Ted Williams

popular name: Vitas Gerulaitis

date_of_death: September 17, 1994

age: 40

cause_of_death: Carbon monoxide poisoning

claim_to_fame: Sports

best_know_for: Dashing and daring, Vitas Gerulaitis was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Lithuanian immigrants. He was the sport’s ultimate jetsetter in the late 1970s, adored by a legion of female fans, who screamed, “Take me home!” after his matches. He was also an intense competitor to his closest rivals, Connors, Guillermo Vilas, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, who became good friends. During a golden era for men’s tennis, he rose to a career-high No. 3 and was ranked inside the Top 10 for seven straight years until 1983. On his last day, staying in the pool house of a friend in Southampton, NY, Gerulaitis ordered a sandwich and watched golf on television. At 3 p.m. the next day, 17 September, a housekeeper found his body. An inquest found that he had died of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning from a faulty propane heater, which had seeped into the heating and air conditioning system. He was 40 years old. He was laid to rest at St. Charles Resurrection Cemeteries in East Farmingdale, 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 an 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.

popular name: Del Crandall

date_of_death: May 5, 2021

age: 91

cause_of_death: Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, and suffered several strokes

claim_to_fame: Sports

best_know_for: Delmar Crandall was an American professional baseball player and manager. Crandall played as a catcher in Major League Baseball and spent most of his career with the Boston / Milwaukee Braves. He led the league in assists a record-tying six times, in fielding percentage four times and in putouts three times. Crandall appeared in 146 games for Boston in 1949-1950, before entering military service during the Korean War. When his two-year hitch was over in March 1953, the Braves departed Boston for Milwaukee, where they benefited from an offense featuring legendary players Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews and Joe Adcock. Crandall seized the regular catcher's job from Walker Cooper in 1953 and held it for eight years, handling Braves pitchers such as left-hander Warren Spahn and right-handers Lew Burdette and Bob Buhl. From 1953 to 1959, the Braves' pitching staff finished either first or second in the National League in team earned run average every year except 1955. When he passed away at age 91, Del Crandall was the last surviving player to have played for the Boston Braves.