Tommy Henrich Dies at 96

Tommy Henrich died Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio at the age of 96. He was the oldest living New York Yankee  and now the oldest living Yankee is Virgil Trucks who is 92.

Henrich is best known for reaching first base on his strikeout that would have ended the game with the Dodgers in the 1941 World Series. Hugh Casey threw a strike but Dodger catcher Mickey Owen missed the pitch and Henrich reached first basebase safely keeping the game alive. The score was 4-3 at the time but Henrich reaching first base was the start of a four run ninth inning that gave the Yankees a 7-4 win.

He received his “Old Reliable” nickname from hitting well in clutch situations. Henrich missed three full seasons while serving in the armed forces during World War II.

Henrich was a five time All Star and played his entire 11 year career with the Yankees. He played on four World Series winnng Yankee teams in 1938, 1941, 1947 and 1949.

He played from 1937 through 1950 and hit 183 home runs and drove in 795 runs while hitting .282 during his career. He only stole 37 bases in his career but led the AL in triples with 13 and 14 in 1947 and 1948.

List Of Oldest Living Players

The following list shows the 63 oldest living baseball players. A name that stands out on the list is No.19 Phil Cavarretta who is 93. He played in more games than any of the players on the list having played in 2,030 games.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_living_Major_League_Baseball_players