Sun coverage: Notable sports deaths in 2007

Year in review: Sports stories that shaped 2007

Trainer Baird, 79, dies in car crash

Dale Baird, the winningest thoroughbred trainer, with more than 9,400 victories, died in a crash along an icy highway when he lost control of his pickup while hauling a livestock trailer. He was 72.

'It's just a terrible tragedy'

Early yesterday morning, the shocking word had spread: Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor was dead from a gunshot wound.

Sean Taylor: 1983-2007

How to deal?

There is no prescribed path, no blueprint Mike Hargrove can give Joe Gibbs. Dealing with death in sports is not in any coaching manual.

Bill Hartack: 1932-2007

Hall of Famer won Preakness 3 times

Bill Hartack was not the easiest jockey to get along with, and that was fine with him. He simply let his riding take him to the top of the thoroughbred racing world.

MLB Notes

Free-agent left-hander Kennedy dies at 28

Joe Kennedy, a free-agent left-hander who pitched for three major league teams last season, died at his in-laws' home in Florida yesterday. He was 28.

NFL Notes

Dick Nolan, former player, coach, dies at 75

Dick Nolan, the former coach of the San Francisco 49ers and the father of current coach Mike Nolan, died yesterday, the 49ers said. He was 75.

Horse Racing

With kidneys failing, 'Henry' euthanized

Thoroughbred great John Henry, a two-time Horse of the Year who earned more than $6.5 million before retiring to the Kentucky Horse Park, was euthanized yesterday, the park said. He was 32.

Track And Field

Oerter dead at 71, won 4 Olympic gold medals

Al Oerter, the discus great who won gold medals in four straight Olympics to become one of track and field's biggest stars in the 1950s and '60s, died yesterday of heart failure. He was 71.

College Football Notes

Memphis Lineman Killed

Classes at the University of Memphis were canceled yesterday after a football player was fatally shot on campus in what school officials said was a targeted attack but city police later said could have been random.

Soccer

Sevilla player, 22, dies after collapse

Sevilla midfielder Antonio Puerta died yesterday, three days after collapsing on the field during his team's Spanish league game against Getafe.

Ben Eaton: 1948-2007

Football's family loses a father

Dunbar football coach Ben Eaton - who guided the Poets to two state titles and whose gentle, soft-spoken manner and willingness to hug his players made him a widely revered figure in the community of Baltimore City athletics - died suddenly yesterday while exercising.

William 'Wild Bill' Hagy: 1939 - 2007

He embodied Orioles Magic

William "Wild Bill" Hagy started out as just another Orioles fan from Dundalk who loved his Budweiser in Section 34 of the upper deck at Memorial Stadium.

On Baseball

Dan Connolly: To even the youngest O's fans, Hagy was part of the magic

If you went to any youth baseball game in or around Baltimore in the mid-1970s to mid-1980s, there were certain things you were sure to see.

Baseball notes

Yankees legend Rizzuto dies at 89

His speed and spunk made him a Hall of Famer.

Bill Walsh: 1931-2007

49ers coach was innovator

Calmly standing on the sideline exuding a seemingly unshakable confidence, silver-haired San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh - who died yesterday of leukemia at the age of 75 - became as much a superstar as any of the glittering names who played for him on three Super Bowl championship teams.

Skip Prosser 1950-2007

Coach dies after a jog

Wake Forest basketball coach Skip Prosser, who took Loyola to its only NCAA tournament berth, died yesterday afternoon, the university confirmed.

Baseball Notes

Ex-reliever Beck, 38, found dead

Rod Beck, a relief pitcher who wore a bushy mustache while earning 286 career saves, was found dead Saturday. He was 38.

Baseball Notes

Hoscheit, scout for Orioles in '60s, dies at 85

Vern Hoscheit, an Orioles scout, minor league coordinator and coach in the 1960s, died Monday in Pierce, Neb. He was 85.

College Basketball Notes

Former Tenn. coach Mears, 'a great leader,' dies at 80

Ray Mears, the Tennessee basketball coach who presided over the "Ernie and Bernie show" during his 15 seasons guiding the Volunteers, died yesterday in Knoxville, Tenn. He was 80.

Bill France Jr.: 1933-2007

NASCAR architect of success dead at 74

Bill France Jr., who transformed NASCAR from a small, southern sport into a billion-dollar conglomerate during his 31 years as chairman, died yesterday at his Daytona Beach, Fla., home. He was 74.

Dave Smalley: 1934-2007

A 'mountain of integrity' in Annapolis

Dave Smalley, a former Navy basketball coach whose life revolved around family, sports and the nurturing of young athletes, died yesterday at age 72 at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis.

