On This Day
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Athletes Who Died in December 2022

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  • Dec 1 Ercole Baldini, Italian cyclist (Olympic gold men's road race 1956; World C'ship gold individual pursuit 1956; Giro d'Italia 1958), dies at 89

Gaylord Perry (1938-2022)

Dec 1 American Baseball HOF pitcher (5 x MLB All Star; Cy Young winner 1972, 78; no-hitter 1968; SF Giants, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, SD Padres), dies at 84 [1]

Gaylord Perry
  • Dec 2 Yoshio Kikugawa, Japanese soccer defender (16 caps; Mitsubishi Motors FC) and manager (Avispa Fukuoka FC 1982-94), dies from pneumonia at 78
  • Dec 3 Sonny Holland, American college football coach (Montana State University 1971-77; Big Sky C'ship 1972, 76), dies from Parkinson's disease at 84
  • Dec 4 Nick Bollettieri, American tennis coach (Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Monica Seles), dies at 91
  • Dec 4 Patrick Tambay, French auto racer (Can Am Challenge Cup Series 1977, 80; 123 x F1 GP 1977-86), dies from Parkinson's disease at 73
  • Dec 6 Beto Fuscão, Brazilian soccer defender (8 caps; Fluminense, Grêmio, Palmeiras), dies of stomach cancer at 72
  • Dec 6 Jan-Åke Edvinsson, Swedish ice hockey administrator (International Ice Hockey Federation IIHF general secretary 1986-2006), dies at 81
  • Dec 6 Mills Lane, American boxing referee (Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II 1997; International Boxing HOF) and television personality ('Judge Mills Lane'), dies at 85
  • Dec 7 Karim Bavi, Iranian soccer striker (23 caps; Shahin FC, Persepolis FC), dies at 57
  • Dec 8 Jackie McLeod, Canadian ice hockey right wing (World C'ship gold 1961; New York Rangers) and coach (Canada 1966-69, Olympic bronze 1968), dies at 92
  • Dec 8 Miodrag Ješić, Serbian soccer defender (8 caps Yugoslavia; FK Partizan, Altay) and manager (FK Partizan, CSKA Sofia, FK Sarajevo), dies in a car accident at 64
  • Dec 8 Tony Allen, English soccer left-back (3 caps; Stoke City 417 games), dies at 83
  • Dec 10 Paul Silas, American College Basketball HOF forward (NBA C'ship 1974, 76 Boston Celtics, 1979 Seattle SuperSonics; 2 x NBA All-Star) and coach (Charlotte/NO Hornets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte Bobcats), dies from a heart attack at 79
  • Dec 11 Mel James, Welsh rugby league front rower (11 caps Wales; St. Helens RLFC) and rugby union prop (Swansea RFC), dies at 74
  • Dec 12 John Gregory, American football coach (CFL Grey Cup 1989 Saskatchewan Roughriders; South Dakota State Uni), dies at 84
  • Dec 12 Mike Leach, American college football coach (Texas Tech 2000-09, Washington State University 2012-19, Mississippi State 2020-22), dies from complications due to a heart condition at 61
  • Dec 13 Curt Simmons, American baseball pitcher (3 x MLB All-Star; World Series 1964 St. Louis Cardinals; Philadelphia Phillies), dies at 93
  • Dec 14 Billie Moore, American Basketball HOF coach (NCAA National C'ship California State-Fullerton Titans 1970, UCLA Bruins 1978), dies of multiple myeloma at 79
  • Dec 15 Louis Orr, American college basketball coach (Bowling Green State University 2007–14, Seton Hall 2001-06), dies from cancer at 64
  • Dec 16 Siniša Mihajlović, Serbian soccer defender (63 caps Yugoslavia; RS Belgrade, Roma, Sampdoria, Lazio) and manager (Serbia, Bologna, Fiorentina, Sampdoria, AC Milan, Torino), dies from leukemia at 53
  • Dec 17 Manuel Muñoz, Chilean soccer striker (26 caps; CSD Colo-Colo), dies at 94
  • Dec 19 Steve Smoger, American boxing referee (200+ title bouts; International Boxing HOF), dies at 72
  • Dec 19 Tom Browning, American baseball pitcher (perfect game 1988; MLB All Star 1991; World Series 1990 Cincinnati Reds), dies at 62
  • Dec 20 Denny Doyle, American MLB baseball second baseman, 1970-77 (Philadelphia Phillies, and 1 other team), dies at 78
  • Dec 20 Franco Harris, American Pro Football HOF running back (Super Bowl 74, 75, 78, 79; 9 x Pro Bowl; First-team All-Pro 1977; Pittsburgh Steelers), dies at 72 [1]
  • Dec 22 Anton Tkáč, Slovak track cyclist (Olympic gold Czechoslovakia men's match sprint 1976; World C'ship gold 1974, 78), dies at 71
  • Dec 22 Ronnie Lamont, Irish rugby union #8, flanker (12 Tests Ireland; 4 Tests British & Irish Lions), dies at 81
  • Dec 23 Colin Jillings, New Zealand thoroughbred horse trainer (W. S. Cox Plate 1993 The Phantom Chance; 4 x Auckland Cup winners; 5 x NZ Derby winners), dies at 91
  • Dec 23 Cotton Davidson, American football quarterback & punter (AFL All-Star 1961, 63; AFL All-Star Game MVP 1961; Baltimore Colts, Dallas Texans, Oakland Raiders), dies at 91
  • Dec 23 George Cohen, English soccer defender (37 caps; FIFA World Cup 1966; Fulham 459 games), dies at 83
  • Dec 23 József Fitos, Hungarian soccer midfielder (12 caps; Szombathelyi Haladás 1919, Budapest Honvéd, Panathinaikos FC), dies at 63
  • Dec 23 Philippe Streiff, French auto racer (55 x F1 Grand Prix; 24 Hours of Le Mans 1981 runner-up; French Formula 3 C'ship 1981), dies at 67
  • Dec 23 Trevor Fancutt, South African tennis player (Australian C'ships mixed doubles [Jan Lehane]), dies at 88
  • Dec 23 Txetxu Rojo, Spanish soccer forward (18 caps; Athletic Bilbao 413 games) and manager (Athletic Bilbao, Celta Vigo, Osasuna, Real Zaragoza), dies at 75

