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Spring training was interrupted by the pandemic in mid-March last year, and the big league regular season was delayed until late July and shortened to 60 games. All 2020 minor league seasons were canceled.

Because 1997 was the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's rookie year, Sukeforth was especially busy. The late, great Dave Anderson of The New York Times, who had known Sukeforth when he worked for the Brooklyn Eagle, came up to visit him that March at the Camden Health Care Center -- he was recovering from a fractured pelvis suffered when he slipped on the frost on his front step. "I could be better, but I could be worse," Clyde told Anderson. "That's true of all of us, I suppose." When Anderson asked him for the secret to his longevity, he said, "Getting up at 5 every morning and eating an apple every day. ... My grandfather grew some of the finest apples. He had about 20 different types, but some of them faded out. There's competition in that league too."Colorado Rockies

Vin Scully, 93, served 67 years as the Dodgers' play-by-play announcer before retiring at the end of the 2016 season.Kansas City Royals

"But right now it’s still the building-block phase. I’m focusing on what I have to do to make myself execute better.Seattle Mariners

The Reds sent him to Nashua, New Hampshire, in the New England League for the 1926 season, though they did call him up to Cincinnati for one at-bat in late May. Even though he struck out, Sukeforth said, "The highlight of my career was the first day I put on a big league uniform." He also inspired the mascot for the Nashua Millionaires to become a catcher. That mascot was Birdie Tebbetts, who caught for 14 seasons in the big leagues and managed for another 11.Detroit Tigers

In his very first game for the Royals, in Jersey City, Robinson had four hits, one of them a three-run homer, and two stolen bases. Things weren't nearly that easy for him in the '46 season -- manager Clay Hopper, a Mississippian, hated the idea of integration in the beginning, and the fans in Louisville treated him brutally. But after the Royals won the pennant and then beat Louisville for the International League championship because of Robinson's heroics, the fans in Montreal carried him around on their shoulders. In the clubhouse afterward, Hopper pulled him aside, shook his hand and said, "You're a great ballplayer and a fine gentleman. It's been wonderful having you on the team."

In a statement, Dodgers CEO Stan Kasten wrote that Sandra Scully was "Vin's biggest fan and was always there in loving support of him at Dodger Stadium until she began her battle with ALS. She was truly Vin's and the Scully family's rock, and she will be dearly missed."