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SLAM! Sports Century in Review INTERACTIVE CONTESTS ALSO ON SLAM!  |
JULY 3 TO AUGUST 31 July 3 -- Ricky Byrdsong, former Northwestern basketball coach died at age 42. Byrdsong's four-year record at Northwestern was 34-78. His 1995 team was linked to a point-shaving scandal. July 14 -- Gene Hart, the Philadelphia hockey announcer who was the "Voice of the Flyers" for more than two decades, died at age of 68. Hart was the play-by-play man for the Flyers on radio and television from their inaugural season in 1967-68 until 1994-95. July 16 -- Whitlow Wyatt, a star pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers and former manager of a championship Atlanta Crackers minor league team, died at 91. He won 22 games in 1941 and led Brooklyn to its first National League pennant in 21 years. The right-hander had a 106-95 record in 16 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies. July 18 -- Lawrence Edward "Tody" Smith, a member of the University of Southern California's fearsome 1969 defensive line "The Wild Bunch" and brother of NFL Hall of Famer Bubba Smith, died at age 50. July 20 -- Chuck Mahoney, a driver who excelled in the early years of NASCAR four decades ago, died at 79. Mahoney, ranked seventh in total points on the Grand National circuit in 1959, the second year of what would become Winston Cup racing. July 21 -- Harry H. Ranier, who earned a reputation as an intense competitor in the auto racing and horse racing industries, died at age 62. Former NASCAR driver Cale Yarborough won back-to-back Daytona 500 races in 1983 and 1984 and many other races in Ranier-owned cars. Buddy Baker won the 1980 Daytona 500 in a Ranier car. Ranier was involved in the Winston Cup Series from 1978 to 1988. The Ranier horse Midway Lady won the English Oaks and the One Thousand Guineas. July 23 -- Dmitri Tertyshny, a 22-year-old defenseman for the Philadelphia Flyers was killed when he fell out of a boat and was slashed by the propeller while on a trip to British Columbia. July 24 -- Demetrius DuBose, 28, a former NFL player who had fallen on hard times, was shot and killed by police who chased him down after he fled a burglary scene. DuBose played for Notre Dame from 1989 to 1992. He was a second-round draft pick of Tampa Bay in 1993 and played four seasons with the team. July 28 -- Fanfreluche, the broodmare whose 1977 theft and recovery was one of the more bizarre episodes in thoroughbred history, died at age 32. Stolen from a pasture at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Ky. while she was in foal to Triple Crown winner Secretariat, Fanfreluche was found 5 1/2 months later in the southwestern Kentucky town of Tompkinsville. Long before she was "horsenapped," Fanfreluche was a champion filly in the United States and Canada, winning 11 times and finishing in the money in 20 of 21 starts as a 2- and 3-year-old in 1969-70. In 1970, she was the Canadian Horse of the Year. July 30 -- Hermann Panzo, an Olympic sprinter who won a bronze medal for the French team in the 1980 games in Moscow, died at age of 41. Panzo, a Martinique native, won the bronze as part of a French four-man 100-meter relay team in the 1980 games. July 31 -- Wilbur "Pony" Wilson, athletic director at Rutgers-Camden for nearly three decades, died at age 66. He coached the men's basketball team for 18 1/2 years during three stints, compiling a 187-273 record. He led the Pioneers to NAIA district championships in 1972 and 1976. But the school landed in NCAA Division III history books in the mid-1990s, compiling a 117-game losing streak that spanned five seasons. When the streak reached 84 games in March 1995, Wilson returned as coach. The team lost 14 more games before health problems forced him to step down. July 31 -- Riverman, who ranks sixth among all stallions in producing stakes winners, died at age 30. Riverman sired 127 stakes winners and had 541 lifetime winners with total progeny earnings of $43,275,896. July 31 -- Tiffany Young, 21, a women's basketball player for Purdue was killed in a car accident. Young, a member of Purdue's 1999 NCAA national championship team, would have been a senior for the upcoming season. Aug. 3 -- Jim Slaughter, who used his size and basketball skills to lead South Carolina in scoring for three straight years, died at age 71. Slaughter, who played at South Carolina from 1947-51, was the tallest player in the Southern Conference at the time and was twice on the all-conference team. Aug. 7 -- Harry Litwack, whose 21-year reign as Temple University men's basketball coach included a 1969 NIT championship, died at age 91. He coached the Owls from 1952 until his retirement in 1973 and finished with a 373-193 record. Aug. 8 -- Harry "The Hat" Walker, who led the National League in hitting in 1947 and got the deciding hit in the 1946 World Series, died at age 80. He spent eight years with the St. Louis Cardinals and also played for the Philadelphia Phillies, the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds, mostly as an outfielder. In Game 7 of the 1946 World Series, Walker hit a double to left-center in the bottom of the eighth, and Enos Slaughter scored all the way from first, giving the Cardinals a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox and the series title. Walker spent 20 years as a manager, including major-league stints with the Cardinals (1955), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1965-67) and the Houston Astros (1968-72). Aug. 8 -- Ben Jackson, 22, a Valdosta State pitcher was struck by lightning and killed while pitching in a men's over-40 summer baseball league in his hometown to regain arm strength after surgery earlier this year. Aug. 9 -- Riley Smith, who quarterbacked Alabama to a national championship in 1934, died at age 88. Smith converted from fullback after the 1933 season and quarterbacked the Crimson Tide the next two seasons, earning All-America honors. Aug. 14 -- Pee Wee Reese, the Hall of Fame shortstop and Brooklyn Dodgers captain whose leadership and example helped ease the way for Jackie Robinson to break major league baseball's color barrier, died at age 81. An eight-time All-Star, Reese sparked the Dodgers to seven National League pennants. He led Brooklyn to its only World Series championship in 1955, fielding the final ball in a 2-0 victory in Game 7 at Yankee Stadium. Nicknamed "The Little Colonel," the Kentucky native batted .269 in a career that spanned 1940-58 and included the Dodgers' first year in Los Angeles. Aug. 14 -- John S. Pingel, an All-America halfback at Michigan State in 1938 and member of the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame, died at age 82. Pingel was a two-way player for Michigan State, but was best known as a halfback. He led the Spartans to their first bowl game, a 6-0 loss to Auburn in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 1938. Aug. 15 -- Charles "Greek" George, who set an American League record for putouts in a game when he caught Bob Feller, died at age 86. George was called up to the majors by the Cleveland Indians in 1936 and caught Feller when the pitcher struck out 17 in his major league debut. Aug. 17 -- Reiner Klimke, Germany's most successful Olympian who won six gold and two bronze medals in dressage, died at age 63. Klimke also won six world championship titles and 10 European titles. Aug. 19 -- Kim Perrot, the popular point guard who helped the Houston Comets win two WNBA championships, died at age 32. Aug. 25 -- Elena Murgoci, 39, a well known Romanian long distance runner, was brutally stabbed to death outside her home by a jealous boyfriend in Bucharest, Romania. Murgoci won the world marathon in Osaka, Japan, in 1993, and the half marathon in Brussels, that same year. Aug. 30 -- Fritz Shurmur, the Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator and the architect of the Green Bay Packers' defense that dominated the league in 1996, died at age 67. 
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