Lonny Frey - RIP

[nolemmings]

Here's Lonnie at Spring Training with the Cubs on Catalina Island--courtesy of George Burke:

[slantycouch]

Todd that Burke photo is great!

RIP Lonny. Great guy and very generous signer.

[Orioles1954]

R.I.P. to the last living member of the 1934 Goudey set....they all have left us now. I will keep that letter that Fre sent me in 2007 forever.

[Chris-Counts]

While it's sad Lonny has passed away, it's pretty remarkable that both he and fellow 1940 Reds infielder Bill Werber, who also recently died, lived as long as they did. More than anything, I collect cards of the Reds from that era, and here's my favorite ...

[rc4157]

Not that long ago, "before vintage", I couldn't have told you who Lonny Frey was and now after reading of his passing it leaves a bit of a void for me. As was mentioned earlier, it is great that he and Billy Werber were able to live such long and full lives.
RC

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

A couple of interesting things I learned from/about Lonny:

-Buddy Blattner (who also died this year) only got his start in baseball because his father was an influential man in St. Louis. Some bribery might have taken place. Lonny said that Blattner was a far cry from sandlot level. For some reason, he was still bitter about this situation 50+ years afterwards. I don't know why he would take it so personally.

-Lonny spent nearly 30 years living in a house in Snohomish, Washington, where he was neighbors with Earl Averill, Sr., Jr. and Earl Torgeson. In that time, his rent never increased! Even during the late 1990's he was only paying $50/month!

-As many who saw him before the string of unfortunate events, Lonny said that Pete Reiser was the greatest natural baseball talent he ever saw. What I would give to have watched Reiser in his prime!