RIP Champ Summers: Gone at 66

[Riptide]

Champ Summers, 66, died Thursday after a long battle with kidney cancer. He had lived at Spruce Creek Preserve [in Florida] since 1999, when he and his wife moved from La Jolla, Calif.

Summers was a Vietnam veteran who played 10 MLB seasons for six different teams. His longest stay with one team was a three-year run with the Detroit Tigers starting in 1979, when he was traded from the Cincinnati Reds mid-season. Summers had arguably his finest season with the Tigers that partial year, when legendary manager Sparky Anderson sought him out to be his designated hitter. Summers batted .313 with 20 home runs, 51 RBIs and seven stolen bases in just 246 at-bats over the remainder of that season.

http://www.ocala.com/article/20121011/ARTICLES/121019947/1005/sports01?Title=Champ-Summers-10-year-major-leaguer-who-retired-to-Ocala-dies-at-66

 

[Armchair_QB]

RIP to a former Cub.

 

[Norrin Radd]

Weird that a guy who played for the Cubs was named "Champ."

RIP.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Weird that a guy who played for the Cubs was named "Champ."

RIP.

It hurts because its true.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Was at the center of the great Padres-Braves brawl in 1984. It seemed for a moment like Summers was literally going to kill Pascual Perez.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=5955859

 

[Bubbler]

Got my only MLB foul ball off the bat of Champ Summers during his 1980 season. Sad to see he suffered from cancer.

RIP.

 

[Matt1735]

**** Cancer.

 

[Drip]

RIP. He was a cool dude.

 

[cyclingwriter]

I went to summer camp with a kid named champ one summer. I remember being pissed that he had never heard of champ summers.

RIP

 

[The Big Ragu]

Best known to me as the guy from the 1979 or 1980 Topps set whose card I got 10,000 times from opening packs. I can't remember the cards I never got a sniff of, in my attempt to complete my set, but I could always count on a Champ Summers card buried in the middle of the pack. I probably still have enough of them to heat my home this winter, in a box somewhere.

 

[WolvEagle]

Damn. Cancer claims another. That is so wrong.

Well, that completes the rule of three on the Detroit sports scene - Champ, Alex Karras and Budd Lynch.

RIP, Champ.

 

[Colton]

Agreed, Matt.

RIP.

 

[Liut]

Was at the center of the great Padres-Braves brawl in 1984. It seemed for a moment like Summers was literally going to kill Pascual Perez.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=5955859

I remember watching the brawl as it happened during high school years. Don't mind admitting I was flabbergasted but it was great entertainment. Watched the Pine Tar game live as well. Don't know which seemed craziest, though this brawl, or series of brawls, seemed to go on and on.

Champ Summers always struck me as a scrapper. RIP.

 

[Riptide]

Was at the center of the great Padres-Braves brawl in 1984. It seemed for a moment like Summers was literally going to kill Pascual Perez.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=5955859

I remember watching the brawl as it happened during high school years. Don't mind admitting I was flabbergasted but it was great entertainment. Watched the Pine Tar game live as well. Don't know which seemed craziest, though this brawl, or series of brawls, seemed to go on and on.

Champ Summers always struck me as a scrapper. RIP.

Here's a link to a Deadspin look back at that brawl, with a link to an SI recap in the Deadspin story:

http://deadspin.com/5611309/remembering-the-greatest-basebrawl-of-all-time

The funny part, related in the SI story, is how Pascual Perez hid behind Bob Horner in the the dugout once the benches cleared.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1122454/1/index.htm

 

[old_tony]

Best known to me as the guy from the 1979 or 1980 Topps set whose card I got 10,000 times from opening packs. I can't remember the cards I never got a sniff of, in my attempt to complete my set, but I could always count on a Champ Summers card buried in the middle of the pack. I probably still have enough of them to heat my home this winter, in a box somewhere.

The unexpected humor in responses such as this is one of the things that makes this place so damn golden. Thanks for the morning laugh.

 

[Drip]

Was at the center of the great Padres-Braves brawl in 1984. It seemed for a moment like Summers was literally going to kill Pascual Perez.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=5955859

I remember watching the brawl as it happened during high school years. Don't mind admitting I was flabbergasted but it was great entertainment. Watched the Pine Tar game live as well. Don't know which seemed craziest, though this brawl, or series of brawls, seemed to go on and on.

Champ Summers always struck me as a scrapper. RIP.

Here's a link to a Deadspin look back at that brawl, with a link to an SI recap in the Deadspin story:

http://deadspin.com/5611309/remembering-the-greatest-basebrawl-of-all-time

The funny part, related in the SI story, is how Pascual Perez hid behind Bob Horner in the the dugout once the benches cleared.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1122454/1/index.htm

Bob Horner wasn't the sharpest knife the drawer. He loved kicking ass. Pascual did the right thing to use him for protection.

 

[Riptide]

Pascual did the wrong thing by running away like a little nancy *****.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Pascual did the wrong thing by running away like a little nancy *****.

Pascual only weighed about 150 pounds.

 

[slc10]

I remember the fight in Atlanta. Bob Horner came out of the dugout looking like Dusty Rhodes. I know Steve Bedrosian (one of the braves who was in the battle) and his family and his wife remembers it all too well.

 

[mpcincal]

I remember the fight in Atlanta. Bob Horner came out of the dugout looking like Dusty Rhodes. I know Steve Bedrosian (one of the braves who was in the battle) and his family and his wife remembers it all too well.

It might be in the linked story (haven't checked), but I believe Horner was on the DL at the time, and was actually in the broadcast booth to start the game. After the benches emptied the first couple of times, he decided to go down and get into uniform to be there when things flared up again.