Ryne Duren, American baseball player (Angels, Phillies, Yankees) died he was , 81

 Rinold George "Ryne" Duren  was an American relief pitcher in Major League Baseball died he was , 81.

(February 22, 1929 - January 6, 2011)

He was known for the combination of his blazing fastball and his very poor vision. With his thick coke bottle glasses, few batters dared to dig in against Duren. Casey Stengel said, "I would not admire hitting against Ryne Duren, because if he ever hit you in the head you might be in the past tense."
He was originally signed by the St. Louis Browns (now the Baltimore Orioles) as a free agent before the 1949 season. His first major league game was on September 25, 1954 (by which time the Browns had moved to Baltimore), but that was the only game he ever played for the Orioles. On September 21, 1956 he was traded to the Kansas City Athletics as Duren and Jim Pisoni went to the A's in exchange for Al Pilarcik and Art Ceccarelli.
The Athletics and Yankees were frequent trading partners in that era, and on June 15, 1957 Duren, Pisoni, and Harry Simpson were sent to the Yankees for Billy Martin, Ralph Terry, Woodie Held, and Bob Martyn. Duren kept his A's uniform number of 26 with the Yankees. Duren received the first of his three All-Star selections in 1957. He has been retroactively credited with saving 20 games in 1958, the high mark in the American League that year. In 1959, his won-lost record was much poorer, but his earned run average of 1.88 was the best of his career.
Duren was a showman. In those days the Yankee bullpen was a part of the short-porch right field and only a low chain link fence served as the boundary. When called upon by Casey Stengel to relieve, he wouldn’t use the gate, but preferred to hop the fence with one hand and begin a slow walk to the mound with his blue Yankee warm-up jacket covering his pitching arm; he followed this routine even on the hottest days. When he finally took the ball and began his warmups, the first pitch was typically a hard fastball 20 feet over the catcher’s head. The succeeding warmup pitches would be thrown lower and lower (but not slower) until Duren would finally "find" the plate.
Duren stayed with the Yankees until May 8, 1961, when he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels; Duren, Johnny James, and Lee Thomas went to the Angels in exchange for Tex Clevenger and Bob Cerv. Shortly after being traded to the Angels, he struck out seven successive Red Sox batters, then an American League record. He was sold to the Philadelphia Phillies before the 1963 season. Early in the 1964 season, he was shipped to the Cincinnati Reds. Released by Cincinnati in April 1965, he was signed by the Phillies; after being released two months later, he caught on with the Washington Senators, but was released again on August 24 to bring a close to his 10-year Major League career.
Ryne Sandberg was named after Ryne Duren.
In 1983, Duren was presented with the Yankee Family Award for his conquering alcoholism, and for service as an alcohol abuse educator.
Duren's nephew is singer Blackie Lawless (born Steven Duren on September 4, 1956 in Staten Island, New York) of the heavy metal band W.A.S.P.. Baseball Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg was named in honor of Duren.
In 2003, Duren and author Tom Sabellico wrote the book, I Can See Clearly Now. Duren talks from the heart about life, baseball and alcohol. The foreword was written by Jim "Mudcat" Grant.^[2]

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Aron Kincaid, American actor (The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini) and voice actor (Batman, The Transformers),.died from heart failure he was , 70

 Aron Kincaid was an American actor perhaps best known for playing Killer Croc on Batman: The Animated Series and Sky Lynx on The Transformers died from heart failure he was , 70. He also voiced characters for The Smurfs, and DuckTales, among others. In his later years he also had careers as a model and an artist.

(June 15, 1940 – January 6, 2011)

