Ted Williams

popular name: Bradley Lord

date_of_death: February 15, 1961

age: 21

cause_of_death: Airplane Crash

claim_to_fame: Sports

best_know_for: Bradley Lord athlete and American figure skater who competed in men's singles. He won the gold medal at the 1961 United States Figure Skating Championships and placed second at the 1961 North American Figure Skating Championships. Lord was en route to the World Championships in 1961 when his plane (Sabena Flight 548) crashed near Brussels, Belgium, killing all 72 people on board and one person on the ground. The fatalities included the entire United States figure skating team, who were travelling to the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

popular name: Arthur Ashe

date_of_death: February 6, 1993

age: 49

cause_of_death: AIDS-related pneumonia

claim_to_fame: Sports

best_know_for: Arthur Ashe was an American professional tennis player. He won three Grand Slam titles in singles and two in doubles and was the first Black player selected to the United States Davis Cup team, and the only Black man ever to win the singles titles at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open. At the height of his career Ashe was ranked world No. 1 by Rex Bellamy, Bud Collins, Judith Elian, Lance Tingay, World Tennis and Tennis Magazine (U.S.) in 1975. That year, Ashe was awarded the 'Martini and Rossi' Award, voted for by a panel of journalists, and the ATP Player of the Year award. In the ATP computer rankings, he peaked at No. 2 in May 1976. He retired in 1980. In 1983 Ashe acquired HIV from a blood transfusion he received during heart bypass surgery. In 1993 Ashe died from AIDS-related pneumonia at age 49. His funeral was held at the Arthur Ashe Athletic Center in Richmond, Virginia. Governor Douglas Wilder, who was a friend of Ashe's, allowed his body to lie in state at the Governor's Mansion in Richmond as more than 5,000 people lined up to walk past the casket.

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.