In Memoriam, 2021

Prominent Chicago sports figures who passed away in 2021 include Tony Esposito, the Blackhawks’ Hall of Fame goalie from 1969 through 1984; Jerry Harkness, captain of the Loyola Ramblers’ 1963 NCAA champion basketball team; LaMarr Hoyt, who won the American League Cy Young Award for the 1983 White Sox; and Roland Hemond, the beloved baseball executive who (along with Bill Veeck Jr.) saved the Sox for Chicago when it seemed inevitable that they would be gone.

     

TONY ESPOSITO

The people listed below each played a part in making Chicago the greatest sports town in the world. They will be missed.  

STAN ALBECK

Stan Albeck, 89, Bulls head coach 1985-1986; Bradley University men’s basketball head coach 1986-1991 (March 25).

Joe Altobelli, 88, Cubs manager 1991 (March 3).

LOU ANGOTTI

Lou Angotti, 83, Blackhawks center/right wing 1965-1967, 1969-1973; Chicago Cougars (WHA) center 1974-1975 (September 16).

LIONEL ANTOINE

Lionel Antoine, 71, Bears tackle 1972-1978, selected third overall in 1972 NFL draft (December 14).

Jon Arnett, 85, Bears halfback/end 1964-1966 (January 16).

Art Anderson, 84, Bears offensive tackle 1961-1962 (February 25).

RALPH BACKSTROM

Ralph Backstrom, 83, Blackhawks center 1972-1973; Chicago Cougars (WHA) center 1973-1975, co-owner 1974-1975 (February 7).

Hal Breeden, 76, Cubs first baseman 1971 (May 3).

Hy Cohen, 90, Cubs pitcher 1955 (February 4).

JOE CUNNINGHAM

Joe Cunningham, 89, White Sox first baseman/outfielder 1962-1964 (March 25).

Ralph Davis, 82, Chicago Packers (NBA) guard 1961-1962 (May 30).

Jeff Dickerson, 43, Bears reporter for ESPN Radio 2001-2021 and ESPN.com 2009-2021 (December 28).

Solly Drake, 90, Cubs outfielder 1956 (August 18).

TONY ESPOSITO

Tony Esposito, 78, Blackhawks goalie 1969-1984, five-time All-Star, three-time Vezina Trophy winner as outstanding goalie in NHL, Calder Trophy winner as NHL rookie of the year 1970, elected to Hockey Hall of Fame in 1988, sweater number 35 retired by Blackhawks in 1988, named among 100 greatest hockey players of all time in 2017, ranked by hockey-reference.com as the greatest player in Blackhawks history (August 10).

Adrian Garrett, 78, Cubs catcher/first baseman/outfielder 1970, 1973-1975 (April 22).

Howie Glover, 86, Blackhawks right wing 1958-1959 (June 15).

Johnny Groth, 95, White Sox outfielder 1954-1955 (August 7).

Shaler Halimon, 76, Bulls guard 1969-1971 (April 19).

Joe Hardy, 75, Chicago Cougars (WHA) center 1973-1975 (February 19).

JERRY HARKNESS

Jerry Harkness, 81, Loyola University men’s basketball point guard, 1960-1963, captain of 1963 NCAA championship team, first-team All-American 1963, uniform number 15 retired in 1991, inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame with his Loyola teammates in 2013 (August 24).

Chuck Hartenstein, 79, Cubs pitcher 1966-1968 (October 2).

Geno Hayes, 33, Bears linebacker 2012 (April 26).

Jimmy Hayes, 31, Blackhawks right wing 2011-2013 (August 23).

ROLAND HEMOND

Roland Hemond, 92, White Sox general manager 1970-1985, senior vice president 2001-2007, The Sporting News Major League Executive of the Year 1972; founded Arizona Fall League 1992; recipient of Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award from National Baseball Hall of Fame 2011 (December 12).

LaMARR HOYT

LaMarr Hoyt, 66, White Sox pitcher 1979-1984, American League Cy Young Award 1983, led American League in wins 1982 and 1983 (November 29).

Doug Jones, 64, Cubs pitcher 1996 (November 22).

Don Kojis, 82, Bulls forward 1966-67, started first game in franchise history on October 15, 1966 (November 19).

ROGER LeCLERC

Roger LeClerc, 84, Bears placekicker and linebacker 1960-1966, member of 1963 world championship team (January 21).

Cyril Pinder, 74, Bears running back 1971-1972 (January 23).

JUAN PIZARRO

Juan Pizarro, 84, White Sox pitcher 1961-1966, All-Star 1963-1964; Cubs pitcher 1970-1973 (February 18).

Ken Reitz, 69, Cubs third baseman 1981 (March 31).

John Roach, 87, Chicago Cardinals quarterback/defensive back 1956, 1959 (February 18).

