falconridge
04-02-2012, 09:26 PM
Jerry Lynch, by any measure one of the finest pinch-hitters in baseball history, died yesterday at an Atlanta hospital, Dick Groat, a former teammate and longtime friend and business partner of Lynch’s, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review today.
Though no cause of death was reported, Groat mentioned that Lynch had been “in and out of the hospital” with a variety of ailments since last October, and had previously undergone coronary bypass surgery. “My first thought was there's no finer person that walked on the face of the earth than Jerry Lynch," added a tearful Groat. "No questions asked, he went straight to heaven.”
Born on July 17, 1930, Lynch played for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1954 through 1956, and again from 1963 until his retirement from professional baseball at the end of the 1966 season. It was as a Cincinnati Red, however, that the longball-hitting native of Bay City, Michigan enjoyed his best seasons (1957-1962, and part of 1963)—especially his remarkable 1961 bench-based campaign for the National League pennant-winning Reds, for whom he clouted a then-record six pinch-hit four-baggers—and left his mark on baseball history. At the time of his retirement, Lynch’s career mark of 18 pinch-hit homers was also a record. His 116 career pinch hits still rank 10th-most in Major League Baseball history.
http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/cin/images/hof/flash/assets/profiles/lynch_jerry/bio.jpg
Though no cause of death was reported, Groat mentioned that Lynch had been “in and out of the hospital” with a variety of ailments since last October, and had previously undergone coronary bypass surgery. “My first thought was there's no finer person that walked on the face of the earth than Jerry Lynch," added a tearful Groat. "No questions asked, he went straight to heaven.”
Born on July 17, 1930, Lynch played for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1954 through 1956, and again from 1963 until his retirement from professional baseball at the end of the 1966 season. It was as a Cincinnati Red, however, that the longball-hitting native of Bay City, Michigan enjoyed his best seasons (1957-1962, and part of 1963)—especially his remarkable 1961 bench-based campaign for the National League pennant-winning Reds, for whom he clouted a then-record six pinch-hit four-baggers—and left his mark on baseball history. At the time of his retirement, Lynch’s career mark of 18 pinch-hit homers was also a record. His 116 career pinch hits still rank 10th-most in Major League Baseball history.
http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/cin/images/hof/flash/assets/profiles/lynch_jerry/bio.jpg