Article:Baseball Notebook: 3 Recent Baseball Deaths

Baseball Notebook: 3 Recent Baseball Deaths ' Hersh Lyons ' July 23, 1915 - April 8, 2008  Born in Fresno, California Died in Inglewood, California First and Final Game: April 17, 1941 Hersh Lyons  who died at the age of 92 on April 8th of this year retired on the same day he made his major league debut as he pitched 1 1/3 innings on April 17, 1941 He faced 8 batters but still had a 0.00 ERA so must have pitched out of trouble the one day. He literally was in majors long enough for a cup of coffee and a small cup of coffee at that. He pitched for the St. Louis Cardinals and even though he was on the playing field for only a few minutes he lived the dream that baseball players everywhere dream of even if it was for a very short time. Walt Masterson ' June 22, 1920 - April 5, 2008 Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Died in Durham, North Carolina ' Major League Debut: May 8, 1939 Final Game: September 24, 1956  Walt Masterson  compiled a 78-100 record with an ERA of 4.15. He died April 5th at the Duke Medical Center at the age of 87 of a stroke. Masterson had his best season in 1952 when he had a combined 10-9 record with the Red Sox and Senators. He also played for the Tigers. He struck out Mickey Mantle  five straight times in 1951.  The highlight of his career was in June of 1947 when he held the White Sox scoreless for 16 innings and then was replaced by Early Wynn  who won the game which ended in the 18th inning with a 1-0 Senators victory. Tommy Holmes ' March 29, 1917 - April 14, 2008 Born in Brooklyn, New York Died in Boca Raton, Florida ' Major League Debut: April 14, 1942 Final Game: September 28, 1952  Tommy Holmes  died today in Boca Raton, Florida at the age of 91. He died of natural causes. Holmes is well known for hitting in 37 consecutive games in 1945 which was the record until Pete Rose  broke the record in 1978 with a 44 game streak. In 1945 he hit .352 but Phil Cavaretta  won the batting title that year with a .355 mark. Holmes seldom struck out and in 1945 he struck out only 9 times in 636 at bats striking out every 70 at bats. He led the NL in home runs in 1945 with 28 roundtrippers. In his 11 year career he hit 88 home runs and drove in 581 runs and hit .302 during his career. He was a two time NL All Star and was No.2 in the 1945 MVP voting. He played in the 1948 World Series with the Boston Braves and in his final season he played for the Dodgers in the 1952 World Series. According to his daughter Holmes watched baseball games on television until the time of his death.