Elmer Blasco, We Hardly Knew Ye. In Fact, Most Of Us Knew Ye Not At All

You know something that's a real bummer? When you learn about someone cool for the first time only by reading their obituary:

Elmer Blasco, inventor of Major League Baseball's Gold Glove Award, has died at his suburban Chicago home. He was 87.

The sports marketer and publisher was best know for establishing an annual award for defensive baseball players in each position, The Chicago Tribune reported Monday.

Blasco began working for Rawlings sporting goods of St. Louis in 1950 in the area of sales, marketing and promotions.

He dreamed up the idea of a Gold Glove Award in 1956 and sold the concept to Rawlings executives.

Eighty-seven is not young, but given that he survived Rafael Palmiero winning his award despite playing only 28 games at first base in 1999, you figure he could survive anything.