Joe Niekro Dies at 61

Joe Niekro has died.

Former major league pitcher Joe Niekro, Houston’s career victory leader, died Friday, Astros president Tal Smith said. He was 61.

The two-time 20-game winner suffered a brain aneurysm Thursday and was taken to South Florida Baptist Hospital in nearby Plant City, where he lived. He later was transferred to St. Joseph’s Hospital, where he died.

“It came as a real shock to us,” Smith said. “He was a great guy. He had a real spark and a great sense of humor.” Smith said Niekro did not have an active role with the Astros but kept in contact with many of his former Houston teammates.

Niekro, father of San Francisco Giants first baseman Lance Niekro, won 221 games in his career but never became as well known as his Hall of Fame brother, Phil.

Like his older brother, who won 318 games, Joe Niekro found success after developing the knuckleball and pitched into his 40s. They had a combined 539 major league victories, a record for brothers.

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Niekro won a franchise-best 144 games in 11 seasons with the Astros from 1975 to 1985, when he was traded to the New York Yankees. He was an All-Star in 1979, when he went 21-11 with a 3.00 ERA and followed up with a 20-12 record in 1980. He beat the Dodgers in a one-game playoff that clinched Houston’s first postseason berth in 1980. Seven years later, in his 21st season, he finally appeared in the World Series with the Minnesota Twins.

“You are always in shock when you hear something like that, mainly when it hits close to home, a teammate who you have spent a lot of years with,” Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan, a former teammate of Niekro’s, told Houston’s KRIV-TV. “It certainly surprises you when it happens to somebody who has kept themselves in shape and lives a very active life. The last time I saw Joe he looked like he was a picture of health,” Ryan said.

Niekro was born Nov. 7, 1944 in Martins Ferry, Ohio. A third-round draft pick of the Cubs in 1966, he broke into the majors in 1967 and appeared in 702 games, including 500 starts, in 22 years with the Cubs, Padres, Tigers, Braves, Astros, Yankees and Twins. Niekro, who once was suspended for getting caught on the mound with a nail file in his back pocket, pitched his final game in April 1988 — at age 43. He finished 221-204 with a 3.59 ERA, including 144-116 with a 3.22 ERA for the Astros.

Truly a shame.

Yankee Pitcher Cory Lidle Dies in Plane Crash

A plane flew into a Manhattan high-rise apartment earlier today, sending fighter planes scrambling in fear that another terrorist attack was underway. It turns out the plane was being piloted by New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle, who died in the crash.

ESPN reported around 502 EST:

A small plane piloted by New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle crashed into a 50-story condominium tower Wednesday on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, killing at least four people, authorities said. Lidle died in the crash.

Now, at 510, the story is less decisive:

A small plane with New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle aboard crashed into a 50-story condominium tower Wednesday on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, killing at least four people and raining flaming debris on sidewalks, authorities said.

Federal Aviation Administration records showed the single-engine plane was registered to Lidle, and FBI reports show that Lidle’s passport was found at the scene. The FBI believed Lidle was the only person aboard the plane and the other three deaths occurred inside the building.

A sidebar to the story notes that many athletes have been killed in airplane crashes:

