spent 18 years in baseball, including four seasons with the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Browns from 1937 to 1940, whose career highlight came in his major league debut, defeating the Boston Red Sox in an 11-inning, 4–2 victory, and winning a pitching duel with Lefty Grove. May 8 – Dorothy Ferguson, 80, Canadian infielder and outfielder in the AAGPBL from 1945 to 1954. May 8 – Sam Lacy, 99, sportswriter for several decades in Washington, Chicago and Baltimore, who championed the sport's integration and was one of the BBWAA's first black members. May 14 – Dave DeBusschere, 62, pitcher for the Chicago White Sox from 1962–1963, who is one of only 13 athletes to have played in both Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association, being inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame as player and the College Basketball Hall of Fame as coach. June June 1 – Johnny Hopp, 86, All-Star outfielder and first baseman who batted .300 or higher five times, while winning World Series rings with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1942 and 1944 and with the New York Yankees in 1950 and 1951. June 1 – Pete Sivess, 89, pitcher who appeared in 62 career games for the 1936–1938 Philadelphia Phillies. June 2 – Makoto Kozuru, 80, Hall of Fame outfielder and infielder that played for five teams across 17 seasons in the Japanese Baseball League and NPB June 6 – Ray Medeiros, 77, pinch runner who appeared in one game for the Cincinnati Reds in 1945. June 7 – Greg Garrett, 56, pitcher who played for the California Angels and Cincinnati Reds in a span of two seasons from 1970–1971. June 13 – Gene Hayden, 68, relief pitcher who appeared in three games for the Cincinnati Redlegs in 1958. June 18 – Larry Doby, 79, Hall of Fame center fielder and a seven-time All-Star, and the first black player in American League history, debuting July 5, 1947; posted a career .283 batting average with 253 home runs and 970 RBI in 13 seasons, leading the AL in home runs twice and collecting 100 or more RBI five times; member of two Cleveland Indians pennant-winning teams (1948, 1954) and 1948 World Series champion; became second African-American manager in MLB annals (after Frank Robinson) when he was named pilot of the Chicago White Sox on July 1, 1978; Cleveland retired his uniform #14 in 1994;