Ted Williams

popular name: Hank Greenberg

date_of_death: September 4, 1986

age: 75

cause_of_death: Metastatic kidney cancer

claim_to_fame: Sports

best_know_for: Standing at six-foot-four, 215-pound Hank Greenberg was a baseball legend who played first base and outfield for the Detroit Tigers from 1930 to 1946. Greenberg, who was the American League's most valuable player in 1935 and 1940, also was one of the few players to make the transition from the field to the front office. He was a part-owner and general manager of the Cleveland Indians from 1948 to 1958 and a vice president of the Chicago White Sox from 1959 to 1960. Elected to baseball's Hall of Fame in 1956, Greenberg batted in more than 100 runs seven times during his career. His lifetime batting average was .313 and his career home run total was 331.

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: 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.