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I t's been nearly 45 years since former Chicago Cubs prospect Steve Macko passed away from cancer. I never watched him play, but I always remembered his 1981 Topps baseball card. Why? Mainly because he died shortly after the release of the card and back then, when I was 12 years old, baseball players didn't die. Or at least it didn't seem like they did. Macko played just 25 games in the big leagues, fulfilling a lifelong dream of his. He hit. 250 with 15 hits in 60 at bats.

O ur second former major leaguer to leave us in 2026 is former White Sox, Red Sox & Pirates workhorse, Wilbur Wood . He was solid both out of the bullpen and in the rotation. From 1968-1970, Wood led the AL in relief appearances with a many as 88 in 1968 while carrying a 1.87 ERA. He converted to a starter in 1971 and won 22 games with an astounding 11.7 WAR. His follow up 1972 campaign saw his first of back to back 24 win seasons. Wood was one of the few knuckleball legends

O ur first loss of 2026 is former Pittsburgh Pirates hurler Dave Giusti . Giusti had a 15 year career that started with the Colt 45s in Houston and ended with a brief stint in Chicago with the Cubs. I was young when he was pitching, mainly for the Pirates, but I remember his baseball cards very well. This was the time when players made fake poses in spring training. Guisti wasn't pitching in his 1976 Topps baseball card, he was just posing. I'm guessing he was probably forgot

T here is way to much to cover with the passing of Pete Rose and I have to keep this short. So here goes nothing! Rose was one of the most amazing baseball players of all time due to his lack of outstanding skills. He became great because he wanted to be great & he worked to be the greatest every day of his baseball career. He was the reason the Phillies won the 1980 World Series. Not the lone reason, but he was the piece that had been missing when they kept losing the playo

L ike Betty White, I never thought Bob Uecker would ever leave us. But alas, he passed away in 2025. The man was a true legend that I could go on and one about. But we keep things somewhat short here so I'll just go over some memories I have about Ueck. I was too young for his not so great playing career but old enough to see him in the many beer ads he appeared in. "I must be in the front row!" You can see are not old enough to remember his Miller Lite Commercial . I've hear

I t's funny, when the 1988 Topps baseball cards came out and featured the second year of the "Future Stars" cards, I got all excited when I pulled one. And that would include Mike Campbell , who passed away in 2025. Campbell really didn't have success at the major league level despite playing for parts of six seasons in the big leagues. His ERA was below 5.00 only twice in those six years, and that was before the offensive explosion of the late 1990s. I loved the Future Stars

O n New Year’s Day, we remember Danny Frisella , a former Milwaukee Brewers pitcher whose life and Major League Baseball career were tragically cut short on January 1, 1977. Frisella was killed in a dune buggy accident, a loss that stunned the baseball world and ended a career that still deserves recognition today. Frisella spent 10 seasons in Major League Baseball and quietly put together an impressive résumé. He finished his career with a 3.32 ERA across five MLB teams. In

W e continue to honor former major leaguers who passed in 2025 with former Rangers, Indians & Mariners infielder, Gary Gray. What a name he had. Change two letters and he has the same first and last name. That is what I remember about him from his playing days! I only knew him from his baseball cards so in the early 80s, I wasn't aware that he was pretty much a replacement level player who had two years of as a part time starter with the Mariners after brief stints in Texas a

W hile Sandy Alomar Sr was a marginal utility player throughout most of his career, he made a greater contribution to major league baseball...his two sons, Sandy Jr & Roberto. Alomar Sr passed away in 2025 and his indirect impact on major league baseball will live on forever. Alomar Sr played an impressive 15 years in the big leagues while starting about half the time. He was a .245 hitter with little power but decent speed. He played for some bad teams like the Mets, White S

W e continue to honor former major leaguers who passed away in 2025 with The Cobra, Dave Parker. I'm sure everyone knows how great of a player Parker was. He was one of the most feared hitters in the game for a long time. Parker spent parts of 19 seasons in the big leagues with six teams, bouncing around a bit his last two seasons. In 11 seasons with the Pirates, he hit .305 and won the 1978 National League Most Valuable Player Award with a 7.4 WAR season. After leaving the P