Individual athlete air crashes
• Feb. 14, 2000: Tony Bettenhausen, Jr., race car driver/owner, near Lexington, Ky.
• Oct. 25, 1999: Payne Stewart, golfer, Mina, S.D.
• July 12, 1993: Davey Allison, race car driver, Talladega, Ala.
• Jan. 1, 1993: Alan Kulwicki, race car driver, Bristol, Tenn.
• Jan. 11, 1980: Bo Rein, LSU football coach, Atlantic ocean
• Feb. 9, 1979: Thurman Munson, NY Yankee catcher, Canton, Ohio
• Nov. 29, 1975: Graham Hill, race car driver, Hertfordshire, England
• Dec, 31, 1975: Roberto Clemente: Pittsburgh Pirate outfielder, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Aug. 31, 1969: Rocky Marciano, heavryweight boxing champion, Newton, Iowa
• Feb. 13, 1964: Ken Hubbs, Chicago Cubs second baseman, near Provo, Utah
• March 31, 1931: Knute Rockne, Notre Dame football coach, Bazaar, Kan.
Team air crashes
• March 14, 1980: 14 members of U.S. Olympic boxing team, near Warsaw, Poland
• Dec. 13, 1977: 14 members of University of Evansville basketball team, Evansville, Ind.
• Nov. 14, 1970: 37 members of Marshall University football team, near Huntington, W. Va.
• Oct. 2, 1970: 14 members of Wichita State football team, Silver Plume, Col.
• Feb. 15, 1961: 18 members of U.S. figure skating team, near Brussels, Belgium
• Oct. 29, 1960: 16 members of the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo football team, near Toledo, Ohio

Allison’s death was in a helicopter, I believe.

Florida Marlins fire Manager Joe Girardi

From the Sun-Sentinel-

MIAMI — Florida Marlins manager Joe Girardi was fired Tuesday, a move that had been expected after his rift with owner Jeffrey Loria boiled over in an on-field confrontation two months ago.

Girardi lost his job even though he’s considered a strong candidate for NL manager of the year. The Marlins had baseball’s youngest team and lowest payroll at $15 million, but Girardi led them to a 78-84 record, and they were in contention for a playoff berth until a late-September fade.

The cost-conscious Marlins wanted Girardi out so badly they were willing to let him go with two years left on a guaranteed three-year contract he signed in October 2005, when he became a manager for the first time. At 41, he was the second-youngest manager in the major leagues after spending 15 years as a big-league catcher.

Atlanta third-base coach Fredi Gonzalez is considered the front-runner to replace Girardi. Gonzalez was runner-up in the Marlins’ search a year ago after Jack McKeon resigned.

Girardi said he was fired during a brief meeting in his office with team president David Samson, general manager Larry Beinfest and assistant general manager Mike Hill. Loria did not attend.

“They came in and said, `We’re going to make a change,”’ Girardi said. He said no reason was given.

“To hash over what happened doesn’t make any sense,” Girardi said.

Marlins officials did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

This news was as predictable as it is dismaying. After the 2005 fire sale, the 2006 Marlins 78-84 performance was absolutely incredible. Joe Girardi should be the NL 2006 Manager of the year. One thing is certain, Joe will land another manager’s job. The Chicago Cubs maybe.

One-time Knucklehead winner Jeffrey Loria is certain to get another award from me tomorrow.

Update- The Marlins announced Fredi Gonzalez as their new manager. Also here is my latest knucklehead award for Loria.

Previously- The Manager of the year will get a pink slip?

Dusty Baker Out as Cubs Manager

The Cubs have decided to part ways with manager Dusty Baker.

Dusty Baker is out as the Chicago Cubs’ manager following a last-place finish and a failure to take the team to the World Series in his four years. The Cubs made the announcement Monday, a day after team president Andy MacPhail resigned and the club finished with a 66-96 record.

“I wish we could have gotten it done but we didn’t,” Baker said. “You see four years come to pass very quickly.”

Baker was in the last season of his $14 million-to-$15 million deal and had hoped to resurrect the franchise that hadn’t been in the World Series since 1945 and hadn’t won one since 1908. He compiled a 322-326 record during his time in Chicago.

Baker said he talked to the players on Sunday. “I just urged them yesterday just to learn from some of the things that they might have understood, and some of the things that they didn’t understand,” he said. “Just retain it and perhaps some day they can use it on being better ballplayers, and being, you know, better family men and just being better people, period.”

Baker didn’t get the job done, despite having the payroll and talent to make it happen. Still, the team has been beset with injuries, especially to its star pitchers, something he could hardly control. And it’s not as if he forgot how to manage after so many good years with the Giants.