Don Burke

Nov 30, 2024 | nypost.com | Don Burke

Lou Carnesecca, the only child of Italian immigrants who ran a grocery store on Manhattan’s East Side and who became one of the most colorful and successful coaches in college basketball history during a 24-year career at St. John’s, died on Saturday night, the Post confirmed. He was 99.

Oct 1, 2024 | nypost.com | Don Burke

Pete Rose, baseball’s all-time leader in hits but a three-time world champion and 17-time All-Star who remains out of the sport’s Hall of Fame after it was found he had gambled on baseball while managing the Cincinnati Reds in the late 1980s, died Monday at his home in Las Vegas. He was 83. Rose, who retired as a player in 1986, managed the Reds from 1984-89, when he was banned by Major League Baseball for betting on games.

Sep 9, 2024 | msn.com | Don Burke

Sep 9, 2024 | nypost.com | Don Burke

Ed Kranepool, who jumped from a Bronx high school to the big leagues with the original Mets at the age of 17 and who spent all 18 of his major league seasons in Flushing, died Sunday in Boca Raton, Fla. after suffering cardiac arrest. He was 79. Kranepool, a left-handed hitting first baseman who was a member of the Mets’ first two World Series teams, had received a kidney transplant in 2019. He also suffered from diabetes.

Apr 16, 2024 | nypost.com | Don Burke

After watching him pitch five impressive innings in an exhibition game in 1948, Jackie Robinson sought out minor-leaguer pitcher Carl Erskine. “You’re going to be with us real soon,” Robinson, who had broken Major League Baseball’s color barrier only a year earlier, told the 21-year-old right-hander. Robinson’s encouraging words proved prescient. Erskine joined the Brooklyn Dodgers a few weeks later and went 6-3 in 17 appearances, most of them out of the bullpen.