Ted Williams

popular name: John L. Sullivan

date_of_death: February 2, 1918

age: 59

cause_of_death: Heart disease

claim_to_fame: Sports

best_know_for: John L. Sullivan was an American boxer recognized as the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing, de facto reigning from February 7, 1882, to September 7, 1892. He is also generally recognized as the last heavyweight champion of bare-knuckle boxing under the London Prize Ring Rules, being a cultural icon of the late 19th century America, arguably the first boxing superstar and one of the world's highest-paid athletes of his era. Newspapers' coverage of his career, with the latest accounts of his championship fights often appearing in the headlines, and as cover stories, gave birth to sports journalism in the United States and set the pattern internationally for covering boxing events in media, and photodocumenting the prizefights. He had a record of 47 wins, 1 loss and 2 draws, with 38 wins by knockout, though many sources disagree on his exact record.

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: 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.