Deaths of former major league players, managers, club executives, scouts, umpires and writers: from January 25, 2004 through January 21, 2005

Baseball Digest, March-April, 2005

* JIM RUSSO, 81, a former scout for the Baltimore Orioles, on February 8 at his home in Wildwood, Mo. As a scout for the Orioles for 33 years, he was instrumental in the signing of pitchers Jim Palmer and Dave McNally, first baseman Boog Powell, and second baseman Davey Johnson.

* HUB KITTLE, 86, pitching coach for the 1982 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, on February 10 of diabetes complications and kidney failure in Yakima, Wash. He also filled coaching assignments for the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners.

* CHARLIE FOX, 82, who spent more than half a century in pro baseball and was 1971 N.L. manager of the year with the San Francisco Giants, on February 16 at Stanford Hospital of complications from pneumonia. He managed the Giants from 1970-1974, and also had short managerial stints with the Expos in 1976 and Cubs in 1983.

* ANDY SEMINICK, 83, catcher on the 1950 Phillies team that won the 1950 National League pennant, on February 22 at a hospital near his home in Melbourne, Fla. after a short illness. He spent 12 seasons with the Phillies starting in 1943, and three with the Reds before retiring in 1957.

* MARGE SCHOTT, 75, outspoken, former owner of the Cincinnati Reds who sold her majority share of the club in 1999, on March 2 at Christ Hospital in Cincinnati after a long struggle against respiratory problems.

* VEDIE HIMSL, 86, who was the first to manage the Cubs under the college of coaches system inaugurated by owner Phil Wrigley in 1961, on March 15 in Chicago.

* GENE BEARDEN, 83, left-handed pitcher who led the Cleveland Indians to a pennant and World Series title in 1948 with a 20-7 record, on March 18 in Alexander City, Ala. He pitched seven years in the American League from 1947 through 1953, finishing with a 45-38 won-lost mark. In the 1948 World Series against the Boston Braves, he won Game 3 with a 2-0 shutout and saved Game 6 without yielding an earned run over 10.2 innings of duty.

* GEORGE BAMBERGER, 80, Baltimore Orioles pitching coach from 1968 to 1977 and manager of the Milwaukee Brewers in 1978-1979-1980, the New York Mets in 1982-1983, and Brewers again in 1985-1986, on April 4 of cancer at his home in North Redington Beach, Fla. As a coach with Baltimore, he tutored Cy Young Award winners Jim Palmer and Mike Cuellar, and pitchers who won 20 or more games in a season 18 times.

* LOU BERBERET, 74, a catcher who played with the Yankees, Senators, Red Sox and Tigers from 1954 through 1960, on April 6 in Las Vegas, Nev.

* FLOYD GIEBELL, 94, fight-handed rookie hurler who pitched the pennant-clinching game for the Tigers against the Indians and Bob Feller in 1940, on April 28 in Wilkesboro, N.C. Giebell's 2-0 shutout allowed Tigers to finish one game ahead of the Indians as the season ended.

* DARRELL JOHNSON, 75, who managed the Red Sex to the World Series in 1975, on May 3 of leukemia at his home in Fairfield, Calif. He also managed the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers, and was 220-188 with the Red Sox in two and a half seasons beginning in 1974.

* LESLIE (BUSTER) NARUM, 63, who pitched five years in the majors from 1963 through 1967 with the Orioles and Senators on May 17 in Clearwater, Fla.

* MACK JONES, 65, an outfielder who played in the majors from 1961 through 1971 with the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves, Reds, and Expos, on June 8 in Atlanta, Georgia. Nicknamed Mack the Knife, he finished with a .252 batting average.

* TONY LUPIEN, 87, a first baseman who played with the Red Sox, Phillies and White Sox from 1940-1948, finishing with a .268 BA, on July 9 in Norwich, Vt. He also coached baseball at Dartmouth College.

* RUBEN GOMEZ, 77, right-hander who pitched ten years in the majors and won the first regular-season game on the West Coast for the Giants in 1958, on July 26 in San Juan, Puerto Rico after a long illness. In his career from 1953 to 1967, he posted a 76-86 won-lost record. His best year was 1954 when he went 17-9 for the World Series champion New York Giants.

* BOB MURPHY, 79, Hall of Fame broadcaster who covered the New York Mets from the team's inception in 1962 until his retirement in 2003, on August 3 of lung cancer at the Hospice of Palm Beach County in West Palm Beach, Fla.

* JOE FALLS, 76, longtime sports writer for The Detroit News who was inducted into the writers' wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001, on August 11 in Clarkston, Mich. of heart failure after struggling many years with the effects of diabetes. He proudly held Card No. 3 in the Baseball Writers Association of America.

* HANK BOROWY, 88, a right-handed pitcher who was 108-82 with a 3.50 ERA from 1942-1951 with the Yankees, Cubs, Phillies, Pirates and Tigers, on August 23 in Brick, N.J. In 1945, he became the first pitcher in modern history to win at least ten games in a year for two teams. He went 10-5 for the Yankees, was sold to the Cubs in July and then posted a 11-2 record for them, helping Chicago win its last National League pennant.

* WILLIE CRAWFORD, 57, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder from 1964-1975 who finished his career with Cardinals, Astros and A's in 1976-1977, on August 27 in Los Angeles of kidney disease. He had a career .268 BA and played in two World Series with the Dodgers in 1965 and 1974.