Actor David L. Lander has died of complications due to multiple sclerosis. He was 73. While Lander was best known for playing Andrew “Squiggy” Squiggman in the popular sitcom “Laverne & Shirley”, he also scouted for the Angels and Mariners, briefly owned a Minor League team and had a role
Actor David L. Lander has died of complications due to multiple sclerosis. He was 73.
While Lander was best known for playing Andrew “Squiggy” Squiggman in the popular sitcom “Laverne & Shirley”, he also scouted for Angels and Mariners, briefly owned a Minor League team and had a role as a broadcaster in the 1992 baseball movie “A Class separately. “
Lander’s family confirmed his death to Variety on Saturday. Lander was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1984, although he did not disclose his condition until ’99.
A baseball enthusiast, Lander grew up in the Bronx, but was an avid Pirates fan and enjoyed messing with the Yankees. He went on to become a minority owner of the Portland Beavers in 1980, when they were Pirates’ Triple-A affiliates.
Lander was also an early reader of the acclaimed saber metrics Bill James’ “Baseball Abstract,” when it was still being published by James. James gave Lander a tribute on Saturday on Twitter, noting that he was one of the first 100 readers of “Abstract” and wanted to write letters to James in the late 1970s.
The late David Lander was an early abstract reader, one of the first 100. I used to get nice short letters from him, back around 1977-1978. Sorry to see him go.
- Bill James Online (@billjamesonline) December 5, 2020
Thomas harrigan is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter @HarriganMLB.