Baseball is such an eternal game, constantly renewing and replenishing itself, that if we are not careful, constantly looking forward to what’s next can make us lose touch with what has passed. This decade has been full of countless stories, incredible breakthroughs, an endless supply of highlights. But we have also lost some of baseball’s greatest stars.

As we look back once more at this decade of baseball, we take time today to remember those who passed in the last 10 years. They are baseball legends who will never be forgotten.

2010

Bob Feller (age 92): He started in the Majors at the age of 17, then was on the cover of Time at 19. He was, at 23, the first professional athlete to enlist in the Navy after Pearl Harbor, and he returned to be the most dominant pitcher imaginable. (Imagine how fast Statcast would have told us he threw; he claimed he hit 104.) At the age of 90, Feller pitched in the Hall of Fame Classic in Cooperstown. People were still afraid to step in the box against him.

Robin Roberts (age 83): The Phillies legend, the forever Whiz Kid, was one of the most durable pitchers in the sport’s history, starting out as a flamethrower but evolving into a crafty pitcher in the purest sense of the word. His statue still sits outside Citizens Bank Park.

Ron Santo (age 70): Long overlooked by the Hall of Fame, both as a player as a broadcaster, the Cubs legend was finally inducted two years after his death. The entire Cubs team did his signature heel click on Induction Day 2012.

Bobby Thomson (age 86): His “Shot Heard 'Round the World” remains one of the most famous home runs in baseball history. In a sign that baseball is baseball and has always been baseball, there are still people who believe that Thomson was alerted what pitch Ralph Branca was going to throw via a buzzer wire.

2011

Harmon Killebrew (age 74): When he retired in 1975, he had the fourth-most home runs in baseball history (573), and he currently ranks 12th. Reggie Jackson once called Killebrew the best hitter he ever saw. Despite reports for years, the official MLB logo is not modeled after Killebrew … but it might as well be.

Duke Snider (age 84): The Duke of Flatbush was actually from Southern California, and when he died in February 2011, he was the last living Brooklyn Dodger to have been on the field for the last out of the 1955 World Series. He remains the Dodgers’ career leader in homers and RBIs.

Dick Williams (age 82): He played 13 years in the Majors, but he’s in the Hall of Fame because of his career as a manager, in which he won two World Series (both with the A’s) and four pennants over 21 years.

2012

Gary Carter (age 57): The greatest player in Expos history won his only World Series with that wild and crazy 1986 Mets team; he was the team’s solid center. Famous for his smile and positive attitude, Carter is the reason the Expos never had a player wear No. 8 after him and no Met has since 2001.

Johnny Pesky (age 93): He actually played only eight seasons for the Red Sox (he managed during three seasons), but he’ll be immortal at Fenway Park for that famous Pesky Pole, the patron saint of slap hitting utility infielders everywhere.

2013

Stan Musial (age 92): “The Man,” the most beloved Cardinals player of all time and the clear monument to everything that franchise has attempted to model itself after since he retired in 1963. The perfect combination of power and contact, he had exactly as many hits on the road as he did at home.

Earl Weaver (age 73): He managed the Orioles for more than 17 years, winning one World Series (1970) and four pennants, and had only one losing season, his final one (1986). His tactics were ahead of their time, too, rejecting small ball: Famously, his favorite baseball play was “the three-run homer."

2014

Tony Gwynn (age 54): The perfect batting average hitter and a lifelong San Diegan -- he was born in Southern California, went to college in San Diego and played his whole career there -- and he was such a great athlete early in his career that he’s still San Diego State’s all-time assists leader in basketball. He made a stunning 15 All-Star teams in his career, and he retired with an absurd batting average of .338. He also made what could end up being baseball’s last real run at .400.

Ralph Kiner (age 91): Injuries limited his career to 10 years, but what a 10 years they were. He led the Majors in homers the first seven years he was in the bigs and he ended up with one of the most lasting broadcasting careers in baseball history, with 53 years behind the mic.

Jim Fregosi (age 71): He was the original Mike Trout, in that he was without question the first star of the Angels, debuting for them in their first season in 1961 at the age of 19. Fregosi later became their first manager to take them to the postseason and would manage the 1993 Phillies in the World Series.

Don Zimmer (age 83): One of the most colorful characters in baseball history, Zim managed four teams and -- perhaps more memorably -- was a coach for 11 others, from the Expos in 1971 to the Rays in 2014. His final uniform number was the number of years he worked in baseball: 66. It has since been retired by the Rays.

