Mr. Baseball and Others, RIP
And, some near-end-of-year news . . .
Pregame Pepper
. . . Over, Under, Sideways, Out Dept.—Anthony Rendon has agreed to let the Angels buy him out of the final year of his contract and to defer the money over the next three years. The Athletic’s Sam Blum broke the news Tuesday afternoon. It frees the Angels to pursue free agents more freely, and it pushes the third baseman toward the likely end of his baseball career.
A superstar with the Nationals, for whom he was a big factor in their 2019 World Series run and conquest, Rendon’s Angels tenure began with a terrific if pan-damn-ically shortened 2020 season. Then came the an injury-throttled nightmare in which it seemed that the only unharmed part of his body might have been an earlobe.
No player signs a major league contract expecting to spend half or more of its term recovering from and rehabilitating injuries. If Rendon found it frustrating, who could truly blame him? (The social media meathead contingency doesn’t count.) If he was wrong to get into an argument with a fan now and then, weren’t fans (and others) wrong to dismiss him out of hand as a bust without accounting for all those unwanted injuries?
Rendon also found himself being burned as an Angel for repeating a sentiment that actually endeared him to Nats and other fans when he expressed it then: baseball was his living but not his life, his family and his religious faith came first in his heart and commitment.
Likely to remain in his native Houston while continuing to rehabilitate the hip injury that cost him a 2025 season, Rendon hasn’t retired technically, Blum noted, “[but] it’s hard to imagine him playing again at the big-league level.”
. . . Flash Fish Special Dept.—The Marlins elected to add some speed to their lineup, trading to obtain outfielder Esteury Ruiz from the world champion Dodgers. The former American League stolen base leader is considered an elite baserunner and above-average fielder. The Dodgers got minor league righthanded pitcher Adriano Marrero in exchange for Ruiz.
. . . This Bird Hasn’t Flown Dept.—In what’s being called a depth move, the Orioles have returned righthanded starting pitcher Zack Eflin on a one-year, $10 million deal with a mutual 2027 option, according to The Athletic. Eflin was limited to fourteen 2025 starts with a 5.93 ERA, mostly attributable to back issues that cost him parts of June and July before his season ended with August surgery.
. . . Au Contreras Dept.—At least one analyst thinks the Red Sox won’t be burned by dealing a package of young pitching to the Cardinals for veteran catcher-turned-first baseman Willson Contreras. MLB.com’s Manny Randhawa says Contreras should do well at the plate for the Olde Towne Team because he’s consistent, he’s returning to a hitter-friendly home field, his pull hitting should thrive with the Green Monster, and he’s experienced in playing before particularly demanding fans.
All any Red Sox fan should wonder is whether he has even one more beyond-epic bat flip in him . . .
Leading Off
Mr. Baseball and Others, RIP
Remembering those who departed our island earth in 2025
By Matt Veasey
As each year draws to a close, I have made it my job to look back and remember those lost to the baseball world. In 2025 there were 108 former Major League Baseball players who passed away as of December 28, per Baseball Almanac.
Some of these players were superstars of the sport. Many others were solid contributors remembered well by fans of their teams. A few received nothing more than the proverbial cup of coffee, a small taste of the big-league life.
Some of the more notable names lost to our game this year were Hall of Famers Dave Parker and Ryne Sandberg. Other familiar names included Sandy Alomar, Davey Johnson, Tommy Helms, Lee Elia, Mike Greenwell, Octavio Dotel, Randy Jones, Chet Lemon, Randy Moffitt, Diego Segui, and Jeff Torborg. And we also lost legendary Hall of Fame broadcaster and one of baseball’s most recognizable personalities, Bob Uecker.
The oldest was Tommy Brown, a utility player who appeared in nine seasons including seven with the Dodgers in 1944-45 and again from 1947-51. Brown was a member of the Dodgers 1947 and 1949 National League pennant winning squads. He wrapped his career by appearing in parts of two seasons each with the Phillies and Cubs. Brown passed away back on January 15 at age 97.
The youngest player to pass this year was Jesus Montero, a catcher and designated hitter who passed away on October 19 at just age 35. A native of Venezuela, Montero appeared in five seasons. He debuted in 2011, appearing in 11 games for the American League East Division champion New York Yankees.
Montero would go 2-for-2, scoring a run and driving in another, during his lone big-league postseason appearance that year in Game 4 of the ALDS vs Detroit. He went on to play with Seattle from 2012-15.
Larry Dolan, longtime owner of the Cleveland Indians/Guardians franchise passed away this year at age 94. Walt Jocketty, longtime baseball executive with the Saint Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds, passed away at age 74. Tom Hicks owned the Texas Rangers from 1998-2010. He passed at age 79.
Bill Neukom, the managing general partner of the San Francisco Giants from 2008-11, died this year at age 83.
