Honorable mention for top stories: Baltimore Orioles, Washington Nationals and Oakland A's rise from several losing seasons to make playoffs; Stephen Strasburg gets shut down despite pennant race; Boston implodes and trades Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett.
Notable baseball deaths of 2012
- Gary Carter, 57, Hall of Fame catcher, on Feb. 16
- Harry Wendelstedt, 73, former umpire, on March 9
- Mel Parnell, 89, former pitcher, on March 20
- Bill "Moose" Skowron, 81, former first baseman, on April 26
- Johnny Pesky, 92, former Red Sox infielder, on Aug. 13
- Champ Summers, 66, former outfielder, on Oct. 11
- Eddie Yost, 86, former third baseman, on Oct. 16
- Pascual Perez, 55, former pitcher, on Nov. 1
- Lee MacPhail, 95, former executive and AL president, on Nov. 8
- Marvin Miller, 95, former executive director of the MLBPA, on Nov. 27
- Frank Pastore, 55, former pitcher and broadcaster, on Dec. 17
- Ryan Freel, 36, former utility player, on Dec. 22
