The great Maryland sports lives they led

Davey Johnson had a short but memorable tenure as Orioles manager. Johnson led the Orioles to the postseason in 1996 and 1997. He was the last Orioles manager to win games in the American League Championship Series as the Orioles lost to Cleveland, 4-2, in ’97.

On the same day he was named the American League Manager of the Year, Johnson left the Orioles when owner Peter Angelos refused to give him an extension, capping a tumultuous two years. Johnson died in September at 82.

Brian Matusz was the fourth overall pick in the 2008 draft and made the big leagues the next year, playing eight seasons with the Orioles. Matusz had his greatest success as a left-handed reliever against Red Sox slugger David Ortiz.

Oritz was just 4-for-29 with 13 strikeouts against Matusz. Early this year, Matusz died at the much-too-young age of 37.

Rich Dauer was the starting second baseman for the last Orioles World Series champions in 1983 and played each of his 10 major league seasons here. Dauer died in February at 72.

Billy Hunter, who was the last living member of the first Orioles team in 1954, played just that season with the Orioles but never left Baltimore. He was the team’s third base coach for parts of 14 seasons. After managing the Texas Rangers, Hunter became the baseball coach at Towson and later was the school’s athletic director.

Hunter’s wonderful sports life ended in July when he died at 97.

Chito Martinez, the only major league player born in the Central American country of Belize, played 158 games for the Orioles from 1991-1993. He died in April at 58.

One of the few surviving members of the first Orioles World Series champions, Eddie Fisher, who threw a mean knuckleball, had 14 saves in 1966. The team’s starting pitchers were so good in their four-game sweep over the Los Angeles Dodgers that he wasn’t needed in the Series. Fisher died in February at 88.

Art Shallock was one of the few major leaguers to live to see his 100^th birthday. Shallock concluded his major league career by pitching 30 games for the 1955 Orioles. He died at 100 in March.

You may not remember Scott Klingenbeck, who started six games for the Orioles in 1994 and 1995. He died in May at 54.

Lee Elia was a coach on the 1995 Orioles and was remembered for his profane but humorous tirade denouncing negative fans at Wrigley Field when he managed the Cubs. Elia played for the White Sox and Cubs and managed the Cubs and Phillies. He was 87.

Jim Henneman saw more Orioles games than anyone else. He was a fan for the team’s first game in 1954, covered the team for decades for The (Baltimore) News American and Sun. He also was the principal official scorer.

Though ill with cancer, Henneman attended 2025’s Opening Day before he died in May at 89. He deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

There were many other notable Maryland sports deaths in 2025.

Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, a longtime resident of Montgomery County, was dismissive of Baltimore’s efforts for an NFL expansion team. The Ravens came anyway. Tagliabue died last month at 84.

Herb Belgrad was the first chairman of the Maryland Stadium Authority and oversaw the building of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. He died in April at 90.

Many of you have eaten at Andy Nelson’s Southern Pit Barbecue in Cockeysville. Its founder, who played safety for the Colts championship teams in 1958 and 1959, died in September at 92.

Ravens defensive tackle Arthur Jones, who recorded a sack in Super Bowl 47, died in October at 39.

Marty Domres, who briefly succeeded Johnny Unitas as Colts quarterback and later backed up Bert Jones, died in October at 78. After playing four seasons for the Colts, Domres later settled in Baltimore and was a successful financial advisor.

Many Ravens fans enjoyed seeing Wes Henson at the team’s games. Better known as Captain Dee-Feense, he died in October at 75.

Tim Strachan was a football star at DeMatha in Hyattsville who was paralyzed at 17 in a beach accident, but didn’t let that stop him. As a broadcaster for University of Maryland football games, father and an attorney, Strachan lived a full life. He died of cancer in October at 48.

George Raveling helped Lefty Driesell recruit stars for his early University of Maryland basketball teams before a long and successful career as coach at Washington State, Iowa and USC.

Raveling convinced a young Michael Jordan to sign with Nike in 1984, launching the Air Jordan. He asked Martin Luther King Jr. for his typewritten copy of his “I Have a Dream” speech after the 1963 March on Washington. It’s now on display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington.

Raveling died in September at 88.

Gus Williams played for the Seattle Supersonics when they beat the Bullets in the NBA Finals in 1979, and played two seasons for the Bullets in the 1980s. He died at 71 last January.

Tom McVie was an early coach of the Washington Capitals when they played in Landover. The Capitals lost far more than they won for the three seasons he coached them in the mid-to-late seventies. He died in January at 89.

Unlike the others on this list, D. Wayne Lukas never lived in Maryland but did some of his finest work here. Lukas trained seven horses who won the Preakness, including Seize the Gray in 2024 at 88. In all, he saddled horses in 34 Preaknesses and died not long after his final trip to Baltimore at 89 in June.

It was a sad year to lose media friends. Besides Jim Henneman, the great author John Feinstein, longtime Maryland resident and Washington sports writer Rick Snider died far too early. So did Pete Medhurst, who called Navy sports on radio and filled in at Nationals games. Craig Heist, a longtime radio presence in Baltimore and Washington, left us, too, and earlier this month, Robert Popik, the longtime disc jockey for Orioles and Ravens games died.

In 2025, there were far too many influential Maryland sport figures who are no longer with us. They leave us with amazing memories, all of them.          

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.

Quiz answers from Thursday:

1) Houston Roth,

2) Austin Wynns

3) Jorge Mateo, Gary Sanchez, Emmanuel Rivera, Luis Vázquez, Alex Jackson

4) Tim Cossins

5) Mitch Plassmeyer

6) St. Louis, Kansas City, Miami

7) Ryan Flaherty

8) Vidal Bruján

9) 8.

10) Silas and Danny Ardoin

11) Stevie Wilkerson (four games in 2019), Luis Vázquez (four games in 2025)

12) The Los Angeles Angels played in Wrigley Field in LA in 1961.

13) 6-Keegan Akin, Dean Kremer, Tyler Wells Jorge Mateo, Ryan Mountcastle, Ramon Urias,

14) Greg Allen and Tim Laker

15) DJ Stewart

16) Mychal Givens

17) Liam Hendricks

18) Phil Regan

19) Hanser Alberto .305 in 2019

20) 8, David Bañuelos, Vidal Bruján, Jose Espada, Roansy Contreras, Cooper Hummel, Cody Poteet, Elvin Rodriguez, Terrin Vavra

21) Gregory Soto, 45

22) Colton Cowser 14

23) Emmanuel Rivera 120

24) Adley Rutschman 322

25) Chris Tillman 207 1/3 in 2014

26) Stu Miller 2.37

27) Steve Stone .656

28) Roberto Alomar .312

29) Sam Horn (1990), Brooks Robinson (1973)

30) Jesse Orosco-42 years, 160 days on September 29th, 1999