Ex-Maryland forward Cephas died of enlarged heart, autopsy shows

Former Maryland men's basketball forward LaRon Cephas died last month of an enlarged heart, or dilated cardiomyopathy, the Baltimore Medical Examiner's office confirmed yesterday.

Cards' Hancock dies in crash

Baseball

Appreciation

Halberstam was ace of staff

The news of David Halberstam's death hit me like a sharp jab in the chest.

David Halberstam: 1934-2007

Journalist chronicled the culture of America

David Halberstam, a tireless reporter who produced richly detailed chronicles of some of the great stories in modern American history - from the struggle for civil rights to Vietnam to the decline of the Detroit auto industry - as well as biographies of an array of sports heroes, was killed in a car crash yesterday morning in Menlo Park, south of San Francisco. He was 73.

Webster, who lost quest to have NFL pension increased, dies at 61

George Webster, the battered former Michigan State All-American and pro football star who lost a U.S. Supreme Court attempt to have his NFL disability pension increased, died yesterday. He was 61.

College basketball

Ex-Terp Cephas, 29, collapses, dies

Former Maryland basketball forward LaRon Cephas died yesterday, according to a school spokesman and a news release from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, where Cephas worked.

NFL Notes

Former Patriots star Stingley, paralyzed since 1978, dies at 55

Darryl Stingley spent more than half his life in a wheelchair, a symbol of the violence of the NFL, where large bodies collide at high speeds on every play.

Eddie Robinson: 1919-2007

Coach crossed every goal line

Eddie Robinson, the record-setting football coach who turned Grambling State into a nationally recognized power, ushered 210 players into the NFL and largely realized his vision of transforming the Louisiana school into the Notre Dame of historically black colleges, has died at 88.

Notes

Carneal, voice of Twins, dead at 83

Herb Carneal, a Hall of Famer who broadcast Minnesota Twins games the past 45 seasons in a fluid and soothing baritone, died yesterday in Minnetonka, Minn. He was 83.

Former Phillies coach Vukovich dies at 59

John Vukovich, the longest-serving coach in Philadelphia Phillies history and a member of their only World Series championship team in 1980, died Thursday. He was 59.

George Preas: 1933-2007

Tackle who made daylight in '58

In a photo capturing the most famous moment of George Preas' football career, he's not even there. The picture, from 1958, shows Colts fullback Alan Ameche blasting through a hole for the winning touchdown in Baltimore's 23-17 sudden-death NFL championship victory.

Dennis Johnson: 1954-2007

Key player on Celtics and Sonics title teams

Dennis Johnson, the star NBA guard who was part of three championship teams and combined with Larry Bird on one of the greatest postseason plays in league history, died yesterday after collapsing at the end of practice while coaching an NBA Development League team. He was 52.

Hank Bauer: 1922-2007

Manager 'was like a father'

On Aug. 1, 1966, the Orioles led the American League by a whopping 13 games and the media proclaimed manager Hank Bauer a genius.

Steve Barber: 1939-2007

Orioles lefty won 20 in 1963

The first time Jim Palmer had the chance to watch Steve Barber pitch in person, during an exhibition game in Aberdeen, S.D., in 1964, the future Hall of Famer held one recurring thought in his head.

Struggle ends for Barbaro

For eight months, Barbaro took fans of horse racing and lovers of horses on a bumpy ride of hope and worry as he struggled to recover from devastating leg injuries suffered in the Preakness.

Benny Parsons: 1941-2007

NASCAR loses ex-champ and much-loved figure

Benny Parsons, a former NASCAR Winston Cup champion and Daytona 500 winner who gained an even wider following as a cheerful stock car racing broadcaster, died yesterday of complications from lung cancer. He was 65.

McDaniel coach Flynn dies at 49 of heart attack

McDaniel College coach Bob Flynn, a fixture on the local basketball scene for more than three decades, died of a massive heart attack Friday night.

Jim Karvellas: 1935-2007

Voice of Bullets dies

Jim Karvellas, whose courtside play-by-play as radio voice of the Baltimore Bullets during the 1960s and 1970s chronicled such legendary players as Earl Monroe, Wes Unseld and Gus Johnson, died of prostate cancer Monday at his daughter's home in Wesley Chapel, Fla. He was 71.

Broncos' Darrent Williams killed in drive-by shooting

Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams was killed early yesterday when his white stretch Hummer was sprayed with bullets after a nightclub dispute after a New Year's Eve party in Denver.