2015

Ernie Banks (age 83): The revered legend always wanted to play two, and none of those games was ever for a team other than the Cubbies. The first player to have his number retired by the team, he died 20 months before seeing the Cubs finally win the World Series.

Yogi Berra (age 90): As legendary as anyone has ever been legendary, attempting to capture Yogi Berra in one paragraph would be like trying to fit all of Yankee Stadium in an elevator. Yogi Berra was such an American icon that if he did not exist we would have to invent him. Everybody has a favorite Yogi quote. Mine remains, “It gets late early out there.”

Minnie Minoso (age 89): He was arguably the greatest Major Leaguer ever born in Cuba and a pioneering figure for Latin American players. Minoso famously played in five decades and there’s a statue of him outside Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago -- but still, somehow, no Hall of Fame plaque.

2016

Jose Fernandez (age 24): The phenom who was tragically killed in a boating accident just as he was beginning to fulfill his potential for the Marlins, Fernandez was one of a handful of players this decade who died during his professional career. He had electrifying stuff and a joy for the game that was infectious.

Monte Irvin (age 96): One of the first African-American players in baseball after Jackie Robinson debuted, he was pivotal to the 1951 Giants’ run to the pennant. (He also was the batter before Bobby Thomson’s homer.) He would also serve as mentor to his teammate Willie Mays.

Joe Garagiola (age 90): A roly-poly joy of a catcher, he was much more famous as a broadcaster and television personality. Widely thought to be the inspiration for Fred Willard’s character in Best In Show.

2017

Jim Bunning (age 85): The only man to be elected to both the Baseball Hall of Fame and the United States Senate, Bunning was second in baseball history in strikeouts when he retired. He also has one of the 23 perfect games in baseball history.

Roy Halladay (age 40): Another Hall of Famer with a perfect game (for the Phillies as well, no less) on his resume, Halladay tragically died in a plane accident just four years after he retired. He was elected to the Hall of Fame posthumously, on the first ballot, this past year.

Don Baylor (age 68): Famous for his ability to be hit by pitches and of course his fearsome power, Baylor:

• Won an MVP (with the 1979 Angels)
• Won a World Series (with the 1987 Twins)
• Won a Manager of the Year (for the 1995 Rockies)

Jimmy Piersall (age 87): Piersall was a terrific player whose career is mostly known now for his battle with bipolar disorder. The film Fear Strikes Out, about him and his ordeal, is one of the more underrated baseball movies, even if Anthony Perkins doesn’t look like he threw many baseballs in his life.

Bobby Doerr (age 99): A teammate of Ted Williams with the San Diego Padres when they were still in the Pacific Coast League, and again with the Red Sox, Doerr was a nine-time All-Star and the reason no one will wear the No. 1 Red Sox jersey again.

2018

Willie McCovey (age 80): Bob Gibson called him “the scariest hitter in baseball,” and Bob Gibson isn’t scared of anyone. Casey Stengel once asked a pitcher where he wanted to pitch McCovey: “Upper deck or lower deck?” And now, of course, he has his own Cove.

Red Schoendienst (age 95): He was in baseball for 76 years. He was still hitting fungoes as an instructor for the Cardinals at Spring Training deep into his 90s.

Rusty Staub (age 73): An original Montreal Expo -- they retired his number even though he only played four years there --he became one of the most beloved Mets of all time. And despite being a one-time star, the man they called Le Grande Orange in Montreal might be the greatest pinch-hitter ever.

2019

Frank Robinson (age 83): The first player to win an MVP in both leagues, Robinson made his mark in baseball in countless ways, as a manager, as the President of the American League, as a Presidential Medal of Freedom winner, as a general manager, as a broadcaster, as a baseball executive and as a strong civil rights advocate. He has his statue outside stadiums in Cleveland, Cincinnati and Baltimore.

Bill Buckner (age 69): A great hitter and a terrific person, and we will do him the honor of saying that that is enough of a lasting legacy right there.

Don Newcombe (age 92): One of only two people to win the Rookie of the Year, the Cy Young Award and the MVP Award in their career (Justin Verlander is the other), “Newk” was also the first African-American ever to win 20 games.

Mel Stottlemyre (age 77): Terrific as a pitcher in his day, making five All-Star teams, he made perhaps his biggest mark as a coach and instructor, most notably with the Joe Torre Yankees dynasty teams from 1996-2005.