In Memoriam: Remembering the MLBbros Who Left Us In 2023

By Anthony McClean, MLBbro.com Historian

As we await the beginning of 2024, we here at MLBbro.com look back at the pioneers and contributors to the game that have passed on in 2023. During the past 12 months, the baseball world has said goodbye to players who’ve left unique marks on the sport.

It’s now time for us to have our collective “Cooley High” moment to pour a glass and give high honor to “the brothas that are no longer with us”.

Nate Colbert: Padre Power Personified

Long before the days when Hall of Famers Dave Winfield and Tony Gwynn wore the brown and gold, this 3-time All-Star was the original face of the Padres. The St. Louis native was signed by his hometown Cardinals as an amateur free agent in 1964, a year before MLB’s first amateur draft.

A year later, the Houston Astros selected Colbert in the Rule 5 Draft and he made his MLB debut in 1966. He also played for the Astros in 1968 before being selected by San Diego in the 1968 expansion draft.

Colbert played six seasons with the Padres from 1969 to 1974 becoming the first star player for the young franchise. Through the 2022 season, he still held the Padres’ career record for homers (163) and ranked among San Diego’s top 10 in numerous offensive categories.

5 Home Runs, 13 RBI In Doubleheader

Colbert’s best day in the majors was August 1, 1972, when he hit five home runs – matching Stan Musial’s record from 1954 – and drove in 13 runs in a doubleheader, breaking the record of 11 RBIs, set previously by Earl Averill (1930), Jim Tabor (1939), and Boog Powell (1966).

His 22 total bases also broke another doubleheader record by Musial. It helped the Padres sweep the Atlanta Braves, 9–0 and 11–7. Colbert finished with 38 homers, matching his total from 1970, and batted .250 with a .508 slugging percentage and 111 RBIs.

He finished second to NL MVP Johnny Bench of the Cincinnati Reds (40) in home runs that year. Colbert’s RBIs also set a major-league record for driving in the highest percentage of his team’s runs (22.75%). None of his teammates had as many as 50 that year, as the team scored a league-worst 3.19 runs per game.

He was selected to the 1972 All-Star Game and scored the winning run in the 10th inning. A year later, he had career-highs in batting average (.270) and on-base percentage (.343), while dropping to 22 home runs and 80 RBIs.

5-Season Peak

It was his final productive season. From 1969 to 1973, he averaged 30 home runs and 85 RBIs. He played three more seasons with the Detroit Tigers, Montreal Expos, and Oakland Athletics before a congenital back injury forced him to retire while in camp with the expansion Toronto Blue Jays in 1977. He died on January 5, 2023, in Las Vegas, at the age of 76.

Vida Blue: The Original “Louisiana Lightning”

Much like when his Louisiana homeboy J.R. Richard burst on the MLB scene, Blue made a similar impact when he reached the majors. The Mansfield native was a mainstay of the Oakland Athletics’ dynasty of the 1970’s.

The then-Kansas City Athletics selected Blue in the second round of the 1967 MLB Draft. While he would make his MLB debut in 1969 with the franchise now in Oakland, Blue’s initial impact would come a year later after a stellar minor league career.

In 1970, Blue was called up in September, making two starts. On September 11, he shutout the Kansas City Royals 3–0, giving up only one hit, to Pat Kelly in the eighth inning. Ten days later, Blue no-hit the defending and eventual AL West champion Minnesota Twins 6–0 in Oakland.

Minnesota’s lone base runner came on Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew’s fourth-inning walk. At the time, he was the fourth-youngest pitcher to throw a no-hitter. Even with those moments, the best was yet to come.

In his signature season of 1971, Blue had a 24–8 record, an AL leading 1.82 ERA and eight shutouts, and struck out 301 batters, winning both the AL Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards.

He also led the AL in complete games (24), shutouts (8), and ERA (1.82) That season, the Athletics won the AL West crown title for the franchise’s first postseason berth since 1931 while in Philadelphia.

At the time, Blue was the youngest American League player to win the MVP Award in the 20th century. He was the starting pitcher for the AL in the 1971 All-Star Game and featured on the covers of Sports Illustrated and Time Magazine. However, during the offseason, he would have his first of many contractual battles with tight-fisted owner Charlie Finley.

Blue, who had earned $14,000 in 1971, sought a $92,500 salary. He held out, missing much of the year, before Blue and Finley settled at $63,000. Blue ended up with a 6–10 record in spite of a 2.80 ERA in 1972.

He did not make the Athletics’ postseason starting rotation, instead pitching mainly in relief. Against the Cincinnati Reds in the 1972 World Series, he made four appearances, including a save in Game 1, a blown save in Game 4, and a loss in a spot-start in Game 6.

Dynasty Ace

Eventually, Oakland won the series in seven games. Blue went 20–9 in 1973, 17–15 in 1974, and 22–11 in 1975, as an integral member of the Athletics’ five straight American League Western Division pennants from 1971 to 1975, and three consecutive World Championships in 1972, 1973, and 1974.

When Finley began to dismantle the franchise following the 1975 season, mainstays like Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers, and Blue were among his trade targets. Vida’s name was mentioned in several proposed transactions.

In June 1976, commissioner Bowie Kuhn vetoed an attempt by Finley to sell Blue’s contract to the New York Yankees, and did the same thing on January 30, 1978 to a trade announced by the Reds at the Winter Meetings on December 9, 1977, that would’ve sent the star to Cincinnati for Dave Revering and $1.75 million.