Kincaid was born Norman Neale Williams II^[1] in Los Angeles, California. His father, a second lieutenant in the Army Air Forces, died during World War II. His mother remarried and moved to Oakland, where Kincaid graduated from high school.
While attending UCLA, Kincaid was spotted in a local stage production by a casting agent and signed to a contract with Universal Pictures. That led to a brief, uncredited performance in Spartacus. Kincaid then landed a regular role in the final season of the television sitcom Bachelor Father in 1962, in which Kincaid played Warren Dawson, the junior partner of John Forsythe's Hollywood attorney Bentley Gregg. Dawson becomes engaged to Gregg's niece, Kelly, played by Noreen Corcoran.
Kincaid subsequently appeared with Corcoran in the 1965 comedy "The Girls on the Beach" and had roles in "Beach Ball" and "Ski Party," and made what was billed as a "guest appearance" in "Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine." His other film roles include the Disney musical "The Happiest Millionaire," "The Proud and the Damned" and a cameo in the slasher film Silent Night, Deadly Night. He also made guest appearances on TV series such as "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Get Smart" before moving to San Francisco in the early 1970s and launching a successful career as a model.
Still later, as an artist, Kincaid used the name N.N. Williams II. He sold his landscapes and seascapes through galleries in Laguna Beach.
Kincaid, a resident of Beverly Hills, died at age 70 on January 6, 2011, at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Hospital of heart-related problems.[1
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Gary Mason, British boxer, died from a cycling collision he was , 48.

 Gary Mason was a British boxer who was based in Chatham, Kent  died from a cycling collision he was , 48.. He was born in Jamaica.^[1] Mason fought at the heavyweight level and became the British heavyweight champion in 1989. Mason was a top ten contender, his main strengths being his punching power, heart and physical strength.
Mason died on 6 January 2011 in a cycling accident in South London.

(15 December 1962 – 6 January 2011)

Pro boxing career

Mason fought 38 times as a professional in a career that spanned 10 years from 1984 to 1994, with 37 wins (34 by knockout) and only one loss, that being to Lennox Lewis when he challenged for the European title in 1991. Mason gave Lewis his hardest fight up to that point in his career.
Mason defeated a number of well known heavyweights, including Tyrell Biggs, James Tillis, Lorenzo Boyd, Alfonzo Ratliff, Ricky Parkey, Donnie Long, James Pritchard, Mark Wills, Everett Martin, Louis Pergaud, Hughroy Currie, Terry Armstrong, David Jaco and Jess Harding.
He suffered a detached retina in a bout with Everett Martin in 1990. After a short retirement he staged a comeback, which ended with a TKO loss to Lennox Lewis, which aggravated Mason's eye injury. He would come back once again, but after winning two fights in the U.S. he retired for good.

Rugby career

Mason played three rugby league matches for the London Crusaders (now Harlequins Rugby League) reserve team, scoring a try in his first game although ending up on the losing side against Scarborough Pirates.^[2]

Television appearances

Mason appeared in a special celebrity show of Gladiators that raised money for charity in 1993 which John Fashanu won. Mason also appeared on the panel of the ITV show You Bet!, and the second episode of the first series of GamesMaster in 1992 playing Sonic Blast Man arcade. Mason's home was also one of those featured on the panel show Through the Keyhole. Though the panel were able to ascertain that the property was home to a British boxer, they plumped for its being Lennox Lewis's abode.

Death

On the morning of 6 January 2011 Mason died after being hit by a van in Sandy Lane South, Wallington, South London whilst cycling. He was pronounced dead at the scene.^[3]
Moments after his death was announced boxing promoter Frank Maloney told LBC 97.3fm radio in London "Everyone had the greatest of respect for Gary. When times were bad Gary always had a smile on his face; he's going to be sadly missed by a lot of people.
"He did a lot of great work for charity... he'd always turn up if you phoned him for a charity event. That's the sort of guy he was."

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Donald J. Tyson, American business executive, Chairman of Tyson Foods (1967–2001), died from cancer he was , 80

Donald J. Tyson ^[1] was an American businessman who was the President and CEO of Tyson Foods during its rise to the top of the food business died from cancer he was , 80.

(April 21, 1930 – January 6, 2011)

 Early life

Don Tyson was born in Olathe, Kansas. He attended the public schools in Springdale, Arkansas, and completed his education at Kemper Military School in Boonville, Missouri, and at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, which he left before earning his degree.^[1]
In 1944, at an age 14, Tyson was first introduced into the poultry industry as a chicken catcher and truck driver at Tyson’s Feed and Hatchery, the family's poultry feed and live production business started by his father, John W. Tyson. In 1952, Don Tyson left the University of Arkansas to join his father in expanding the business. The company opened its first poultry processing plant in 1958 on Randall Road in Springdale, with Don Tyson serving as the first plant manager.^[2]

[edit] President and CEO

Tyson was named president of Tyson’s Foods, Inc. in 1966. He served as the company's CEO and chairman from 1967 to 1991, as its chairman from 1991 to 1995, and as its senior chairman from 1995 until his retirement in 2001. During his tenure, the company's revenue increased from $51 million to more than $10 billion, and Tyson Foods grew to become one of the largest manufacturing companies in the world. According to associates Mr. Tyson enjoyed his job, one of his favorite parts of it was going to the slaughterhouses. In his retirement, Mr. Tyson continued to serve as a consultant to the company and as a member of its board of directors.^[3] His son, John H. Tyson was the CEO of Tyson Foods from 1999-2006 and is currently chairman.

