RIP Bobby Doerr

[fan_since79]

Baseball Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr, whose steady brilliance on the field was matched by an unflappable grace off of it, died Monday in Junction, Ore., at the age of 99.

Until his death, Doerr was the oldest living Hall of Famer, as well as the oldest living former big league player.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/261859926/hall-of-famer-bobby-doerr-passes-away-at-99/

[tdawg87]

99 is way too young imo RIP

[fan_since79]

One of the more decent men who played this great game. He and Ted Williams were close friends but the exact opposite in temperament.

He was also married for 65 years before his wife passed.

from the linked story: On a more personal side, friends marveled at the way Doerr took care of his wife, Monica, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the early 1940s. Until Monica's death in 2003, Bobby was known to dote on his wife and give her the best care possible.

Edited November 15, 2017 by fan_since79

[disarcina]

A long life, well lived and certainly well loved in Boston.

Stopped playing some 60-70 years ago and was still an icon in Boston.

Pesky's pole and Bobby Doerr - mainstays at Fenway.

Doerr was as nice of guy as Ted Williams was not quite so nice.

As for Williams -- his reputation as being a hot head and sort of a jerk is filtered through press/media that clearly did not like him because Ted didn't like them and didn't give them the time of day.........they resented him for that and the negative vibe made its way into news story after news story.

Also, there's a great biography (one of many) of Ted Williams that came out about five years ago and discusses how he and Joe DiMaggio were sort of the first wave of baseball sports superstars in the media/ TV era. Rivals on teams and in temperament. But the book describes Ted Williams growing up in San Diego and always being the big star at every sport he played. When he signed with the Red Sox at age 18/19 - he was very quickly in the big leagues.........in an age - unlike now - when there were not many superstars and back before back up middle infielders were paid millions -- ballplayers actually had to work in the off-season and be prepared to have real jobs to re-enter the real world when they stopped playing -- the MLB pension system wasn't in place yet or was not much of one..........Ted Williams from age 18/19 never had to take orders from anyone or be beholden to others for income --he answered to no one but himself.........and lived his whole life that way.........