The oldest living professional player, Si Simmons, passed away:

Si Simmons, the former Negro leagues baseball player who was believed to be the longest-living professional ballplayer in history, died Sunday in at a retirement home in St. Petersburg, Fla. He was 111.

Simmons was just discovered this summer.

The discovery of Simmons made him a minor baseball celebrity. To celebrate his 111th birthday on Oct. 14, the Center for Negro League Baseball Research organized a party at Simmons's nursing home that attracted 300 people, including 39 former Negro leagues players.

Carl Boles, who later played the outfield on the 1962 San Francisco Giants, presented Simmons with a plaque from the Society of American Baseball Research that recognized him as the oldest living professional ballplayer ever. And the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, - whose games Simmons still occasionally attended with his church group, gave him an official jersey with No. 111 on the back.

My condolences go out to his family and friends. It's great to see he was active and alert to the end.