Former baseball commissioner (1989-1992) Fay Vincent passed away at age 86 on January 19. First A. Bartlett Giamatti’s deputy commissioner, Vincent was a central figure in the early years of the Pete Rose gambling suspension. He led the game through the 1989 earthquake World Series, the 1990 lockout, and the 1993 expansion to Miami and Colorado.
In addition to remembering some of the bigger names lost to the game, I always shine a spotlight on one of those players who barely made a blip on the radar. This year, that player will be Verle Tiefenthaler. Whom? you might ask. Well, you will learn as you move through this piece. Let’s take a look back at the careers of some of the legends, as well as Mr. Verle Matthew Tiefenthaler.
Dave Parker—The Cobra was one of the most dynamic middle-of-the-order offensive performers of the 1970’s and 1980’s. Parker was the National League Most Valuable Player in 1978 and a key member of the Pittsburgh Pirates 1979 ‘We Are Family’ World Series champions.
He was a 7x All-Star, 3x Gold Glover, and 3x Silver Slugger. He played his first 11 seasons 1973-83 with the Bucs, moved on to four seasons in Cincinnati, and wrapped his career by appearing in brief stints with the A’s, Brewers, Angels, and Blue Jays. He was the primary DH with Oakland’s 1989 World Series champions.
Parker was elected to the Hall of Fame this past year, enshrined posthumously after passing away on June 28th at age 74. He had battled Parkinson’s disease since being diagnosed in 2012.
Ryne Sandberg—Ryno was widely recognized as the greatest second baseman of his era spanning most of the 1980’s and into the mid-1990’s. After breaking in with the 1981 Phillies, he was dealt to the Chicago Cubs and became a superstar over 15 seasons in Chicago between 1982 and 1997.
He sat out the 1995 season as “retired,” but he returned for two final, mostly productive seasons. He was the 1984 NL MVP, a 10x All-Star, a 9x Gold Glover, and a 7x Silver Slugger. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2005.
Sandberg passed away on July 29 at 65, after battling metastatic prostate cancer for the previous two years.
Bob Uecker—Mr. Baseball was widely known to both fans of the game and the general public, from his numerous hilarious appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson dating back to the 1970’s to his famous 1980s commercial spots for Miller Lite Beer. (“Oh! I must be in the front row!”)
He also starred in the situation comedy Mr. Belvedere from 1985-90 and in the Major League films.
But Uecker was also an institution inside of the sport. He played for six seasons 1962-67 with three organizations beginning with the Braves in Milwaukee 1962-63 and ending with that organization in Atlanta in 1967. A backup catcher throughout his career, Ueck also appeared with Saint Louis and Philadelphia, winning a World Series with the Cardinals in 1964.
Upon his retirement, Uecker became a broadcaster with the Milwaukee Brewers in 1971 and served in that role for more than four decades. In 2001, he was elected to the National Radio Hall of Fame and two years later was honored by the Baseball Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick Award.
Uecker passed away back on January 16 at age 90 of small-cell lung cancer.
Verle Tiefenthaler—He was born and died in Carroll, Iowa and was incredibly only the second-most famous big-leaguer from that small town. Ken Henderson also came from Carroll and enjoyed a 15-year career between 1965-80.
Tiefenthaler graduated from St. Bernard’s High School and then signed with the New York Giants as an amateur free agent. He remained with the Giants organization in their minor league system as the organization moved west from New York to San Francisco.
A right-handed pitcher who batted left-handed, Tiefenthaler rose to the Giants Triple-A club at Tacoma by 1961. There he won 13 games with a 3.92 ERA over 56 relief appearances. That led to his being dealt to the Chicago White Sox as the player to be named later from an earlier five-player deal between the two clubs that included former World Series hero Don Larsen going to San Francisco.
Tiefenthaler would make his only three big-league appearances with the Chisox in August of 1962. The 25-year-old did not enjoy much success. He allowed four earned runs on six hits across 3.2 official innings, striking out one and walking seven.
During his debut at White Sox Park (a.k.a. Comiskey Park) vs the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, August 19, Tiefenthaler recorded his lone career strikeout, fanning the first batter he faced, Mike Roarke. However, three batters later he gave up a massive grand slam to right field by Bill Bruton. Tiefenthaler lasted one more season at Triple-A Indianapolis before retiring.
In 1999, Tiefenthaler was inducted into the Iowa Baseball Hall of Fame. He passed away on May 28 at age 87.
Matt Veasey is a retired three-decade Philadelphia Police supervisor and instructor posting and commenting on a variety of topics including baseball and his hometown Philadelphia Phillies as @MatthewVeasey. His email is matthew.veasey@verizon.net.
Cleaning Up
The Pre-1980 Short-Career, Pension-Denied Roll is Reduced
To 490, with the passages of these among others in 2025
By Jeff Kallman
Verle Tiefenthaler had only three major league appearances with the 1962 White Sox. But if he’d had them twenty years later, he’d have qualified for a full major league pension.
