Capitol Hill Blue Forums Misc. Topics History Roundtable The Passing Parade: Obituaries: 2015

The baseball world lost one of its greatest talents and brightest minds on Friday when former Cleveland Indians infielder and longtime MLB executive Al Rosen died at age 91.

Known as the "Hebrew Hammer," Rosen spent the entirety of his 10-year playing career with the Indians, hitting .285/.384/.495 with 192 home runs and 717 RBIs over 4,374 plate appearances. Rosen was a four-time All-Star, earning selections from 1952-1955, and was voted American League MVP in 1953, beating out the likes of Yogi Berra, Minnie Minoso and Mickey Vernon.

Chuck Bednarik, a Pro Football Hall of Famer and one of the last great two-way NFL players, died early Saturday the Philadelphia Eagles said. He was 89.

Bednarik, known as "Concrete Charlie," epitomized the tough-guy linebacker and also was an outstanding center for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1949 to 1962. He is best remembered for a game-saving tackle at the 9-yard line on the final play of the 1960 title game, and it was typical Bednarik. He threw Green Bay running back Jim Taylor to the ground and refused to let him up while the final seconds ticked off as the Eagles held on for a 17-13 win...

The tackle on Taylor actually was the second hit that season that drew headlines. Earlier in 1960, he knocked out New York Giants running back Frank Gifford with a blow so hard that Gifford suffered a concussion and didn't play again until 1962...

... In so many ways, to read Jim Berry was to meet Jim Berry.

"Berry's World," the syndicated single-panel feature that he drew for 40 years, beginning in 1963, was a remarkably steady stream of thoughtful observational humor that -- like the unfussy art itself -- rarely seemed to strain for the laugh. Each gag, as steady as a top golfer's approach shots, just "landed." Precision meets concision ...

Mr. Berry died last Friday in Boynton Beach, Fla., at age 83 ...

George Fischbeck, a science teacher turned weatherman who joined KABC-TV in 1972 and spent nearly two decades exuberantly delivering the local forecast, has died. He was 92.

Fischbeck, who was known as "Dr. George," died of natural causes early Wednesday morning at the Motion Picture & Television Fund retirement home in Woodland Hills, his daughter, Nancy Fischbeck, said.

A trained meteorologist, George Fischbeck was so enthusiastic about his subject that he sometimes forgot to talk about the next day's weather.

He was my favorite LA weatherman. A real character.

Rod Hundley, basketball's irrepressible Hot Rod, who parlayed showmanship on the court with flair at the microphone to become a fan favorite for more than half a century, died on Friday at his home near Phoenix. He was 80.

Hundley was an electrifying presence at West Virginia University, played for the Lakers and stamped his persona on broadcasting, mostly for the New Orleans Jazz.

"Nobody did the things I did on the court and nobody has done them since," Hundley said of his collegiate exploits in "Hot Rod Hundley: You Gotta Love It Baby!" (2012), written with Tom McEachin. "I'd shoot behind my back, sit on the other team's bench and really work the crowd. I was a Globetrotter in college basketball."