Kathy Whitworth (1939-2022)

Dec 24 American golfer (7 x LPGA Player of Year, 6 x major titles, record 88 LPGA Tour wins), dies at 83

Kathy Whitworth
  • Dec 24 Vittorio Adorni, Italian road racing cyclist (Giro d'Italia general classification 1965), dies at 85
  • Dec 25 Fabián O'Neill, Uruguayan soccer midfielder (19 caps; Nacional, Cagliari, Juventus), dies from chronic liver disease at 49
  • Dec 26 Sergey Dmitriyev, Russian soccer striker (6 caps USSR; Zenit Saint Petersburg, CSKA Moscow), dies at 58
  • Dec 26 Tom Danby, English dual-code international wing: rugby union (1 cap; Harlequin RFC) and rugby league (3 caps England, 3 caps GB; Salford RLFC), dies at 96
  • Dec 27 Andrzej Iwan, Polish soccer forward (29 caps; Wisła Kraków, Górnik Zabrze, VfL Bochum), dies at 63
  • Dec 27 Arnie Ferrin, American College Basketball HOF guard (NCAA C'ship, Final Four MOB 1944 Uni of Utah; NBA C'ship Minneapolis Lakers 1949, 50), dies at 97
  • Dec 27 Imre Szöllősi, Hungarian sprint canoeist (World C'ship gold K-2 10,00m 1966; 2 x Olympic silver 1960, bronze 1968), dies at 81
  • Dec 27 Luann Ryon, American archer (Olympic gold women's individual 1976), dies at 69
  • Dec 28 Rodolfo Micheli, Argentine soccer striker (13 caps; topscorer Copa América 1955; CA Independiente), dies at 92
  • Dec 29 Dany Theis, Luxembourgian soccer midfielder (34 caps; Jeunesse Esch FC) and manager (Differdange 03, F91 Dudelange, Jeunesse Esch FC), dies from a heart attack at 55

Pele (1940-2022)

Dec 29 Brazilian soccer attacking midfielder (92 caps; Player of the Century; 1,281 goals in 1,363 games; Santos, NY Cosmos), dies from colon cancer at 82 [1] [2]

Pele
  • Dec 30 Brian Glencross, Australian field hockey defender (93 caps; Olympic bronze 1964, silver 1968) and coach (Australia women Olympic gold 1988; Champions Trophy 1989, 91), dies of neurological disease at 81
  • Dec 30 Vladimer Barkaia, Georgian soccer striker (2 caps USSR; Dinamo Tbilisi 226 games), dies at 85
  • Dec 31 Barry Lane, English golfer (European Masters 1993; Andersen Consulting World C'ship of Golf 1995), dies from cancer at 62
  • Dec 31 Sergei Bautin, Belarusian ice hockey defenceman (Olympic gold Unified Team 1992; Winnipeg Jets, Detroit Red Wings, San Jose Sharks), dies at 55


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