Dead Celebrity Alert

Sam Calderone, who played for three seasons in the major leagues, died on Nov. 28, 2006. He was 80. … Read full obituary

Pat Dobson, one of four pitchers to win 20 games for the Baltimore Orioles in 1971, has died. He was 64. … Read full obituary

Bo Schembechler, who became one of college football’s greatest coaches in two decades at Michigan, died Friday after taping a TV show on the eve of the important Big Ten game against the Wolverines’ perennial rival, top-ranked Ohio State. He was 77. … Read full obituary

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. — Johnny Sain, a three-time All-Star from Arkansas who teamed with Warren Spahn to make up one of baseball’s most fabled pitching tandems, died Tuesday. He was 89. … Read full obituary

HOUSTON — Quick with a joke or a smile, Joe Niekro was the life of the Houston Astros’ clubhouse for more than a decade. …

Niekro died Friday in Florida from a brain aneurysm at age 61. … Read full obituary

Trevor Berbick, a former world heavyweight boxing champion, has died after suffering a violent assault on his home island of Jamaica.

The fighter was the last boxer to beat the legendary Muhammad Ali on December 11, 1981 and held the world heavyweight title briefly in 1986 before losing it to Mike Tyson. … Read full story

More:
Police arrest man in slaying of Berbick

Red Auerbach, the Hall of Fame coach who led the Boston Celtics to nine NBA championships in the 1950s and 1960s, died Saturday. He was 89. … Read full obituary

A renowned rock climber and author who scaled peaks around the world fell 500 feet to his death in Yosemite National Park, a spokeswoman said Tuesday. …

Skinner, 47, of Lander, Wyo., was celebrated for having climbed hundreds of rock faces from Canada’s Yukon Territory to the Himalayas using a technique called free climbing, in which climbers ascend upward using no artificial aid to climb — only a rope to protect against falls. … Read full obituary

SANTO DOMINGO — Nelson de la Rosa, the world’s shortest actor and a ubiquitous good-luck charm for the Boston Red Sox during their victorious 2004 World Series run, died at a New York hospital on Sunday, his agent said. … Read full obituary

Johnny Callison, Philadelphia Phillies outfielder; hit winning homer in ninth inning of 1964 All-Star game; Thursday, in Philadelphia.

A small plane with New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle aboard crashed into a 50-story condominium tower today on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, killing at least two people — including Lidle — and raining flaming debris on sidewalks, authorities said. … Read full story

…in NYC plane crash. Details to come.

Buck O’Neil, Negro Leagues goodwill ambassador; Friday night at a Kansas City hospital.

Golfing great Byron Nelson, who won an unprecedented 11 PGA Tour events in a row during 1945, has died at the age of 94. … Read full obituary

Brock, 61, was driving with co-driver Mick Hone in a Daytona Coupe when his car hit the tree. … Read full obituary

Bob Mathias, a two-time Olympic champion in the decathlon and former U.S. congressman, died Saturday. He was 75. … Read full obituary

BOSTON, Sept. 1 (AP) — Charlie Wagner, who pitched for the Boston Red Sox in the 1930’s and 40’s and worked for the organization for 70 years, died early Thursday in his hometown, Reading, Pa., after attending a minor league game. He was 93. … Read full obituary

August 21, 2006 — Creighton Brown, a wellknown racing entrepreneur and a man who helped Ron Dennis win control of McLaren, has died of cancer. … Read full obituary

Alexander C. Cushing, the founder and chairman of Squaw Valley Ski Resort, died of pneumonia this weekend at his summer home in Newport, Rhode Island.

Cushing was 92. … Read full obituary

The father-in-law of embattled Tour de France winner Floyd Landis was found dead in his car after committing suicide, coroner’s officials said Wednesday. … Read full obituary

Four-time Iditarod champion Susan Butcher died Saturday in a Seattle hospital of a reoccurrence of leukemia after a recent stem-cell transplant, her doctor said. She was 51. … Read full obituary

John Spencer, a three-time world-champion snooker player whose suave elegance and assertive style of play helped elevate his sport, a form of billiards, above soccer and cricket on British television in the 1970’s, died Tuesday in Bolton, England. He was 71. … Read full obituary

7/13/2006 9:53 PM ET BERLIN (AP) — The local World Cup coordinator for Berlin died Thursday, four days after he shot himself in an apparent suicide attempt.

Juergen Kiessling, 65, shot himself in the head hours after Sunday’s final and had been in a hospital since. … Read full obituary

Eric Gregg, who umpired in the major leagues for more than two decades while battling a craving for food and drink that spotlighted health concerns surrounding overweight umpires, died yesterday in Philadelphia. He was 55. … Read full obituary

MIAMI (AP) — Steve Mizerak, winner of multiple pool championships who became one of the game’s more recognizable figures by appearing in training videos, beer commercials and a movie, has died at age 61, his wife said Tuesday. … Read full obituary