In 1978, Blue would eventually be traded to the San Francisco Giants for five players and $300,000. In his first season in Frisco, Blue went 18–10 with a 2.79 ERA as he led the Giants to 89 wins and a third-place finish in the NL West, which was won by the L.A. Dodgers.

He started for the NL in the All-Star Game becoming the first of only five pitchers in major league history to start the All-Star Game for both the American League and the National League. He won the Sporting News’ NL Pitcher of the Year.

By 1982, Blue was dealt to the Kansas City Royals and released in August 1983. He was ordered that December to serve three months in federal prison and fined $5,000 for misdemeanor possession of approximately a tenth of an ounce of cocaine.

Blue didn’t play in 1984 and was suspended that July 26 by Major League Baseball through the remainder of the season for illegal drug use. He would return in 1985, but he never reached the level he established in his career which eventually ended in 1987.

After baseball, Blue was a baseball analyst for NBC Sports Bay Area and also devoted much time to local charities in the area. Blue died in a hospital in the East Bay on May 6, 2023, at the age of 73.

Michael Young

A native of Oakland, Ca., Young played for the Baltimore Orioles (1982-87), Philadelphia Phillies (1988), Milwaukee Brewers (1988) and Cleveland Indians (1989). Young’s best season was 1985, when he hit .273 with 28 home runs and 81 runs batted in for the Orioles.

Mike Young Makes History

On May 28, 1987, Young became the fifth player in major league history to hit two extra-inning home runs in one game. He homered in the 10th inning and hit a walk-off home run in the 12th inning to beat the California Angels, 8–7, at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium.

Young only played eight games for the Brewers. One of those came Aug. 28, 1988, when then-manager Tom Trebelhorn mistakenly wrote “Yount” a second time on the lineup card instead of “Young.”

Playing against Detroit at County Stadium, Trebelhorn meant to put Young as designated hitter and Hall of Famer Robin Yount in his usual spot in center but instead turned in a lineup card with Yount batting both third and fifth in the order.

Yount lined out to second base to end the Brewers’ first inning, and when Young lined out to short for the second out in the second, Tigers manager Sparky Anderson approached umpire Mike Reilly and protested that Young had essentially pinch hit for Yount, who therefore should have to leave the game.

It led into a 16-minute delay before the umpires agreed, and they even walked out to center field to coax Yount out of the game. Trebelhorn protested and got ejected by crew chief Dale Ford. The rule book at the time specifically outlined that teams should not be “trapped” by a mistake that was obviously inadvertent and could have been corrected before the game started.

Young died of a heart attack in Brazil on May 28, 2023, at the age of 63.

Alex Cole

Known mainly as a speedy fourth outfielder, Cole played seven seasons in the majors with the Cleveland Indians (1990-92), Pittsburgh Pirates (1992), Colorado Rockies (1993), Minnesota Twins (1994-95) and Boston Red Sox (1996).

For his career, Cole batted .280 with 493 hits, including 58 doubles, 26 triples and five home runs. One of Cole’s most significant strengths was his speed. He was a proficient base stealer, amassing 148 stolen bases in 207 attempts during his time in the MLB.

His ability to steal bases not only contributed to his personal success but also added a dynamic element to the teams he played for, putting pressure on opposing pitchers and catchers.

He made his debut with the Cleveland Indians in 1990 and quickly established himself as a stolen base specialist. Cole stole five bases in one game on August 1, 1990, and finished ranked fourth in the American League in 1990 with 40 stolen bases despite playing in only 63 games.

In 1991, the Indians cited his speed as a prime reason for moving back the outfield walls of Cleveland Municipal Stadium. This effort, however, resulted in the Indians hitting only 22 home runs at home for the year. Cole again stole five bases in a game against the California Angels on May 3, 1992.

Cole played two of his final three years in the big leagues with Minnesota. He batted .296 with four homers, five triples and 15 doubles with the Twins in 1994 and was hitting .342 in 28 games when his 1995 season ended with a broken leg.

Cole died on August 19, 2023, at the age of 58.

Deacon Jones

A native of White Plains, NY, Jones went to Ithaca College and began his baseball career in the White Sox organization, climbing through their Minor League ranks before debuting with Chicago on September 8, 1962, against the Washington Senators.

His big-league experience consisted of 60 plate appearances and he batted .286 (14 hits in 49 at bats) with one home run (hit off Jim Hannah of the Senators on September 28, 1963) and 10 RBIs.

A great natural hitter, Jones still holds the Midwest League record for the highest single-season batting average when he hit .409 for the Dubuque Packers in 1956. He also had 135 hits, smashed 26 homers and had a .758 slugging percentage in only 330 at bats.

The left-handing hitting infielder appeared in 40 Major League games between 1962 and 1966 before transitioning to a role as a roving hitting instructor in 1967. He joined the Houston Astros as the teams’ hitting coach from 1976 to 1982 and served as the hitting coach for the San Diego Padres from 1984 to 1987.

He would then step into a role as an advanced scout for the White Sox, a role he held from 1988 to 2008. In later years, Jones served as the special assistant to the president for the Sugar Land Skeeters, a member of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

He remained as a special advisor when the Skeeters became the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. Jones died on May 7, 2023, at the age of 89.

He would serve 20 years as an advanced scout for the Chicago White Sox (1988 to 2008) and in later years, Jones served as the special assistant to the president for the Sugar Land Skeeters, a member of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.