obituaries - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Charley Pride, Negro Leagues veteran and country music trailblazer, dead of COVID complicationsYou know Charley Pride, the country singer. The three-time Grammy winner recorded over 40 No. 1 hit country songs and became the genre’s first Black superstar. But before his music career, Pride was a professional baseball player....

Rafer Johnson, Olympic legend, actor, and tackler of RFK’s assassin, dead at 86Rafer Johnson, one of the best athletes of his time, died Wednesday. He was 86....

Nobody threw shade better than Alex TrebekIt had become a weird sort of canon in Alex Trebek’s career that he was TV’s Mr. Nice Guy — the unimpeachably friendly face of a cherished institution....

Joe Morgan, championed by the analytics he hated, passes away at 77

Most old-time baseball men hate sabermetrics for fear of their own legacy. They’ll never admit that, but it’s what’s at the heart of it. That pretty much spreads to every industry, where the way we used to do it is obviously better than the way we do it now (and sometimes that’s true). That somehow ...

Jerry Sloan, Hall Of Fame Jazz Coach And All-Star Bulls Defender, Dead At 78

Legendary Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, a basketball titan on and off the court, died on Friday, the team announced. He was 78....

Steve Dalkowski, Inspiration for Nuke LaLoosh of ‘Bull Durham,’ Dead At 80 Due to COVID-19

Steve Dalkowski, a towering figure in minor-league lore whose legendary arm strength was matched only by his lack of command, died earlier this week, his family announced. He was 80....

Hall-Of-Fame Boxer Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker Dead At 55 After Being Hit By A Car

Former professional boxing champion Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker was killed last night in Virginia Beach. According to police, Whitaker was crossing a busy intersection around 10 p.m. when a car hit him. He died from his injuries at the scene. He was 55....

Gabriele Grunewald, Who Defied Cancer By Racing At The Highest Level, Dies At 32

Former U.S. track and field champion Gabriele Grunewald died yesterday at 32 years old, a decade after she was first diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Despite her diagnosis, Grunewald competed professionally in the middle distances at the highest level for six years after she graduated college i...