- 08:25 PM ET 09.24
- Share
- Views
- 593
- Comments
- 0
I was seven years old when Lyman Bostock was murdered 30 years ago ??? on September 23, 1978. I guess I was just starting to understand death and the consequences of dying ??? you know, the whole gone forever thing.
That was a special year in my baseball development. I vividly remember the day when I was in the Ben Franklin store and purchased my first two packs of baseball cards. It was also the year I watched my first full ballgame ??? the regular season #163 game for the Yanks and BoSox.
I probably collected around 150 cards that year. I studied their backs like nobody???s business. I remember Bruce Sutter???s ERA was in the one???s, not the two???s, like most other great pitchers. So in my mind he had to have been the greatest pitcher of all time.
One night my dad was looking through my cards with me and saw Bostock???s. He said something like, ???Oh, that dude???s dead now.??? Those words stung like hell. How could a baseball player who had his own baseball card be dead? It must have been a good while after Bostock had been killed because my dad was nonchalant while telling me, ???Somebody shot him.??? I asked ???Why???? Pops was clueless.
Bostock being murdered stuck with me. I wanted to know why. At about age 12, I asked my step-dad if he knew. ???He got caught messing around with somebody else???s woman.??? I was horrified. I didn???t want to believe it but accepted it as fact.
Of course this was way before you could get information on anything with just a few keystrokes. In the virgin days of my Internet experience, I searched for Bostock and the details of his death. I was disappointed when I found nothing. I guess it was about five years ago that I found the truth.
It wasn???t just that his murder had nothing to do with messing around with another woman, but Lyman Bostock was the picture perfect example of how professional athletes should behave off the field.
After a great 1977 season that saw him finish second to only his Minnesota Twins??? teammate, Rod Carew, and his lofty .388 batting average, Lyman signed with the California Angels. His 1978 season started poorly with his new team. This is unheard of, but Bostock actually went to see Angel???s owner, Gene Autry, and attempted to give him his April salary back. After Autry refused, Bostock donated it to charity.
Lyman Bostock was a true class act. In the grand scheme of things, one 30-year-old drive-by murder of a 27-year-old professional baseball player doesn???t register on the radar with anyone but his family, friends and a few hardcore baseball fans, including a 37-year-old in West Virginia who can still remembers the awful sting of hearing he???d been murdered.
?????????-
In 2,004 at bats over four seasons, Lyman Bostock had a line of .311/.365/.427 with an OPS+ of 123. The outfielder finished 27th in MVP voting in 1977 and 23rd in 1978.
Coming soon: Log in with your Facebook account, send comments and Throwdowns to Facebook and more.
Recent Posts
- Rangers Hurt by Hamilton's Haunting Hernia
- McClouth Trade Another Sad Step
- Mauer's Power Lifts Him Above the Rest
- The Way I See It - by Desi Relaford
- Gabrielle Schoeneweis: The Sad and Tragic News
- With New Pitching Strategy, Rangers Can Win the West
Web's Best Blogs
-
FANIQ
Leon Washington talks about how he takes a dump right before games, and how many TDs that means he'll score
DONE! Cheer and debate with 6,000,000+ fans! My Team: Charlotte My Team: Michael My Team: Britney…
-
Joe Posnanski
SPL (Self Promotion Links)
I dont know why this excited me but if you go to The Machine link on Amazon now, you will…
-
Deadspin
Team 'Bans' Baseball Prospectus Writer, Pain In The Royal Ass [Mlb]
Last week, Rany Jazayerli , blogger and baseball propeller-head of note, went after longtime…
Stub Hub
The 2009 schedule has been released. Search for tickets!
Truth & Rumors
MOST POPULAR
-
1
No Favre Vikings jersey -- yet
- Views
- 2489
- Comments
- 1723
-
2
Indians open to trading Lee, Martinez
- Views
- 29997
- Comments
- 305
-
3
Yankees chasing Cuban prospect?
- Views
- 25360
- Comments
- 178
-
4
Celtics putting full-court press on Rasheed
- Views
- 18350
- Comments
- 72
-
5
Marbury's Celtics run over?
- Views
- 10718
- Comments
- 65
Most Active Users
Comments + Blog Posts + Throwdowns
Message Boards
-
NFL > General NFL
Steve McNair dead in apparent…
- Views
- 5722
- Replies
- 5
-
NFL > Chicago Bears
Bears ranked 14th on NFL…
- Views
- 594
- Replies
- 64
-
NBA > General NBA
Ron Artest going to Lakers!1
- Views
- 143
- Replies
- 14

Alison Preston
Brooklyn Decker

Comments (0) Add A Comment
Comment
Remember to keep your posts clean. Profanity will get filtered, and offensive comments will be removed.