Game of life: Col. Jack Van Pool was first player in state to make All-State in three sports

*Gene Horton was diagnosed with Type A diabetes at age 19, but he never let the disease keep him from running. In fact, he continued to run between 15 and 20 miles per day because of the disease. “I want to bring a positive awareness about diabetes, to show kids that it doesn't necessarily (mean you) have to slow you down if you take care of it,” Horton told The Oklahoman in 1990. Horton, a 2-mile state champion at Northwest Classen High School in 1969, once ran 1,100 miles across state to raise money for the Central Oklahoma Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Horton, who died at age 60 from a cancerous brain tumor discovered just before Christmas, sold athletic shoes by trade.

*Jim Cosman was a 6-foot-4, 211-pound right-handed pitcher for the Tulsa Oilers. He spent parts of the 1965 through 68 seasons with the Oilers, then the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. Cosman won 19 games and struck out 183 for Tulsa. His time in the majors was brief — 12 games over three seasons — but he threw a two-hit, complete game shutout in his first appearance with the Cardinals in 1966. Cosman entered the waste management business after baseball and retired as a chief of operations. He died at age 69 after a 10-year battle with Alzheimer's disease.

*Former Oklahoma City 89ers shortstop Enzo Hernandez died at age 63 in Venezuela. Hernandez spent most of his baseball career with the San Diego Padres, but he played as a 19-year-old Houston Astros prospect in Oklahoma City in 1968. He was traded to the Padres after that season.