So would what are now 490 former players whose careers were played prior to 1980 but weren’t long enough in major league service time to qualify for pensions under the old pension plan.
In 1980, the Major League Baseball Players Association re-aligned the plan to change two key vesting times. To qualify for a full pension, a player now had to have only 43 days of major league service time to qualify. To qualify for full health benefits, a player now had to have—count it—one day’s major league service time.
But the players’ union rejected allowing pensions for and health benefits for pre-1980, short-career major league players who missed the original four-year vesting time. The sole redress those players have had since is a 2011 deal made between then-commissioner Bud Selig and then-players union executive director Michael Weiner.
Under that deal, those players would receive $625 per 43-day service period, up to $10,000 a year before taxes. That amount was hiked fifteen percent as part of the 2021-22 lockout settlement, but those receiving the stipends still couldn’t pass those dollars on to their families upon their passings.
Tiefenthaler’s post baseball life included returning to his native Iowa and working first in construction and then in produce and feed. It was absolutely unjust to freeze him and his fellow pre-1980, short-career men out of the 1980 pension realignment. It might not have brought him or them a vast fortune, but it would have acknowledged that they, too, pitched in with their union when the challenges that led to free agency’s riches needed to be met.
So here is a toast of a tall, cold one to those among his fellows who passed in 2025: Ed Acosta (P; 81), Jim Bethke (P; 78), Jim Breazeale (1B; 75), Gary Boyd (P; 78), Tom Brown (1B; 84), Larry Burright (2B; 88), Jack Curtis (P; 88), Bill Dailey (P; 89), Bill Denehy (P; 79), Jim Dickson (P; 87), Mark Esser (P; 69), Ted Ford (OF; 78), Tim Harkness (1B; 86), Bob Heffner (P; 86), Joe Henderson (P; 78), Bill Hepler (P; 79), Steve Hertz (3B; 80), Frank Johnson (IF-OF; 82), Terry Ley (P; 78), Mickey McGuire (IF; 84), Phil Meeler (P; 77), Ed Mickelson (1B, and the next-to-last living member of the St. Louis Browns*; 98), Art Schallock (P, and the oldest living former player when he died at 100), Bart Shirley (IF; 85), Greg Thayer (P; 76), and Tom Tischinski (C; 79), Mike White (IF/OF; 86).
There may have been others, and I hope and pray that anyone seeing this who knows of others in that group who passed this year will add comments and allow us to remember them. Even if the game they loved and the union they supported forgets.
The next collective bargaining agreement is due to be negotiated after the 2026 season. May the owners and the players alike, at last, be awakened to and offer full redress, not just a continuing small stipend, to the remaining 490, and something, anything, to the families of those who passed and couldn’t leave their stipend to those they loved.
Legally, the MLBPA isn’t obligated to give the remaining 490 the proverbial red cent. Morally, of course, is another question. And, the union today should know that their first executive director, Marvin Miller, had only one regret: that he was unable to suggest or convince the union to revisit the 1980 pension re-alignment, with the possible redress then to the frozen-out men.
Until such redress, we can only wish the aforementioned men peace until they’re reunited with their loved ones in the Elysian Fields.
Jeff Kallman edits the Wednesday and Thursday editions of Here’s the Pitch. He lives in Las Vegas and writes Throneberry Fields Forever. You can reach him at easyace1955@gmail.com or easyace1955@outlook.com.
* The last living former St. Louis Brown, shortstop Billy Hunter, died a week after Ed Mickelson. But Hunter qualified for a pension under the pre-1980 vesting rule, having played six seasons with the Browns/Orioles, the Yankees, the Kansas City Athletics, and the Indians.—Ed.
Extra Innings: What They Said . . .
[T]here is no reason, other than sheer mean-spiritedness and pettiness, why the union and league cannot successfully find a way to mediate this issue.
—Douglas J. Gladstone, in the 2019 updated edition of his 2010 book, A Bitter Cup of Coffee, about the short-career pre-1980 players frozen out of the 1980 pension realignment.
[T]hey . . . didn’t hesitate one bit taking my dues when I was a major league player. But as soon as you’re no longer a major league player, they basically don’t want to have anything to do with you.
—David Clyde, one-time pitching phenom, whose hype-and-injury plagued short career ended just days short of qualifying for a full pension under the pre-1980 rules, and who remains an activist on behalf of pension redress.
Know Your Editors
Here’s the Pitch is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [biggentleben@hotmail.com] handles the Monday issue with Dan Freedman [dfreedman@lionsgate.com] editing Tuesday and Jeff Kallman [easyace1955@gmail.com] at the helm Wednesday and Thursday. Original editor Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com], does the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Former editor Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] is now co-director [with Benjamin Chase and Jonathan Becker] of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, which publishes this newsletter and the annual ACTA book of the same name. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HtP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.
Good read. Happy New Year!