Athletes and Sports Stars Who Died in 1991

Red Grange (1903-1991)

Jan 28 American "Galloping Ghost" of football (University of Illinois, Chicago Bears), dies of Parkinson's disease at 87

Feb 1 Phil Watson, Canadian NHL right wing (Stanley Cup 1940 [NYR], 1944 [Montreal Canadiens]) and coach (NY Rangers), dies at 76
Feb 8 Miran Bakhsh, Pakistani cricket spin bowler (2 Tests, 2 wickets; Punjab), dies at 47
Feb 13 Ron Pickering, British athletics coach (GB 1964 Summer Olympics) and broadcaster (BBC), dies after a heart bypass operation at 60
Feb 15 Gary Gears, Chicago disk jockey, dies at 46 of a heart attack
Feb 24 Héctor Rial, Spanish soccer striker (Real Madrid, 5 straight Euro Cup C'ships 1956-60), dies at 62
Mar 3 Johnny Revolta, American golfer (PGA C'ship 1935; 18 PGA Tour titles), dies at 79

Cool Papa Bell (1903-1991)

Mar 7 American Baseball HOF center fielder (NgL WorLd Series 1943, 44 Homestead Grays; 8 x NgL All Star; career BA .337), dies at 87

Mar 9 Jim Hardin, former Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves pitcher (b. 1943)
Mar 19 John Russell Thomas, NFL general manager (Detroit Lions), dies
Apr 1 Frankie Gustine, American Major baseball infielder (MLB All-Star 1946, 47, 48; Pittsburgh Pirates), dies at 71
Apr 4 Edmund Adamkiewicz, German soccer forward (2 caps; Hamburger SV, Eintracht Frankfurt), dies at 70

Bill Ponsford (1900-1991)

Apr 6 Australian cricket batsman (29 Tests @ 48 22, 7 x 100s; 1st-class 13,819 runs @ 65.18; Victoria), dies at 90

Apr 9 Forrest Towns, American athlete (Olympic gold 110m hurdles 1936), dies at 77
Apr 11 Walker Cooper, American baseball catcher (MLB All-Star 1942–44, 46–50; World Series 1942, 44; St. Louis Cardinals), dies at 76
Apr 25 Theo Laseroms [Tank], Dutch soccer player (Feyenoord), dies
Apr 26 Lars Hall, Swedish pentathlete (Olympic gold 1952), dies at 63
May 3 Don Whitmire, American College Football Hall of Fame tackle (Alabama, Navy - All American at both), dies at 68
May 14 Aladár Gerevich, Hungarian fencer (7 Olympic gold 1932, 36, 48, 52, 56, 60), dies at 81
May 20 Pete Runnels, American baseball infielder (5 x MLB All Star; AL batting champion 1960, 62 Boston Red Sox; Washington Senators, Houston Colt .45s) and manager (Boston Red Sox 1966), dies from a stroke at 63
Jun 3 Thomas C. "Spunky" Lasorda, American artist and son of Los Angeles Dodgers manager, dies of pneumonia at 33
Jun 15 A. B. "Happy" Chandler, American Baseball HOF executive (MLB Commissioner 1945-51) and politician (44th & 49th Governor Kentucky), dies at 92
Jun 28 Ernie McCormick, Australian cricket fast bowler (12 Tests, 36 wickets, BB 4/101; Victoria), dies at 85
Jul 3 Jimmy Van Alen, American tennis official (created Simplified Scoring System), dies at 88
Jul 6 Muda Lawal, Nigerian footballer (b. 1954)
Jul 18 Harold Butler, English cricket fast bowler (2 Tests, 12 wickets; Nottinghamshire CCC), dies at 78
Jul 21 Paul Warwick, English racing driver (b. 1969)
Jul 24 Freddie Brown, English cricketer (English Test captain 1950-51), dies at 80
Jul 27 Gino Colaussi, Italian soccer striker (26 caps; Triestina, Juventus, Vicenza, Padova), dies at 77
Jul 27 Pierre Brunet, French figure skater (Olympic gold pairs 1928, 32 [Andrée Brunet]), dies at 89

