GONE TOO SOON

Major League Players Who Died During Their Active Playing Careers

On November 5, 2003, Cincinnati Reds outfielder Dernell Stenson was found dead on a residential street in Chandler, Arizona—shot and run over by a car. To say Stenson was a "promising player" would be an understatement and his passing was described by a grieving friend as "really awful." CNN / Sports Illustrated (online) published the following (NON-COMPREHENSIVE) list the day after Stenson passed away:

"So long Roberto Clemente, you have joined the immortals, who've been bodysnatched, by the Bermuda Triangle. When your plane went down, it forced tears out of grown men, all over the hemisphere, Al Oliver and, even Willie Stargell cried." - Tom Clark poem The Great One (Fan Poems 1976)

Gone Too Soon Major League Players Who Died During Their Active Playing Careers
Player	Team	Date	Age
Dernell Stenson	Cincinnati Reds	11-05-2003	25
Shot and apparently run over in a Phoenix suburb
Steve Bechler	Baltimore Orioles	02-17-2003	23
Multi-organ failure due to heatstroke
Darryl Kile	St. Louis Cardinals	06-22-2002	33
Blocked coronary artery; died in sleep
Mike Darr	San Diego Padres	02-15-2002	25
SUV accident just before start of spring training
Tim Crews	Cleveland Indians	03-23-1993	31
Boating accident near Winter Haven, Fla.
Steve Olin	Cleveland Indians	03-22-1993	27
Boating accident near Winter Haven, Fla.
Thurman Munson	New York Yankees	08-02-1979	32
Plane crash during a practice landing in Canton, Ohio
Lyman Bostock	California Angels	09-23-1978	27
Shot while driving in the same car as the shooter's ex-wife
Bob Moose	Pittsburgh Pirates	10-09-1976	29
Automobile accident on way to his birthday party
Don Wilson	Houston Astros	01-05-1975	29
Found dead in a car in his garage from carbon monoxide poisoning
Roberto Clemente	Pittsburgh Pirates	12-31-1972	38
Plane crash near Puerto Rico while carrying relief supplies to Nicaragua
Ken Hubbs	Chicago Cubs	02-15-1964	22
Plane crash near Provo, Utah
Harry Agganis	Boston Red Sox	06-27-1955	26
Massive pulmonary embolism
Ernie Bonham	Pittsburgh Pirates	09-15-1949	36
Died during an emergency appendectomy
Willard Hershberger	Cincinnati Reds	08-03-1940	30
Committed suicide
Len Koenecke	Brooklyn Dodgers	09-17-1935	31
Battered with a fire extinguisher by member of airplane crew
Hal Carlson	Chicago Cubs	05-28-1930	38
Stomach hemorrhage
Urban Shocker	New York Yankees	09-09-1928	38
Heart problems and pneumonia
Ray Chapman	Cleveland Indians	08-17-1920	29
Skull fracture after being hit by a pitch
Addie Joss	Cleveland Indians	04-14-1911	31
Tubercular meningitis
Ed Delahanty	Washington Senators	07-09-1903	35
Found dead in Niagara Falls
Doc Powers	Philadelphia Athletics	04-26-1909	38
Internal injuries after crashing into wall
Doc McJames	Washington Senators	09-23-1901	27
Carriage flipped after horse bolted
Player	Team	Date	Age
Gone Too Soon by CNNSI \| Preserved by Baseball Almanac

According to The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball "there have been 8-10 baseball suicides per decade of current or former professional ballplayers and managers... Gunshot has been the primary method of choice, with razor number two." Other early suicides not mentioned above include:

Name	Notes
Terry Larkin	Slashed his throat in a mental hospital
Edgar McNabb	Shot girlfriend then himself
Marty Bergen	Axed his family to death then slit his throat

According to Al Stump, a writer whose research has since been historically questioned for its accuracy, described an incident in an article saying three men once jumped Ty Cobb in an alley. Cobb tried to shoot them with his gun which jammed so the men beat, cut, and left him there. Cobb chased down one of the men and in his own words wrote, "In 1912—and you can write this down—I killed a man in Detroit. Left him there, not breathing, in his own rotten blood."

Take some time and share your memories of players "gone too soon" on Baseball Fever. Discuss other players who died, who killed themselves, who killed others and other similar losses - as many have gone too soon since this list was created.

GONE TOO SOON

Major League Players Who Died During Their Active Playing Careers

Gone Too Soon