Richie Ashburn, 70, the longtime Philadelphia Phillies baseball announcer and National League Hall of Fame center fielder, died at the Phillies team hotel in New York only hours after broadcasting the Phils' Monday night, 13 to 4 trouncing of the New York Mets. He had a heart attack.
Something of a wry Midwesterner with a dry wit, he became as popular with current fans for baseball expertise and broadcasting persona as he had been to earlier fans as a brilliant outfielder and state-of-the-art leadoff hitter.
In 1995, both he and the great Phillies infielder of a later era, Mike Schmidt, were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Philadelphia residents showed up at the hall, in force, and stunned at least some of the baseball world with their cheers.
If Mr. Ashburn, who ended his 15-year Major League career in 1962, was kept waiting by the hall and its voters, it was probably the "fault" of three men -- known in song and story as "Willie, Mickey and the Duke."
The 1950s was the era of those three other Hall of Fame center fielders, men whose teams were in the thick of nearly every pennant race, who played their home games in media capitals and who routinely were among league leaders in that flashiest of hits, the home run. The three were Willie Mays, of the New York and then San Francisco Giants, Mickey Mantle, of the New York Yankees, and Duke Snider, of the Brooklyn and then Los Angeles Dodgers.
Mr. Ashburn, in contrast, never hit the long ball and played nearly his entire career on teams that lost many more games than they won. He spent his first 12 years with the Phillies, then two years with the Chicago Cubs before spending his last year, 1962, with the amazing Mets, during that franchise's first year in the National League, when it managed to lose a record 120 games.
Years after Mr. Ashburn and the other center fielders retired, a new breed of baseball fans and analysts, with a new-found dedication to statistics, showed that Mr. Ashburn more than held his own in the field. Noted baseball writer Bill James insisted that statistics showed that Mr. Ashburn just might have been the best of the lot.
In the field, Mr. Ashburn led National League outfielders in putouts nine times -- tying a Major League record -- and he holds a Major League record with 500 putouts in four different seasons. At the plate, the six-time all-star, who was nicknamed "Whitey," won two batting titles, finished second in the league three times and hit over .300 nine times. He also led the league in hits three times and in runs scored four times.
Mr. Ashburn, who was known for his speed and his bat control (he once fouled off 14 straight pitches before drawing a walk), compiled a lifetime batting average of .308, with a brilliant .397 on-base average. He had 2,574 career hits.
He was born in Tilden, Neb., and grew up on a farm. His rookie season was with the Phillies in 1948. He quickly won the center field post and went on to hit .333 and win the Sporting News Rookie of the Year award.
In 1950, he was leader of the legendary Phillies "Whiz Kids," a gang of young players who seemed to come from nowhere to win the pennant. He hit .303 with a league-leading 14 triples. Other players, all in their twenties, included pitchers Robin Roberts and Curt Simmons, catchers Stan Lopata and Andy Seminick, infielders Granny Hamner and Willie Jones and outfielders Del Ennis and Dick Sisler.
The Whiz Kids lost the World Series in four games to the New York Yankees, and it was all downhill from there. Mr. Ashburn played with the Phillies through 1959, then with the Cubs and the Mets, never again coming close to a pennant.
In his final year of 1962, when all was collapsing around him on the Mets at a record pace, Mr. Ashburn continued to excel, hitting .306 and being named the Mets' most valuable player.
Yet, things just kept going wrong for him. Mr. Ashburn pointed out that the beautiful boat he won as team MVP was really not that useful in landlocked Nebraska, in addition to which, he was informed by the Internal Revenue Service that he had to pay taxes on the "prize."
On the field, all was not perfect, either. While chasing high flies, he collided several times with infielder Elio Chacon. Mr. Ashburn, who as center fielder made the calls on pop flies between outfielders and infielders, never seemed able to wave Chacon off.
Finally, it dawned on observers that this was a very rare case where the Mets' problem might not be one of baseball skills but rather one of simple communication. It was suggested that Mr. Ashburn try calling Chacon off in Spanish. In no time, Mr. Ashburn found himself charging toward the infield in pursuit of a fly and Chacon charging full-steam toward Mr. Ashburn, also in pursuit. Mr. Ashburn shouted, in Spanish, that the ball was his. Chacon smiled, put on the brakes and motioned for Mr. Ashburn to make the catch. It was a flawless performance until enormous outfielder Frank Thomas, who did not speak Spanish and who also was trying for the ball, knocked Mr. Ashburn all but unconscious.
Then, in the last game of the Mets' disastrous 1962 campaign, Mr. Ashburn was caught off first base for a triple play, contributing to the Mets' 120th loss, the standard for baseball futility. He announced his retirement soon thereafter and began a second life the next season as a Phillies broadcaster. PAUL W. HOWERTON American University Administrator
Paul W. Howerton, 81, a former administrator at American University who earlier had served as an executive of the Central Intelligence Agency, died of renal failure and cardiac myopathy Sept. 6 at Suburban Hospital.
From 1964 to 1974, Dr. Howerton was at American University, where he was adjunct professor of management science, director of the Center for Technology and Administration, and assistant dean for institutes and management programs in the College of Continuing Education.
