Athletes and Sports Stars Who Died in 1972

Gil Hodges (1924-1972)

Apr 2 American Baseball HOF 1st baseman (8 x MLB All Star; Brooklyn/LA Dodgers; NY Mets; World Series 1955, 59, 69; Gold Glove Award 1957–59) and manager (Washington Senators, NY Mets), dies of a heart attack at 47

Apr 2 Toshitsugu Takamatsu, Japanese Martial Arts Grandmaster (b. 1887)

Sherwin Badger (1901-1972)

Apr 8 American figure skater (US singles championship 1920-24; Olympic silver pairs [with Beatrix Loughran] 1932), dies at 70

Apr 19 Billy Burke, American golfer (US Open 1931), dies at 69
May 10 Rhys Gemmell, Australian tennis player (Australasian C'ships singles & doubles 1921), dies at 76
May 17 Sir Gordon Lowe, British tennis player, Member of Parliament (Australasian C'ship 1915), dies at 87
May 29 Moe Berg, American baseball player and spy (b. 1902)
Jun 25 Nat Fleischer, American boxing writer (established Ring Magazine), dies at 84
Jul 6 Vincent Valentine, West Indian cricket pace bowler (England 1933), dies
Jul 21 Ralph Craig, American athlete (Olympic gold 100/200m 1912), dies at 83
Jul 31 Rollie Hemsley, American baseball catcher (5-time MLB All Star), dies of a heart attack at 65

George Weiss (1894-1972)

Aug 13 American Baseball Hall of Fame executive (NY Yankees GM 1947-60, 7 x World Series; NY Mets President 1961-66), dies at 78

Aug 15 Jeff Pfeffer, American baseball pitcher (no-hitter Boston Doves v Cincinnati Reds 1907), dies at 84
Sep 5 Alan Kippax, Australian cricket batsman (22 Tests, 2 x 100, 8 x 50, HS 145; NSW CA), dies at 75
Sep 5 Moshe Weinberg, Israeli Olympic wrestling coach, murdered in the Munich Olympic massacre by terrorists at 32
Sep 10 Sidney Pegler, South African cricket leg spinner (16 Tests), dies at 84
Oct 9 Dave Bancroft, American Baseball HOF shortstop (World Series 1921, 22 NY Giants) and manager (Boston Braves), dies at 81
Oct 17 Walter "Turk" Broda, Canadian ice hockey goaltender, 5x Stanley Cup, 2x Vezina Trophy (Toronto Maple Leafs, 1935-51), dies of a heart attack at 58
Oct 18 Ken Wishart, cricketer (WI opening batsman in one Test 1935), dies

Jackie Robinson (1919-1972)

Oct 24 American Baseball HOF second baseman (1st African-American MLB player Brooklyn Dodgers; 6 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1955; NL MVP 1949), dies from a heart attack at 53

Oct 25 Johnny Mantz, American auto racer (Southern 500, 1950, first 500-mile race in NASCAR history), dies in a car accident at 54
Oct 31 Bill Durnan, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1916)
Nov 10 Charlie Hallows, English cricketer who scored 1000 runs in a single month in May 1928, dies at 77
Dec 3 Mike Brady, American golfer (US Open 1911, 19 runner-up; 9 PGA Tour titles), dies at 85
Dec 11 John Mills, New Zealand cricket batsman (7 Tests, 241 runs, 1 x 100), dies at 67
Dec 20 Gabby Hartnett, American Baseball Hall of Fame catcher (MLB All Star 1933–38; NL MVP 1935; Chicago Cubs) and manager (Chicago Cubs), dies of cirrhosis on his 72nd birthday
Dec 28 Roy "Link" Lyman, American Pro Football HOF offensive tackle (4 × NFL C'ship; First-team All-Pro 1930, 34; Chicago Bears), dies in a motor accident at 74

Roberto Clemente (1934-1972)

Dec 31 Puerto Rican Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder (15 x MLB All Star; World Series 1960, 71 [MVP]; Pittsburgh Pirates), dies in a plane crash at 38