To a Trio of Absent Friends

The Departure Lounge is backing up, so let us wish Melancholy Trails to these Absent Friends.

Ed Ott (1951 -2024)

Catcher Ed Ott enjoyed an eight year career, 1974-81, in the Major Leagues, seven of them with the Pirates.   He is recognized today because he was key member of the 1979 Pirates "We Are Fam-a-lee" World Series champions.  In that championship season, Ott appeared in 117 games, had 439 plate appearances, and hit .273 with 7 HR and 51 RBI.

That team was the last Pirates team to win a World Series, and that was forty-five long years ago.  Who knows when and if they will ever win another - not while Bob Nutting is calling the shots, for sure - so when one of those guys leaves us, it needs to be noted.

Chris Mortensen (1951-2024)

ESPN ace NFL Reporter Chris Mortensen died earlier this month, yet after victim of cancer.  He had been off the air for well over a year as he battled the disease.  Mortensen knew his stuff and dug into every story, so when you heard something on the "Mort Report", you could pretty much take it to the bank.  In their tribute to hm on PTI, both Kornheiser and Wilbon placed emphasis on Mortensen's skills as an old fashioned sportswriter, a species that is rapidly disappearing as print journalism heads to the graveyard.

On a personal level, the deaths of both Ott and Mortensen in the same week hit home harshly to me because both were 72  years old, the same age that I am currently.

Randy Sparks (1933-2024)

I missed seeing the news of Randy Sparks death at the age of 90 earlier this month, and I thank my pal, Dan, for pointing it out to me.

Back in the early 1960's, Sparks was a singer/songwriter on the folk music scene when he founded a group called the New Christy Minstrels.  That group became a big hit and were one of the forces largely responsible for the folk music boom of the early Sixties (then came the Beatles, but that's another story).  Two of their bigger hits at the time were "Today" and "Greene Green".  Most interesting were the array of artists who got their start as members of the New Christy Minstrels.  Do the names Kenny Rodgers, Kim Carnes, Barry McGuire, Steve Martin and John Denver ring a bell to you?  They all went through Sparks' group.  Kind of like the Bill Parcells coaching tree in the NFL.

In 1965, Sparks sold his interests in the New Christy Minstrels in 1964 for $2.5 million, an equivalent of $19.5 million in 2024.  He them spent much of his time working with Burl Ives, but we probably shouldn't hold that against him.

RIP Ed Ott, Chris Mortensen, and Randy Sparks.