Free Republic

Good morning and Happy Easter, I am writing to you today because over the course of the past few weeks I have heard, read and have become upset by stories about 37 year Baltimore Oriole bullpen coach Elrod "Ellie" Hendricks and how Oriole managment seems to have mis-handled Ellie's situation both prior to his mild stroke and after his massive and fatal heart attack the night before his birthday last December. I as well as many other fans in Baltimore and abroad were very upset at the fact that the Orioles did not retire Ellie's number on opening day. Ellie...

In 24 hours, death visited in entirely different ways. For those of us who view sport as life writ large, an arena in which vibrant people pursue grand ambitions, death is a leather glove to a daydreamer's face. Early Thursday morning, James Dungy, son of Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, was found dead in his Florida apartment. Wednesday, longtime Baltimore Orioles coach Elrod Hendricks died of a heart attack in Maryland. There is no reason to link the two unless you think of Tony Dungy as the football man you most admire, and Hendricks as the baseball man you most...

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Elrod Hendricks, who spent nearly four decades as a player and coach with the Baltimore Orioles, died Wednesday. He was 64. Hendricks died at Baltimore-Washington Medical Center in Glen Burnie, hospital spokeswoman Allison Eatough said. The cause of death was not immediately known. Acting Lt. Will Bethea of the Anne Arundel County fire department said the department received a call at 8:17 p.m. that Hendricks was unconscious at a hotel near Baltimore-Washington International Airport. A fire department ambulance took him to the hospital. Hendricks got most of the playing time at catcher for the Orioles on teams...