Bill Skowron, ex-Dodger and Angel was 81

Back when most baseball players were lean and a little mean, Bill Skowron looked like his nickname: Moose. He was big and bulky, but he actually got the name in childhood because somebody thought he resembled the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Bill Skowron, a World Series hero for the New York Yankees, came to the Dodgers when they needed a slugger in 1963 and failed to slug. The Dodgers won the World Series anyway, but Skowron moved on. He finished with the Angels in '67. Smasher of 211 homeruns in 14 seasons, he is a member of the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame. Skowron died in Chicago last night of congestive heart failure and lung cancer.

Bob Timmermann on Twitter: "RIP Bill Skowron. He had a rough year with the Dodgers in 1963, but he had a good World Series. And then he was gone again."