Athletes and Sports Stars Who Died in 1931

Jan 4 Roger Connor, American Baseball Hall of Fame 1st baseman (career HR record 138 stood for 23 years; NL batting champion 1885; NL RBI leader 1889; NY Giants), dies of a stomach illness at 73

Ban Johnson (1864-1931)

Mar 28 American Baseball HOF executive (founder, President American League), dies after a long illness at 67

Mar 31 Knute Rockne, American College Football HOF coach, (National C'ships 1924, 29, 30 Notre Dame; record 105–12–5), dies in a plane crash at 43
Apr 25 Bert Hopkins, Australian cricketer (20 Tests for Aust, 509 runs), dies at 56
Apr 30 Sammy Woods, Australian cricket all-rounder (3 Tests Australia, 3 England, 1 x 50, 10 wickets; Somerset CCC) and rugby union flanker (13 caps England, 5 as captain), dies at 64
May 5 Glen Kidston, British aviator and racing driver (b. 1899)
Jul 7 Johannes Kotze, South African cricket fast bowler (3 Tests, 6 wickets, BB 3/64; London County, Transvaal, Western Province), dies from heart failure at 51
Jul 16 Charles Studd, English cricket all-rounder (5 Tests; Middlesex) and missionary (Cambridge Seven), dies from untreated gallstones at 70
Aug 2 Kinue Hitomi, Japanese athlete (World record women's 100m, 200m, long jump, triple jump; Olympic silver 800m 1928), dies from pneumonia at 24
Sep 5 John Thomson, football player who died in an accidental collision during a match (b. 1909)
Sep 20 Sam Morris, Australian cricket all-rounder (1 Test; 1st black & of West Indian origin to rep. Australia in a Test; Victoria CA), dies at 76
Oct 2 George Bradley, American baseball pitcher (first no-hitter in MLB history 1876; NL ERA leader 1876), dies at 79
Oct 2 Thomas Lipton, Scottish yachtsman (5-time America's Cup challenger) and tea merchant (Lipton Tea), dies at 81
Oct 24 Murray Bisset, South African cricket wicket-keeper and captain (3 Tests, 3 dismissals; Western Province), dies at 55
Oct 26 Charles Comiskey, American Baseball HOF infielder (St. Louis Brown Stockings/Browns), team owner (Chicago White Sox) and manager (St. Louis Browns), dies at 72
Nov 2 Henry Musgrove, Australian cricket batsman (1 Test 1885), dies at 72