RIP Oscar Taveras

From that same timeframe, you had Thurmon Munson and his plane crash.

There was also a Chargers running back, Rodney Culver, who was killed in the Valujet crash in the Everglades in 1996, and a starting linebacker from the 1994 AFC championship team named David Griggs was killed the following offseason.
That 1994 Chargers team was like the cast of a "Final Destination" movie. Eight players from that team have died, many under weird circumstances. Culver died in a plane crash, Junior Seau shot himself, and another guy was struck by lightning. The others included a couple of drug overdoses and a center who had ballooned up to 456 pounds at the time of his death.

 

Clemente and Munson are probably the Top 2, at least in baseball.

Given the circumstances, I imagine Ray Chapman was pretty huge.

 

One-time CFLer David Overstreet died in 1984 after having a great season for the Dolphins.

 

And that came less than a year after starting LB Larry Gordon dropped dead from a heart attack while jogging.

 

Reminds me of Jim Fixx.

 

Pelle Lindbergh.

 

In the off-season plane crash category.

 

Also ...



Bobby Phills.

 

Forgot about Sanchez, one of the all-time greats who died in a car crash not long after defending his title against Azumah Nelson, an unknown who would go onto a hall-of-fame career, at The Garden.

 

Flyers rookie Dmitri Tertyshny died in a boating accident.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dmitri_Tertyshny

Terry Sawchuk died from injuries sustained in a bar fight with one of his own teammates and roommate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Sawchuk

Luc Bourdon died in a motorcycle accident.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luc_Bourdon

Michel Brière died in a car accident.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Bri%C3%A8re

Steve Chiasson died driving home drunk from an end of the season party at Gary Roberts house.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Chiasson

 

The story I posted earlier about Juan Perez says someone texted him a photo of Taveras in the morgue. And Cardinals teammate Carlos Martinez supposedly posted it on Twitter before deleting it.