Nate Thurmond

popular name: Curt Gowdy

date_of_death: February 20, 2006

age: 86

cause_of_death: Leukemia

claim_to_fame: Sports

best_know_for: In the history of sports broadcasting, few figures have had the power to legitimize an event simply by attending it. For 40 years, Curt Gowdy was that figure. Over the course of a career that spanned five decades and all three broadcast networks, the “Cowboy at the Mic” called hundreds of football, basketball, baseball, Olympic, and outdoorsman events on his way to becoming one of the most heralded sportscasters of all time.

popular name: Bill Monbouquette

date_of_death: January 25, 2015

age: 78

cause_of_death: Acute myelogenous leukemia

claim_to_fame: Sports

best_know_for: Bill Monbouquette was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right-handed pitcher and was a four-time All-Star player. Monbouquette was a stalwart right-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox during one of the leaner periods in the history of the franchise. Born and raised in the Boston area, he played eight of his 11 major league seasons with the Red Sox, from 1958 to 1965, and for much of that time he was the best pitcher on a bad team. During his time with them, the Sox never finished higher than third in the American League. Monbouquette was notable for pitching a no-hitter in 1962 as a member of the Red Sox, and was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2000.

popular name: Ted Williams

date_of_death: July 5, 2002

age: 83

cause_of_death: Cardiac arrest

claim_to_fame: Sports

best_know_for: Ted Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 to 1960; his career was interrupted by military service during World War II and the Korean War. Nicknamed "Teddy Ballgame", "The Kid", "The Splendid Splinter", and "The Thumper", Williams is regarded as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history and to date is the last player to hit over .400 in a season. During his 19 years with Boston he had the American League's highest slugging average eight times, won the batting crown six times, led in runs batted in and in home runs four times and runs scored six times and captured the triple crown twice (a feat equaled only by Rogers Hornsby). He had 2,654 hits, and in perhaps the greatest tribute to his batting prowess, he led the league in walks eight times, finishing with a total of 2,019, second only to Babe Ruth at the time. Williams was a nineteen-time All-Star, a two-time recipient of the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award and a six-time AL batting champion. He finished his playing career with a .344 batting average, 521 home runs, and a .482 on-base percentage, the highest of all time. His career batting average is the highest of any MLB player whose career was played primarily in the live-ball era, and ranks tied for 7th all-time (with Billy Hamilton). Naturally he is in the Baseball Hall of Fame.