EDDIE ROBINSON

Eddie Robinson, 100, White Sox first baseman 1950-1952, All-Star 1951-1952 (October 4).

Bobby Schmautz, Blackhawks right wing 1967-1969 (March 28).

Tom Simpson, 93, Cubs pitcher 1953 (February 7).

Fred Stanfield, 77, Blackhawks center/wing 1964-1967 (September 13).

Wayne Terwilliger, 95, Cubs second baseman 1949-1951 (February 3).

DICK TIDROW

Dick Tidrow, 74, Cubs pitcher 1979-1982; White Sox pitcher 1983 (July 10).

Vito Valentinetti, 92, White Sox pitcher 1954; Cubs pitcher 1956-1957 (August 5).

Granville Waiters, 60, Bulls center 1986-1988 (March 23).

Check out our book Heydays: Great Stories in Chicago Sports on Amazon. 

Jerry Harkness, 1940 - 2021

Jerry Harkness, who passed away last week at the age of 81, was captain of the 1963 Loyola Ramblers, the only Illinois team (so far) to win the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. He was also a first-team All-American, a member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame, a successful businessman, and a civil-rights activist. He and the other starters on the 1963 Ramblers team—John Egan, Les Hunter, Ron Miller, and Vic Rouse—earned eleven college degrees among them.

  

JERRY HARKNESS

The Ramblers’ march through the 1963 tournament included a win over the Fighting Illini in the Elite Eight, followed by victories over No. 2-ranked Duke and No. 1 Cincinnati in the Final Four. But it was their defeat of Mississippi State in the Sweet Sixteen that has gone down in history.

Not only was Mississippi State an all-white institution at the time, but its athletic teams were forbidden by tradition to even play against integrated teams. Accordingly, the Maroons had declined invitations to the tournament in 1961 and 1962. 

“I think that Mississippi State wants to play us,” Harkness said when the matchup was set. “If they don’t, they’ll never know how good they are.” Harkness was right. Coach Babe McCarthy and the Maroons kept their date with Loyola on March 15 in East Lansing, Michigan, even though they literally had to sneak out of Mississippi to do so.

The Maroons were scheduled to fly from Starkville, Mississippi, to East Lansing on Thursday morning, March 14. On Wednesday, a state legislator obtained an injunction prohibiting the team from leaving the state. That night, coach McCarthy and several other officials drove from Starkville to Memphis, then flew to Nashville. On Thursday morning, the Hinds County sheriff showed up at the Starkville airport to enforce the injunction. The injunction was duly served—to the Maroons’ freshman team, which had been sent to the airport as a decoy. The varsity team had already left from a small private airport. They met up with McCarthy and the others in Nashville, then continued on to East Lansing.

“We wanted to play,” Mississippi State guard Leland Mitchell said. “We had just won the SEC championship for the third year in a row and we hadn’t been allowed to play in the NCAA tournament the past two years. For us, the biggest thing was getting the opportunity to play in the tournament because it was something we felt we deserved.”

THE PRE-GAME HANDSHAKE.

The game attracted an overflow crowd of 12,143 at Michigan State’s Jenison Fieldhouse. When Harkness and his counterpart Joe Dan Gold shook hands at center court before the game, they created a sensation. “The flashbulbs just went off unbelievably,” Harkness said, “and at that time, boy, I knew this was more than just a game. This was history being made.”

Mississippi State came in with a record of 21-5. The Maroons were a methodical, disciplined team whose tallest starter was only six-foot-five. The Ramblers also were undersized (the lithe, six-foot-seven Hunter was their tallest starter), but their athleticism made up for what they lacked in height and heft.

From the opening tip, Mississippi State did everything but deflate the basketball in order to slow the pace. The Maroons held Loyola off the scoreboard for almost six minutes as they crept out to a 7-0 lead. A pair of three-point plays by Harkness jump-started the Ramblers, and strong rebounding by Hunter and Rouse carried them to a 26-19 edge at halftime. In the second half, the Maroons patiently stuck to their plan on offense, allowing 90 seconds or so to elapse in each possession before taking a shot (there was no shot clock in those days) and not attempting any shot that was closely contested.

Mississippi State was poised and determined throughout, but ultimately Loyola’s relentlessness proved too much to overcome. “We don’t let up,” said coach George Ireland. The Ramblers won 61-51. Harkness tallied 20 points, Rouse 16 points and 19 rebounds, and Hunter 12 points and 10 rebounds. 

 In later years, as the Ramblers looked back across the decades to the dream season of 1963, their stirring comeback victory over Cincinnati in the title game was a fond memory, of course. But the game against Mississippi State was probably more meaningful in the long run. “In a game like that you have two winners,” Harkness said. “Mississippi State made a statement to the community that broke down some of the barriers, and we played a part in it.”

 

 

Check out our book Heydays: Great Stories in Chicago Sports on Amazon.