[edit] Wealth

According to Forbes Magazine, Tyson was one of the world's 1,000 richest people with a net worth over a billion dollars in March 2007.^[4]
An avid fisherman, Tyson served on the Boards of Directors of the Billfish Foundation and the International Game Fish Association.

[edit] Death

Tyson died January 6, 2011 from cancer. He was 80 years old.^[5]

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Oliver, Jack; Sykes, Lynn R. (1968). "Seismology and the New Global Tectonics". Journal of Geophysical Research died he was 73:

John "Jack" Ertle Oliver  was an American scientist. Oliver, who earned his PhD. at Columbia University in 1953, studied earthquakes and ultimately provided seismic evidence supporting plate tectonics died he was 73:. In the 1960s, Oliver and his former graduate student, Bryan Isacks, set up seismographic stations in the South Pacific to record earthquake activity, and the data collected led to the insight that part of the ocean floor was being pushed downward.^[1][2]

 (September 26, 1923 – January 5, 2011)

 

 Early life and years at Columbia

Jack Oliver was born in Massillon, Ohio, and was a member of the Massillon Washington High School football team coached by future Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Paul Brown. He attended Columbia on a football scholarship, interrupted by his service with the United States navy as a Seabee in the South Pacific during World War II.^[1] After completing his military service, he returned to Columbia, earning his bachelor's degree in 1947.^[3] He then went on to earn a master's degree in physics there and, in 1953, a PhD. in geophysics at Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory.
Oliver's work on using seismic waves to detect nuclear explosions led to his being invited to serve as an advisor to the White House on nuclear test-ban treaties in 1958 and 1959.^[3]
It was during Oliver's years at Columbia that he and his students Bryan Isacks and Lynn Sykes undertook the research leading to their 1968 paper, “Seismology and the New Global Tectonics,” which provided strong evidence for the acceptance of plate tectonics.^[4] The paper was based on the findings of earthquakes hundreds of miles under the Pacific Ocean found using a network of seismic detectors that Oliver and his team had placed on Fiji and Tonga. The research by Oliver's team led them to conclude that the collision of tectonic plates was forcing material deep into the earth where they met below the Pacific Ocean, and provided strong evidence of the existence of continental drift, a theory that had been largely scoffed at by the scientific community when it was first proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1912.^[1] The order of the three coauthors' names on that paper (Isacks, Oliver, Sykes) was decided by lot, according to a footnote on the paper. This odd choice provoked speculation, but Oliver explained that decision was made before writing the paper, as all three authors worked full speed in what they saw as a race against other researchers.^[5]
Oliver headed the Lamont seismology program for many years, and was chair of Columbia's Department of Geology from 1969 - 1971.^[3]

Years at Cornell

In 1971, Oliver went to Cornell University, where he became chair of the geophysics department.^[1][3] Oliver was eager to use reflection seismology techniques to probe the deep structure of continents, but many were skeptical of this approach because at that time refraction profiling was the standard way to examine crustal structures.^[6]
With Cornell colleague Sidney Kaufman, Oliver co-founded the first national program using reflection seismology to explore Earth's continental crust.^[7] The Consortium for Continental Reflection Profiling (COCORP) was initially funded by a small grant from the NSF. It has been used to map geological faults in many parts of the US,^[6] and has served as a model for seismic exploration projects in more than 20 other countries.^[7]

Personal life

Oliver met his wife Gay van der Hoeven on a hike near New York City, and they were married in 1964. The couple raised two daughters, Nell and Amy.^[8]
In addition to his scientific work, Oliver enjoyed creating limericks,^[1] such as this one from his 1996 book Shocks and Rocks:^[9]

The plates in dynamic mosaic

Through history both fresh and archaic

Like bold engineers

For some two billion years

Have kept Earth from becoming prosaic.