Paul Brown (1908-1991)

Aug 5 American NFL Hall of Fame coach (Cleveland Browns, 1946-62, 1968-69; Cincinnati Bengals, 1970-75), dies of pneumonia at 82

Aug 7 Schottzie Schott, Cincinnati Red dog mascot, dies at 9
Aug 8 Julissa Gomez, American gymnast (b. 1972)
Aug 11 J. D. McDuffie, American auto racer (653 x NASCAR Cup Series races; 106 x top-10 finishes), dies in a race accident at 52
Aug 24 Abel Kiviat, American athlete (Olympic gold 3000m team race, silver 1500m 1912), dies at 99
Sep 2 Concetto Lo Bello, Italian intl soccer judge, dies
Sep 6 Bob Goldham, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1922)
Sep 10 Jack Crawford, Australian tennis player (6 Grand Slam singles titles), dies at 83
Sep 13 Metin Oktay, Turkish football player (b. 1936)
Sep 13 Paul Thompson, Canadian ice hockey forward (1926-39), won 3 Stanley Cups (1928 with NY Rangers, 1934 and 1938 with Chicago Black Hawks), and Black Hawks coach (1938-45), dies at 84

Oct 7 American Baseball HOF shortstop (MLB All Star 1936, 38, 40; World Series 1928, 34; NY Yankees, St.Louis Cardinals), manager (World Series 1954 NY Giants) and coach (World Series 1963 LA Dodgers), dies at 86

Oct 17 Piet van Est, The Vuurbal, cyclist (7x Tour de France), dies at 57
Oct 28 George Treweeke, Australian Rugby League second rower (7 Tests, South Sydney), dies at 86
Oct 30 William Shea, American lawyer (instrumental in NY Mets establishment; Shea Stadium), dies from a stroke at 84

Adrian Quist (1913-1991)

Nov 17 Australian tennis player, analyst (Australian C'ship 1936, 40, 48), dies at 78

Nov 21 David "Sonny" Werblin, AFL owner (NY Jets), dies at 81
Nov 21 Prior Jones, West Indian cricket fast bowler (9 Tests, 25 wickets; Trinidad), dies at 74
Nov 21 Sonny Werblin, NY sports impresario, dies at 81
Nov 26 Bob Johnson, collegiate and NHL ice hockey coach (University of Wisconsin Badgers, 1966-82; US Olympic team, 1976; Calgary Flames, 1982-87; Pittsburgh Penguins, 1990-91), dies of brain cancer at 60
Nov 30 Zin Harris, New Zealand cricket batsman (9 Tests, 1 x 100, HS 101; Canterbury), dies at 64
Dec 2 George Lott, American tennis player (12 Grand Slam doubles titles), dies at 85
Dec 5 Aad Mansfield, soccer player/trainer (ADO/Feyenoord/FC Utrecht), dies
Dec 12 Ken Keltner, American MLB baseball third baseman, 1937-50 (Cleveland Indians; Boston Red Sox), dies of a heart attack at 75
Dec 14 John Arlott, British cricket commentator and writer (BBC), dies of emphysema at 77
Dec 15 Horatio Luro, American horse trainer (43 x stakes winners; Decidedly, Northern Dancer), dies from pancreatic cancer at 90
Dec 18 George Abecassis, English Formula 1 driver (b. 1913)
Dec 20 Albert Van Vlierberghe, Belgian cyclist (b. 1942)
Dec 20 Sam Rabin [Rabinowitz], British sculptor, artist, actor and freestyle wrestler (Olympic bronze middleweight 1928), dies at 88
Dec 25 Mahmood Hussain, Pakistan cricket swing bowler (27 Tests, 68 wickets; Karachi, Pakistan Universities), dies from diabetes mellitus at 59