tougher for a pitcher than Dodger Stadium. Thus, as the Win Shares system sees it, Purkey clearly deserves the Award, by a margin of about two full Win Shares. Why didn’t he win it?

Well, you’ve got a big, strong, handsome pitcher with a knockout fastball, pitching in Los Angeles, against an average-sized, average-looking slop pitcher pitching in Cincinnati. Purkey got one vote, the same as Wilbur Wood got in ’71. Reporters respect fastballs—just like baseball men.

The pitcher nominated by the Win Shares system as deserving of the Cy Young Award will win that award almost exactly 50% of the time. Through 2000 there have been 79 Cy Young Award winners, 41 of whom are shown by the Win Shares system as deserving of the Award. But many Cy Young decisions are razor thin, according to the Win Shares method. In 1985, for example, Bret Saberhagen won the American League Cy Young although the Win Shares system says that Dave Stieb was better—by a margin of 24.43 to 24.42. The difference is 1% of one Win Share, which is equivalent to about one-thirtieth of one run, which is a silly distinction; for all practical purposes, they’re even. In 1993 Greg Maddux won the Cy Young Award, although the Win Shares system thinks that Jose Rijo was better, by a margin of 25.44 to 25.38. You wouldn’t expect a statistical method to agree with a panel of voters consistently on distinctions that fine.

However, when one pitcher ranks as clearly better than anybody else in the league, which happens a little more than half the time, then that pitcher will win the Cy Young Award about two-thirds of the time.
The indirect effects of the knuckleball on Cy Young voting are greater than the direct effects. The indirect effect can be illustrated best by looking at Phil Niekro, 1978. Phil Niekro in 1978 went 19–18 for a last-place team, the Atlanta Braves; he pitched 334 innings, which led the National League by 59 innings, struck out 248 men, which was second in the league, and posted a 2.88 ERA despite pitching in what was, at that time, by far the best hitter’s park in the National League, the Launching Pad. By the Win Shares method he ranks as the best pitcher in the National League by a huge margin, 8.63 Win Shares (about 25 runs). Every other pitcher since the award began who had led by that kind of a margin, anything even close to that, has won the Cy Young Award. Niekro drew no first-place votes, and was seventh in the Cy Young voting.

But I do not attribute this to prejudice against a knuckleball pitcher. After all, the Cy Young winner that year was Gaylord Perry, who was older than Niekro and living on the spitball. If the voters had wanted a fireballer, they could have given the award to J. R. Richard. They didn’t give the award to Niekro not because he floated pitches to home plate on moth wings, but because he was 19–18. Yeah, he was 19–18 with a last-place team, but still, he was 19–18. Starting pitchers who finish 19–18 don’t win the Cy Young Award.

And that’s the larger reason that no knuckleball pitcher has ever won the Cy Young Award: because the Cy Young Award usually goes to the pitcher with the best won-lost record, and most knuckleball pitchers pitch for bad teams.

Almost all baseball men, if they had their druthers, would rather have a hard thrower than a knuckleball pitcher. Managers on good teams have more options: they can get the pitchers they want. Bad teams have limited options, so they have to take chances. Thus bad teams are, on the whole, much more likely than good teams to put a knuckleball pitcher on the mound. But since bad teams are always short on pitching, if the knuckleball pitcher turns out to be effective, he may lead the league in innings pitched. Thus, we get Wilbur Wood leading the American League in innings pitched in 1972 and 1973, Phil Niekro leading the National League in innings pitched in 1974, 1977, 1978, and 1979, Charlie Hough leading the American League in innings pitched in 1987, and Tim Wakefield pitching enough to allow 151 runs to score in 1996 and to lead the league in losses in 1997—mostly for bad teams, and always for teams which were short on pitching.

The other years that Niekro could and perhaps should have won the Cy Young Award are 1974, 1976, and 1979; he also ranks among the top five pitchers in the league in 1967, 1969, 1971, and 1972. Niekro is not the only pitcher who came up empty in the Cy Young voting although the Win Shares system says that he should have won more than once. Dave Stieb also shows as deserving of three Cy Young Awards (1982, 1984, and 1985) and as the runner-up in 1983 and among the leaders in 1981. He never finished higher than fifth in the voting. Jim Bunning, who was anything but a knuckleball pitcher, also shows up as deserving of Cy Young Awards in 1957 and 1967, and as the best pitcher in the American League in 1960, although there was only one Cy Young Award then, and he ranks behind several National League pitchers.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Former Scorpions bassist Francis Buchholz has died at the age of 71.

The late musician’s family announced the news in an emotional Facebook post on Friday. They revealed that Buchholz passed away on Thursday, Jan. 22, following a “private battle with cancer.”

“It is with overwhelming sadness and heavy hearts we share the news that our beloved Francis passed away yesterday after a private battle with cancer,” the “Still Loving You” rocker’s family began. “He departed this world peacefully, surrounded by love.”

Former Scorpions bassist Francis Buchholz dead at 71: ‘Our hearts are shattered’

“Though the strings have gone silent, his soul remains in every note he played and in every life he touched.”

nypost.com

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Legendary San Francisco 49ers quarterback John Brodie died Friday at the age of 90, the team announced.

Brodie is a 49ers Hall of Famer and one of the most revered players in team history after spending his entire 17-year NFL career with the team. He won the NFL MVP award in 1970, made two Pro Bowls, earned Comeback Player of the Year honors in 1965 and led the league in passing touchdowns in three seasons.

49ers QB great John Brodie, former NFL MVP, dies at 90

Brodie played his entire 17-year career in San Francisco.

sports.yahoo.com