Publications

Isacks, Bryan; Oliver, Jack; Sykes, Lynn R. (1968). "Seismology and the New Global Tectonics". Journal of Geophysical Research 73: 5855. doi:10.1029/JB073i018p05855.

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Jim Duncan, American football player and coach died he was , 86

James Howard Duncan  was an American football player and coach died he was , 86.

After playing for the Duke Blue Devils under Wallace William Wade in 1946, Duncan spent three seasons as a standout defensive lineman for Peahead Walker's Wake Forest Demon Deacons. He was an All-Southern Conference player all three years at Wake Forest and was the team MVP in 1949.
Duncan was a Linebacker and defensive end for the New York Giants from 1950–1955. He was named Giants co-captain, along with Kyle Rote in 1954. He missed the entire season due to an injury and was cut by the team the following season

(May 2, 1924 – January 5, 2011)

Duncan was the 13th head football coach for the Appalachian State Mountaineers located in the town of Boone in Watauga County, North Carolina, from 1960–64.^[1] He had a 31–15–2 as the Mountaineers head coach. On December 4, 1964, Duncan resigned as head football coach at Appalachian State.^[2]
In 1965, Duncan joined the Saskatchewan Roughriders as an assistant under head coach Eagle Keys. He was with the team when they defeated the Ottawa Rough Riders in the 54th Grey Cup and when the team lost to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 55th Grey Cup.
Duncan became head coach of the Calgary Stampeders in 1969, replacing Jerry Williams who left the team to join the Philadelphia Eagles. Duncan's stint with the Stamps resulted in two Grey Cup appearances; one win (59th) and one loss (58th). Duncan was fired in 1973 after back to back 6–10 seasons. His overall record with Calgary was 39–40–1.
After his dismissal, Duncan was hired by a group from London, Ontario, who hoped to bring professional football to their city,^[3] and was later hired as executive assistant of the Portland Storm of the World Football League.

Head coaching record

Year	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Bowl/Playoffs
Appalachian State Mountaineers (North State Conference) (1960–1962)
1960	Appalachian State	8–2	5–1	2nd
Appalachian State Mountaineers (Carolinas Conference) (1961–1964)
1961	Appalachian State	7–3	5–1	2nd
1962	Appalachian State	4–4–2	2–1–2	3rd
1963	Appalachian State	6–3	4–1	3rd
1964	Appalachian State	6–3	3–2	3rd
Appalachian State:		31–15–2	20–6–2
Total:		31–15–2
National Championship         Conference Title         Conference Division Title

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Paul Egertson, American Lutheran bishop, died from a heart attack. he was , 75

Paul Wennes Egertson  was Bishop of the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America from 1995 to 2001 and served as a Senior Lecturer at the California Lutheran University  died from a heart attack. he was , 75.

(February 17, 1935 – January 5, 2011)

Biography

Egertson maintained a happy upbringing, entering the priesthood during his early lifetime. In 1955 he graduated with a B.A. degree from Pepperdine University, continuing to study for a M.Th. degree which he obtained from the Luther Seminary. Egertson then spent the following years serving as a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and also studied for a Ph.D. from the Claremont School of Theology, which was awarded in 1976. ^[1]
Egertson was active with an education role since 1972, having served as an Adjunct Professor at the California Lutheran University between 1972 and 1984. He continued his association with the same university after 1984, however timing commitments restricted his ability to remain professor, he remained on the CLU faculty serving as a Senior Lecturer in the College of Arts and Sciences, having taught both part time and full time. Egertson's specialities were noted as: Dispute Mediation, Preaching, Persuasion and religion in America. Egertson is credited with having served as the university's Director of the Center for Theological Study, and also for his role in establishing night courses at the university. ^[2]
Egertson passed away suddenly in his home in Thousand Oaks, California on the afternoon of January 5, 2011.^[3]

Time as bishop

Egertson was elected Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, with pastoral responsibilities for South California in 1994. He served in episcopal office from 1995 until 2001, when he resigned one month before the end of his term, due primarily to his controversial stance toward homosexuality, having ordained a lesbian pastor Anita C. Hill, and publicly disagreed with other prominent church officials over the matter.

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