Gene Tunney

popular name: Will White

date_of_death: August 31, 1911

age: 56

cause_of_death: Drowning

claim_to_fame: Sports

best_know_for: William "Whoop-La" White was an American baseball pitcher and manager from 1875 to 1889. He played all or parts of 10 seasons in Major League Baseball, primarily for the Cincinnati Reds in the National League (1878–1879) and the Cincinnati Red Stockings in the American Association (1882–1886). He had three 40-win, and one 40-loss, seasons in Cincinnati. During the 1882 and 1883 seasons, he led the American Association in wins, compiling an 83–34 win–loss record and a 1.84 earned run average (ERA). Over the course of 10 major league seasons, White compiled a 229–166 record with a 2.28 ERA. His career ERA ranks ninth on the all-time list of Major League Baseball career ERA leaders. White also set a number of major league pitching records and still holds several. His 1879 totals of 75 complete games, 75 games started, 680 innings pitched, and 2,906 batters faced remain major league records. Overlooked no longer, he was named to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013. Will never became quite as famous as his older brother, but his accomplishments in his short career were as impressive as those of several Hall of Fame pitchers. He has been compared to Addie Joss, Dizzy Dean and Sandy Koufax, all of whom are in Cooperstown.1 He won more major league games than any of that immortal trio and had a better earned run average than either Dean or Koufax. Upon his death, he was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, NY.

popular name: Angelo Jacopucci

date_of_death: July 22, 1978

age: 29

cause_of_death: Right frontoparietal subdural hematoma and diffuse cerebral edema

claim_to_fame: Sports

best_know_for: Angelo Jacopucci was a middleweight Italian boxing champion who was affectionately called by his fellow citizens "brigetto" to underline his slender physical structure and agility. Upon winning the continental middleweight title, he lost it in the first defense. Subsequently he challenged the then title-holder Englishman Alan Minter in an attempt to recover the title. During the final two rounds of the 12 round match, Jacopucci suffered fatal blows to the head and died two days later from the damage. He was laid to rest at Cimitero di Tarquinia in Tarquinia, Italy.

popular name: Buck Baker

date_of_death: April 14, 2002

age: 83

cause_of_death: Natural causes

claim_to_fame: Sports

best_know_for: Buck Baker was an American stock car racer who began his NASCAR career in 1949 and won his first race three years later at Columbia Speedway. During his NASCAR Cup Series career, Baker won two championships, 46 races and 45 pole positions, as well as recorded 372 top-tens. In 1957, he became the first driver to win two consecutive championships in the series. Between 1957 and 1959 Baker competed in the NASCAR Convertible Division. From 1972 to 1973, he competed in the Grand National East Series, where he recorded five top-tens in twelve races. Mr. Baker was a member of Six Racing Hall of Fames and voted one of the 50 greatest drivers in NASCAR history. After his retirement from active racing, Buck Baker opened and operated the "Buck Baker Racing School", where Jeff Gordon and Randy Newman among others, drove their first stock cars. He was inducted into the Motorsports Press Association's Hall of Fame in 1982 and in the International Motorsport's Hall of Fame in 1990. In February 2013 he was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Upon his death he was interred at Magnolia Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Charlotte North Carolina.