Somebody at the A.P. obituary desk is sleeping on the job.

Often, the obituary pages are filled with people whose claim to fame requires lotsa 'splainin'. A couple people who died this week do not fall into this category.

Blake Edwards died today. The Pink Panther, 10, Victor/Victoria. The Associated Press thought he was worth a mention.

Bob Feller died yesterday. Hall of Famer, WW II veteran, still a name you have to consider when talking about the nastiest fastball in baseball history. The New York Times gave him a three page tribute.

The A.P. hasn't gotten around to mentioning him yet.

Shame on the A.P.

My two favorite Bob Feller quotes, one about him and one by him.

Bob played long before the designated hitter rule, so the opposing pitcher would have to bat against him. Most were ridiculously outmatched. Lefty Gomez came to the plate one game, never took the bat off his shoulder and sat down after letting three blazing called strikes whiz past him. Before he walked back to the dugout, Gomez told the plate umpire "The last one sounded low to me."

Bob's take on Ted Williams: "Trying to sneak a fastball past Ted Williams is like trying to sneak dawn past a rooster."

Best wishes to the family and friends of Bob Feller, from a fan.

Al Williamson, 1931-2010

Al Williamson, the comic book artist that worked for nearly every publisher but is best known for his work on Flash Gordon and the Star Wars comic strips, died in upstate New York more than a week ago. The New York Times knew he was worth an obituary. So far, the Associated Press hasn't mentioned his passing. The Times got it right and AP got it wrong.

You can click on the picture above to make it bigger. There are actual artists who read this blog, so I'll let them comment more knowledgeably on Mr. Williamson's work, but I love what the black and white illustrators could do to turn a few lines of cross hatching into shadows and highlights. Just like Flash appears to be, I am transfixed looking at her navel, or more literally, the dozen accurate pen strokes that create the illusion of that sexy little indent.

Best wishes to Al Williamson's friends and family, from a fan.

Franklin Mieuli 1920-2010

Franklin Mieuli, the San Jose native who became a fixture in Bay Area sports, died this week at the age of 89. Mieuli is best known as the owner of the San Francisco Warriors, who later became the Golden State Warriors when they moved to Oakland. He is pictured here in the center, sitting between coach Al Attles and his best player, Rick Barry. The Warriors have only won one N.B.A. title since moving here from Philadelphia back in the 1960s, and Rick Barry is the only player on that 1974-75 roster who has been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Mieuli was known as an eccentric, fond of his loud slacks and his deerstalker cap. He told a story on himself of having the steering wheel of a car fall off and driving from San Jose to San Francisco using a pair of pliers to steer. He made the decision to trade away Wilt Chamberlain from the Warriors line-up because he felt the San Francisco fan base never warmed to the superstar. He was enamored of Barry when the young star was still in college, and made drafting Barry a prime directive. Mieuli was heartbroken when the upstart A.B.A. stole his budding superstar from him, though Barry returned to the Warriors after a few of the A.B.A. teams were merged into the N.B.A. in the early 1970s. While there are many stories of his odd behavior to be told, it was beloved Bay Area sportscaster Hank Greenwald who said of him, "There is no one in this world who puts more effort into being underestimated."

The New York Times thought enough of Mr. Mieuli to print his obituary. The Associated Press did not think him worthy. Shame on the Associated Press.

Best wishes to the friends and family of Franklin Mieuli, from a fan.

R.I.P. Mike Cuellar, 1937-2010

If you are a baseball fan, you should know the name Mike Cuellar. He shared the Cy Young Award in 1969 with Denny McLain of the Detroit Tigers, a year when McClain became the most recent 30 game winner and likely to be the last in baseball history. Cuellar was the first Latin pitcher to win the award. Juan Marichal, the great pitcher for the San Francisco Giants and my personal favorite pitcher of all time, never won the Cy Young.

Cuellar came up to the big leagues in 1959 with the Cincinnati Reds, one of the last Cubans to be signed before the Castro revolution. After bouncing around in the minors and a stint with the Houston Astros, Cuellar became part of the dominant starting rotation for the Baltimore Orioles in the late sixties and early seventies. From 1969 to 1974, he had four seasons with 20 victories or more, and in 1971, the Orioles became only the second team in major league history to have four 20 game winners in their rotation, Cuellar, Jim Palmer, Dave McNally and Pat Dobson.

Cuellar was noted for pitching out of trouble, trouble that was often his creation. Earl Bleeping Weaver, genius manager of the Baltimore Orioles and exceedingly quotable person, said of his star pitcher: "I gave Mike Cuellar more second chances than I gave my first wife."

Cuellar died on April 2 from stomach cancer. I found this out by stumbling onto the New York Times obituary notices when I intended to go to the Associated Press page. Five days after the fact, AP still doesn't think his death is worth a mention. Wikipedia, God bless all the tidy nerds who keep track of a jillion things, has noted his passing.

Best wishes to the family and friends of Mike Cuellar, from a fan.