Peter Angelos, Merv Rettenmund, Jacoby Jones, Lefty Driesell lead notable Maryland sports deaths of 2024

The Orioles never played in a World Series when Peter Angelos owned them. Nor was he the owner when Camden Yards opened, but he and his family owned the Orioles for more than three decades.

Angelos, a man of great wealth and great charity, was known for shepherding the team through success in his early years as owner and 14 straight losing seasons before some excellent teams the last decade.

He fell ill late in 2017, and his son, John, took over the stewardship of the club and sold it to David Rubenstein in January. Peter Angelos died on March 23^rd at 94, and the club officially changed hands a few days later.

Many of Angelos’ acts of kindnesses were not made public, but it frustrated him that he couldn’t bring a World Series title to his hometown.

Larry Lucchino who was team president before Angelos owned the team and was the force behind the building of Camden Yards, coincidentally died just 10 days after Peter Angelos.

Lucchino hired Janet Marie Smith to oversee design of the acclaimed ballpark and later had executive positions with the San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox. He was 78.

A number of former Orioles died this year, some of whom had major roles in team history and others who were there only briefly.

Jerry Walker became the youngest pitcher, and the first Oriole, to start an All-Star Game in 1959. Walker, who played four seasons with the team, died in July at 85.

Rudy May came to the Orioles in 1976 in one of the best trades the team ever made. May, Rick Dempsey, Scott McGregor and another pitcher, Dave Pagan, were traded by the New York Yankees.

Eighteen months later, after winning 18 games, May was traded to the Montreal Expos in a deal that brought outfielder Gary Roenicke to Baltimore.

May, who pitched 16 years in the major leagues, died in October at 80.

Ken Holtzman, who was traded to the Orioles along with Reggie Jackson in April 1976 then traded to the Yankees a little more than two months later in the trade May was involved in, died this past April at 78.

The Orioles won three straight American League championships from 1969-1971, and Merv Rettenmund was a key reason. Rettenmund played in a career-high 141 games in 1971, hitting .318 with 11 home runs and 75 RBIs.

Rettenmund, who played six seasons with the Orioles and later became a respected batting coach, died earlier this month at 81.

Whitey Herzog played only two seasons, 1961 and 1962 with the Orioles, but later became a Hall of Fame manager, taking the St. Louis Cardinals to three World Series and winning the Series in 1982.

Herzog, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2010, died in April at 92.

Billy Gardner led the American League in doubles in 1957, one of four years he played for the Orioles. Gardner, who later managed the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals, died on January 3^rd at 96.

Fernando Valenzuela was a megastar for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1980s and pitched for the Orioles in 1993. Valenzuela, who was a longtime Spanish language broadcaster for the Dodgers, died in October just before his old team won the World Series.

Among other Orioles who left us this year were longtime minor league coach and manager Len Johnston, Larry Brown, Don Ferrarese, Hank Foiles and Odell Jones.

There were other notable deaths this year. Lefty Driesell, who promised to make Maryland basketball the “UCLA of the East,” died in February at 92. Driesell, who was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, coached the Terrapins from 1969-1986.

While Maryland didn’t make the Final Four under Driesell, he produced star players Len Elmore, Albert King, John Lucas and Tom McMillen. Another one of his stars, Len Bias, died of a cocaine overdose in June 1986, and Driesell left the Terrapins shortly afterward.

Two high-profile Maryland basketball players — Kevin McLinton, who played in the early 1990s, and Jerrod Mustaf, who played from 1988-1990 died this year. Mustaf also played in the NBA.

Jacoby Jones, who made some of the biggest plays in Ravens history, died in July at 40.

In their Super Bowl win against the San Francisco 49ers, Jones ran a kickoff back 108 yards and scored on a 56-yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco.

In the Ravens’ thrilling double overtime win over Denver in the Divisional Round, Jones caught a 70-yard pass from Flacco with 31 seconds left in regulation to tie the score at 35.

Longtime Ravens offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris died in August at 70, and Greg Landry, who was an NFL quarterback for 15 years, two with the Baltimore Colts, died in October at 77.

Defensive end Donnell Thompson, who was picked 18^th overall by the Colts in 1981, was briefly a teammate of Landry’s. Thompson played for the Colts in the last three seasons they were in Baltimore. He died in September at 65.

Hank Allen never played for the Orioles, but he was one of three brothers who played in the major leagues. His brother Dick was elected to the Hall of Fame earlier this month. Allen, who was a longtime scout, was a frequent presence at Orioles games.

In 1989, Allen became the first Black trainer in 78 years to saddle a horse in the Kentucky Derby. His horse, Northern Wolf, finished sixth.

Pat O’Malley covered Anne Arundel County sports for years. Colleagues at the Baltimore Sun remember him for his outsized personality and encyclopedic knowledge of high school sports. He was 78 when he died in October.

Jim West, who was the broadcaster for the American Hockey League’s Baltimore Clippers and WBAL Radio’s sports director, died at 95.

Phil Jackman, who won the Maryland Sports Writer of the Year 15 times as a reporter and columnist for The Sun, died in October at 87. Joe Platania, who long covered the Ravens for several publications, died in September at 61.

Coming home from the Winter Meetings, I learned of the death of Ted Wallendorf, a childhood friend from Marine Park, my neighborhood in Brooklyn. He was a year ahead of me at James Madison High School and a star basketball player on a team that nearly won the New York City championship in 1971.

We played dozens of games in Marine Park, and though I wasn’t in his class as a player, he was always eager to have me on his team. Ted introduced me to Mike Dunleavy, who went on to a long career in the NBA as a player and coach. He was the only professional I ever played with.

Ted was recruited to Rutgers by none other than Dick Vitale, who was an assistant coach there, but decided to go elsewhere. After a quick stop at Loyola of Chicago, he ended up at tiny Mount Marty in Yankton, South Dakota.

He was good enough there to merit an invitation to Boston Celtics training camp but didn’t make the team and moved on with his life. I lost touch with him for decades, but in recent years, we talked occasionally and he planned to come to an Orioles game in San Diego in August 2023. He lived about two hours away but said he would eagerly make the trip.

A family issue arose, and he couldn’t come. I hoped that he could come in 2025 when the Orioles will play the Padres again. Sadly, he can’t.

Answers to Wednesday’s quiz

1) 13

2) Terrin Vavra
3) Keegan Akin, Yennier Cano

4) 2021

5) Tony Kemp

6) Matt Bowman

7) 32

8) One. Kevin Gausman

9) Nelson Cruz

10) Oakland. 1971, 1973 and 1974

11) James McCann

12) Five. Cleveland, San Diego, Milwaukee, Seattle, Pittsburgh

13) Steve Clevenger, September 11th, 2015

14) Chris Tillman, 2014-2016

15) Pedro Severino, June 4th, 2019

16) Brian Roberts, 2007

17) Dave McNally 1.95 in 1968

18)  Miguel Tejada 214 in 2006

19) Luis Aparicio, 57 in 1964

20) Don Larsen, 21 in 1954

21) Mark Belanger 4.9 in 1975

22) Jim Gentile 1.069 in 1961

23)  Mark Reynolds (196 in 2011, fourth all-time, Jonathan Villar 176 in 2011, seventh all-time

24) Ken Singleton 118 in 1975

25) Jerold Hoffberger, Edward Bennett Williams and Eli Jacobs

26) Harold Baines, Tim Beckham, Kris Benson, B.J. Surhoff and Delmon Young

27) September 18^th, 2003

28) Eddie Murray 1981-1985

29) Paul Blair, Mike Cuellar

30) Paul Blair 3, Al Bumbry 2