Notable sports deaths in 2019
A look at those athletes, coaches and sports personalities we lost in 2019.
'Mean' Gene Okerlund
Credit: Bryan Bedder
'Mean' Gene Okerlund, a WWE Hall of Famer who rose to fame as an announcer and interviewer, died at age 76, WWE announced on Jan. 2.
Mel Stottlemyre
Credit: Paul J. Bereswill
Mel Stottlemyre, the Yankees ace turned pitching coach for both New York teams, died at the age of 77 on Jan. 13, 2019. The Yankees said Stottlemyre died of complications from multiple myeloma, an incurable bone marrow cancer.
Frank Robinson
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, the first black manager in Major League Baseball and the only player to win the MVP award in both leagues, has died. He was 83. Robinson had been in hospice care at his home in Bel Air. MLB confirmed his death Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019.
Don Newcombe
Credit: AP / Harry Harris
Don Newcombe, the hard-throwing Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher who was one of the first black players in the major leagues and who went on to win the rookie of the year, Most Valuable Player and Cy Young awards, died Tuesday, Feb. 19. He was 92.