From 1952 to 1962, he was deputy assistant director for central reference of the CIA. He received the Intelligence Medal of Merit for his "work in the field of translation of languages by machine" and linguistic analysis.
On leaving American University, Dr. Howerton was a management consultant to the General Accounting Office, the Civil Service Commission, the FBI, the National Police Academies, the Naval Security Group Command and the Marine Corps. He retired in the mid-1980s.
A resident of Bethesda, he was born in Valparaiso, Ind., and graduated from Northwestern University. He studied Hindi at the University of Calcutta and Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies at the American University in Beirut. In 1975, he received an honorary doctorate in humane letters at Laurence University in Santa Barbara, Calif.
During World War II, he served in the Army in the China-Burma-India theater.
He worked for private industry in Indiana before moving to the Washington area in 1952. In 1969 and 1970, he was director of the Univac International Center in Rome.
Dr. Howerton was the author of 300 publications, including nine books on the fields of chemistry, information and management sciences and cybernetics.
His wife of 30 years, Ernestine Loehrke Howerton, died in 1968.
Survivors include his wife, whom he married in 1969, Helen V. DeFrancesco of Bethesda; two sons from his first marriage, Charles P. Howerton of Longmont, Colo., and Terrence J. Howerton of Sheridan, Wyo.; a brother; four grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. EDWARD HUNTER HURST Marine Corps General
Edward Hunter Hurst, 71, a Marine Corps brigadier general and holder of the Navy Cross who retired in 1968 as commander of the landing force development center at Quantico, died of a heart ailment Sept. 6 at a nursing home in Charleston, S.C. He had Alzheimer's disease.
Gen. Hurst, who moved from Arlington to Charleston last month, lived in the Washington area off and on since 1946.
He commanded the 3rd Battalion of the 7th Marines in the Pacific during World War II. He was awarded a Silver Star for service on Peleiu, and he received the Navy Cross, the Navy and Marine Corps' highest award for valor after the Medal of Honor, for his heroism on Okinawa. He also received the Legion of Merit, a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.
His postwar assignments included tours as an assistant attache in Sweden, a liaison officer in Washington, commanding officer of the schools battalion at Camp Pendleton, Calif., and assistant division commander, and for a short time, commanding general, of the 1st Marine Division.
After retiring from active duty, Gen. Hurst was superintendent of the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen, Tex.
He was a governor of the Marine Corps Association, president of the 1st Marine Division Association, senior warden of Christ Episcopal Church in Alexandria, a delegate to the Council of the Diocese of Virginia and the Republican National Center and a member of the Republican City Committee.
Survivors include his wife of 55 years, Emma Randolph Elebash Hurst of Arlington; three daughters, Ann Hurst Harriton of Charleston, Perrin Hurst Ireland of Cambridge, Mass., and Elizabeth Hurst Biebighauser of Montgomery, Ala.; and four grandchildren. FRANK JOHN ILLIG Jr. FBI Official
Frank John Illig Jr., 68, who worked at the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 25 years before retiring in 1979 as its deputy assistant director for the administrative services division, died of adrenal cancer Sept. 7 at Inova Mount Vernon Hospital. He lived in Alexandria.
Mr. Illig, who came to Washington in 1969, graduated from Canisius College in his native Buffalo and served in the Army in 1952 and 1953. He joined the FBI in 1954 and served as a special agent in the Kansas City, Mo., and New York City field offices before transferring to FBI headquarters in Washington.
After a stint in the mid-1970s in Kansas City, where he was assistant special agent in charge of the field office, he returned to headquarters. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he served as an auditor with the Prince George's County public schools.
His years at headquarters included service as president of the FBI recreation association. He also served as commander of the FBI American Legion Post No. 56. He also served as Washington chapter and national treasurer of the Society of Former Agents of the FBI.
He did volunteer work with Inova Mount Vernon Hospital's joint replacement unit. He also was a volunteer referee and coach with the Fort Hunt youth basketball team.
Survivors include his wife of 45 years, the former Kathleen Kinney, of Alexandria; a son, Frank III, of Ashburn; a daughter, Kathie Hendry of Lake Ridge, Va.; three brothers, Albert H., of Rochester, N.Y., Robert J., of Buffalo and Thomas J., of Phoenixville, Pa.; and four grandchildren. CARL DRAFTS DONIGIAN Investment Company President
Carl Drafts Donigian, 39, president for the last eight years of Donigian Associates Inc., an investment company, died of a heart attack Sept. 7 at Montgomery General Hospital. He lived in Silver Spring.
Mr. Donigian was born in Jersey City and raised in Bethesda. He was a graduate of Walter Johnson High School and the University of Maryland, where he also received a master's degree in business. He was an electrical engineer on a missile program at Vitro Inc. before starting Donigian Associates with his father in the mid-1980s.
Mr. Donigian was a member of Tau Beta Pi and Etta Kappa Nu engineering honor societies and North Bethesda United Methodist Church.
Survivors include his parents, Michael M. Donigian and Gertrude D. Donigian, both of Bethesda; a brother, Michael J. Donigian of Lakewood, Ohio; and a grandmother, Nancy Donigian of Emerson, N.J. CAPTION: Richie Ashburn is seen in this 1952 photo during his days as a center fielder with the Philadelphia Phillies. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1995.
