Today, as we wind down the final days of 2023, we take a look back at the baseball people we lost this year. The deceased are listed in alphabetical order by last name, with their year of birth in parentheses. The baseball community is lessened by their absence.

Sal Bando (1944)
A member of all three A’s championship teams in the 1970s, Bando finished in the top five of MVP voting each year. He later served as general manager of the Brewers, the team he finished his career with.

Vida Blue (1949)
Pete Rose said Blue threw harder than anyone he ever faced, and hitters never quite figured him out. He won the Cy Young Award and the MVP in 1971 and made six All-Star teams, winning three World Series with the A’s. He remains the youngest pitcher to throw a no-hitter in the Live Ball Era. Later in his career, he’d be a part of another one in relief.

Nate Colbert (1946)
The first star of the Padres expansion team, Colbert made three All-Star Games for the Padres. He once hit five home runs and drove in 13 runs in a doubleheader. He is actually still the Padres’ all-time home run leader (163), though Manny Machado is just 25 homers behind him.

Roger Craig (1930)
The master of the split-fingered fastball, Craig was a four-time World Series champion: Three times as a player and once as a pitching coach, a job he held for 14 years.

Don Denkinger (1936)
An umpire who was selected to work four World Series in his career (1974, 1980, 1985, 1991) and was behind home plate for the legendary pitchers' duel between future Hall of Famers Jack Morris and John Smoltz in Game 7 of the 1991 Fall Classic. He was, unfortunately, most widely known for a missed call in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series.

Dick Groat (1930)
One of only 13 athletes to be a collegiate All-American in both baseball and basketball, Groat made his name on the diamond, playing 16 seasons at shortstop, most notably as double play partner to Bill Mazeroski in Pittsburgh. He also played in the NBA for one season and was the radio analyst of the University of Pittsburgh basketball team for 40 years.

Frank Howard (1936)
Hondo, 6-foot-7, 290 pounds, would have been among the biggest players in baseball today; imagine how he looked compared to everyone in the ‘50s and ‘60s. He won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1960, led the AL in homers twice and made four All-Star teams. He was later a well-traveled and much-beloved manager and coach around the majors for more than 40 years.

Ted Lerner (1925)
The primary owner and managing principal partner of the Washington Nationals for 15 years, Lerner, who had served as an usher at Griffith Stadium as a child watching his beloved Washington Senators, oversaw the team’s evolution from a burgeoning franchise in a new city to, ultimately, a champion. The Nationals won four National League East titles with Lerner as owner and, in 2019, their first World Series championship. At the Nationals’ championship parade, Lerner said, "They say good things come to those who wait. Ninety-five years is a pretty long wait. But, I’ll tell you, this is worth the wait.”

Tim McCarver (1941)
Bob Gibson’s catcher for a decade in St. Louis, McCarver won two World Series with the Cardinals and once finished second in MVP voting. Despite his excellence behind the plate, he will forever be better known for his more than 40 years in the broadcast booth, including working as the television analyst for 24 World Series.

Gary Peters (1937)
A member of the White Sox All-Century team, he won a Rookie of the Year Award, led the AL in ERA twice and was one of the best hitting pitchers of all time with 19 career homers.

Brooks Robinson (1937)
Mr. Oriole was the greatest defensive third baseman who ever played, someone who so marveled fellow Hall of Famer Frank Robinson that Frank used to say “I used to stand in the outfield like a fan and watch him make play after play. I used to think, ‘Wow! I can’t believe this.’” Brooks Robinson was such a prince of a human being that he may have been just as admired off the field as he was on the field. He won two World Series and 16 Gold Gloves, and he was named an All-Star 18 times.

Mike Shannon (1939)
The Moon Man was a beloved St. Louis Cardinal who won two World Series with the team before becoming Jack Buck’s broadcasting partner and analyst for the team for more than 50 years. He was famous for his “Shannonisms,” malaprops that only he could come up with. A personal favorite: “The right-hander is throwing up in the bullpen.”

Peter Seidler (1960)
The grandson of Walter O’Malley, the man who brought the Dodgers to Los Angeles, Seidler wanted nothing more than his beloved Padres to win a World Series … and was willing to spend to do it. Seidler dreamed of bringing San Diego its “first championship parade,” and while they did not get there in his lifetime, the success the team had under his leadership was nearly unprecedented for the franchise. Seidler was also a passionate philanthropist, who was a tireless advocate and fundraiser for the homeless population in San Diego.

Frank Thomas (1929)
The best player on the 1962 Mets, one of the worst teams of all time, the gregarious Thomas worked for the team for years and always enjoyed becoming known as the “other Frank Thomas.” “My name is always going to be in the Hall of Fame,” he said when he attended the Big Hurt’s induction in 2014.

Tim Wakefield (1966)
The knuckleballer has the third-most wins in Red Sox history (186), behind only Cy Young and Roger Clemens, and pitched for the team for 17 seasons, all the way through his 45th birthday. (Wakefield was of course one of the signature members of the 2004 World Series champion Red Sox.) A winner of the Roberto Clemente Award, he was deeply beloved off the field and was a broadcaster for the team after he retired in spring of 2012.

Others of note:

Jesús Alou (1942): Two-time World Series champ, brother of Felipe and Matty, uncle to Moises and Luis Rojas.

Pat Corrales (1941): Managed three teams over a decade, becoming the first-ever Mexican-American manager.

Albie Pearson (1934): Won the Rookie of the Year Award with the Washington Senators in 1958.

Joe Pepitone (1940): Former Yankee All-Star and Gold Glover who later became one of the best professional slow-pitch softball players in the country.