To Absent Friends - McCullough, Wills, Lansbury

The Grandstander has fallen way behind in what has been transpiring in the Departure Lounge of late, so let me take this opportunity to catch up....

David McCullough (1933-2022)

I first became aware of historian David McCullough when he served as the narrator for Ken Burns' epic PBS documentary, "The Civil War."   I then read several of his books over the years, including his terrific first book, The Johnstown Flood. McCullough made reading and learning history both enlightening and entertaining.

Born in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Pittsburgh and educated at Shady Side Academy, McCullough was honored by his home town in 2012 when the 16th Street Bridge was renamed in his honor.  He is also awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bush in 2006.

Maury Wills (1932-2022)

If I were to make a list of the most transformative baseball players in my life as a baseball fan, Maury Wills would certainly be in the Top Ten, and probably in the Top Five of such a list.  A rookie with the Dodgers in 1959, Wills alerted the baseball world in 1960 of what was to come when he led the National League in stolen bases with 50.  Two years later he stole 104 bases, coming the first to ever crack the 100 mark and breaking a record held by Ty Cobb for 47 years.  Just like that, the stolen base once again became a key weapon in baseball, and it was Wills who paved the way and begat future players such as Rickey Henderson, Willie Magee, Vince Coleman, and, yes, Omar Moreno.  Wills was named National League MVP in 1962.

Following the 1966 season, Pirates GM Joe L. Brown shocked everyone by pulling of a major trade that brought Wills to the Pirates.

The acquisition of Wills was to be the final piece that would put the Pirates, pennant contenders in 1965 and -66, over the top.  It didn't quite work out that way, but Wills did his part.  In two seasons with the Bucs Wills hit .290 and stole 81 bases.

I remember that it was always thought that Wills had what it took to become a successful major league manager, but that didn't work out either.  He spent parts of two seasons as skipper if the Seattle Mariners in the late Eighties, and was fired after a tenure marked by gaffes and blunders on his part.  It also became known at the time that Wills was also battling substance abuse demons.

Wills never came close to election the the Hall of Fame, but a case for his inclusion there could be made.  There a certainly lesser players than he with plaques on the wall in Cooperstown.

Angela Lansbury (1925-2022)

When Angela Lansbury died this week a few days short of her 97th birthday, she left behind a memorable career on stage, in the movies, and on television.  While many if not most people will think of her as Jessica Fletcher in the CBS TV series "Murder, She Wrote", I think of her as the scheming, traitorous, evil, and possibly incestuous, Eleanor Shaw Iselin in the terrific 1962 movie, "The Manchurian Candidate".

She also made a huge splash in 1966 when she opened on Broadway in 1966 as the lead in the smash hit, "Mame".  In fact, were it not for the  long run on "Murder, She Wrote", her role as Auntie Mame in that musical would no doubt have been the lead item in her obituaries.

I read a cute anecdote about her just today.   When "Murder, She Wrote" was about to premier, Lansbury made the rounds with TV critics to promote the show.  One critic asked what other plans she had, and she told him that she had been approached about starring in soon to be developed musical stage version of the movie "Sunset Boulevard."  The critic, thinking of the demands involved in doing a Broadway show and weekly TV series, asked if she has signed the standard five year contract with CBS.  Lansbury got a concerned look on her face and asked "You don't really think that this show will last five years, do you?"  It ran for twelve seasons.

RIP David McCullough, Maury Wills, and Angela Lansbury