|
Eliot Asinof
HUDSON, N.Y. -- Eliot Asinof, an author who invited readers behind the scenes of the world of sports with books including "Eight Men Out," has died. He was 88.
Asinof died Tuesday at a hospital in Hudson of complications from pneumonia, said his son, Martin Asinof.
Asinof was best known for "Eight Men Out," his 1963 retelling of the "Black Sox" scandal in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox threw the 1919 World Series. He spent more than three years exhaustively researching the book, his son said.
The book was made into a 1988 movie by the same name starring John Cusack, Charlie Sheen and Christopher Lloyd.
Asinof wrote more than a dozen books, included 1968's "Seven Days to Sunday," for which he spent a year traveling and living with the New York Giants football team. A novel, "Final Judgment," is due to be published later this year, his son said.
Asinof was himself a minor-league ballplayer, briefly playing in the Philadelphia Phillies' organization before joining the Army and serving in World War II. Earlier this year, he completed a memoir about his wartime service, his son said.
Tom Catlin
TULSA, Okla. -- Tom Catlin, a longtime NFL assistant coach and a two-way star in the 1950s at the University of Oklahoma, has died. He was 76.
Catlin died Saturday at a hospice in Seattle of complications stemming from recent surgery, said his brother, Charles Catlin.
Catlin was assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, where he coached from 1983-1995. He earlier worked as an assistant coach for the Dallas Texans and Kansas City Chiefs in the American Football League, then the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills in the NFL.
Catlin played center and linebacker at OU from 1950-1952, and was a member of the Sooners' 1950 squad that won the national championship under coach Bud Wilkinson.
Catlin was selected in the fourth round of the 1953 draft by the Baltimore Colts, and was traded to Cleveland and played for the Browns in 1953-54. He was an Air Force pilot in 1955-57, and returned to the Browns in 1957-58 before finishing his playing career a year later with the Philadelphia Eagles.
-- The Associated Press |
