Yeah I loved that picture of him pushing face-lick girl away. I remember that one game that we were using it when he'd get strikeouts and he got a crapload that game. It was great.

his great diss of Face Lick Girl won my admiration.

Shocking and very sad loss.

that hit was great

I'm not hedging, I agree with most everything you said here in spirit, but in practical application it's not always easy to draw the line on what constitutes a "personal attack" as has been discussed ad nauseam fairly recently on this site.

I know it's easy to get caught up in extremities of emotion when you're a fan of a sports team, or get emotionally involved in anything for that matter- but I do think it's going too far when fans end up denigrating players and attacking them on personal levels when their athletic performances and on-field decisions don't meet with the fans' approval.

I have to admit I've probably been guilty of this from time to time on some level, and none of us are perfect- but we can at least try, and I've learned, for the most part, to separate the professional from the personal when critiquing performance.

It's at least something to aspire to, even if it's not always easy to completely live up to.

And considering the negativity that has surrounded Joe Kennedy on this site and other fan sites for a long while now, I don't think this is an inappropriate forum in which to raise the issue and I'm kinda glad you did.

He's the player on the November page of the "Players and Pets" calendar.

I just want to say that Scott Boras is a great guy - top notch!

Because you're wiser in hindsight?

Mourn Kennedy's passing, by all means, but don't take out your sorrow on strangers around you. It's classless, unnecessary, and the people you're haranguing don't need you poking them in the chest as they try to salute the lost.

An autopsy was ordered because of the mysterious death.

"The best guess at this point is either a heart attack or a brain aneurysm," Lapa said. "The way he died was sudden. There is no reasonable explanation for what happened."

Many nice remembrances from Haren, Duchscherer, Geren, and Macha. It's sad to learn that not only did he have a one-year-old, but another baby on the way.  I had just looked back at the diary from when Kennedy was claimed by the D-Backs, and found this comment I half-remembered from 0R0H0E about Kennedy saying goodbye to Huston in the bullpen and Huston being visibly moved.  

Except one part that just pisses me off (maybe I'm just mad because the news is so tragic):

Assistant GM David Forst said, "We are deeply saddened and shocked to hear of Joe's passing. He was a valued teammate and friend to everyone with the A's organization. On behalf of the entire A's organization, we extend our condolences to Joe's wife, Jami, and his entire family."

"Canned press release statement" enough for you? The guy pitched for you for parts of 3 seasons and you can't muster up a sentence that doesn't come up on the first page of a Google search for "condolences"? Ugh.

The rest of the story, though, is beautiful and reminds one of what it means to lose someone from your community - be it your family, circle of friends, or baseball team. Just really sad.

Do I feel bad for the people for whom no one feels bad?  Yes.  But the sad truth is that I live my life in a way that overvalues the lives of some people (professional athletes being among that group) over the lives of others.  I do not necessarily do it intentionally.  I feel more solidarity with the guy on the street than I do with the privileged athlete...but the element of randomness creates the shock.  If a homeless guy passes away, I am saddened, maybe quite angry at the system that allows such people to slip through the cracks, but I don't immediately seek a forum (like this one) to express my despair.  Sometimes, I don't know what happens to people.  Sometimes I forget about certain people I used to see regularly.  With professional baseball players in the USA, such forgetfulness is impossible.  

Another source of the shock is that nowadays it's commonplace not only to view athletes as superhuman performers but as subhuman commodities or assets to an inhuman organization.  So when we hear of a death, it's a shock to our so-meticulously-defined images of a player as being nothing more than value, in terms defined by his contract or the trade market or what ever other ultimately irrelevant factor we're inclined to take interest in.  Death...man, PECOTA didn't project that this year.  28's supposed to be a prime age for pitchers--he should've posted an ERA+ of 110 for 2008, not...nothing.  There's a blip in the projection formula that needs some straightening out.  

But really, what the fuck.  Being a fan is an irrational diversion.  I could probably look up a post in your posting history in which you displayed tangible emotion about the fortunes of the A's, or about a specific player's performance.  Now these are things that are truly meaningless, at the core.  But then someone dies, and you search for meaning, or request that others do so?  Where was your search for meaning when you were fucking exuberant when Scutaro hit the 3-run HR off Rivera with 2 strikes in the bottom of the 9th?  Where was your search for meaning when you were dismayed at the departure of Miguel Tejada, or whoever your personaly favorite player was?  To be a member of AN is to check your search for meaning at the door.  And really, it doesn't matter.  I hope that people remember me when I die.  But that hope only serves me while I'm alive, to make it seem like there's something worth striving for.  Ultimately, it's random.  Everyting.  So...act in accordance with your emotions, or don't.  Chastise people who act in accordance with their emotions, or don't.  You ask what meaning can be drawn from his death.  Nothing.  But no meaning can be drawn from any death.  If you think you found meaning from the death of your loved one, well, sorry my friend, that's delusional.  People rationalize losses (of games, of life...) in order to continue to survive, but they don't actually derive meaning from them, whatever that really means.  Coping mechanisms, that's all.  Otherwise every fucking undertaker would be a sage.      

Why do you think I went out drinking tonight?            

I didn't know Joe personally. And no, I don't have the same emotional attachment to him, or anyone on the team now, that I do my close family and friends.

But, I'm an A's Fan. As an A's Fan, I feel a kinship with anyone who's ever played on the A's. We all should. Though he had been traded away, he should always be considered a part of A's Nation.

We all cheered for Joe when he pitched out of a jam. We all cheered for Joe when he won us the game. And I say "US" because as A's Nation, we win and lose right alongside our team. We all jeered him when he blew the lead. We all jeered him when the opposing team shelled him.

I take a personal interest in all the players on my team. I will seriously miss Scutaro this next year, just as I missed Kendall, Giambi, Hudson, Mulder, etc. But, to know that Kennedy died yesterday means I cannot root for him to do well anymore. I can't see him play on another team, and perform well.

Do we have the right to grieve for his death in the way we choose? Yes. I think we do. I'm 29, so the death of any one younger than me is a tragedy. The fact that I have spent parts of the last two years invested emotionally in Joe's performance for my team, means that I and A's Nation as a whole should be depressed for a time. It will never mean the same to us as it does to his family, but can't we be a part of the grieving process?

We are A's Nation, and the loss of any part of that Nation is seriously depressing. How can you take away or criticize our right to feel kinship with the people we've invested so much in over the years?  

..it's sad, but I'd be lying if I said that I thought much about it beyond five minutes.

But if I see a guy get shot in my lawn, I'm never going to forget it.

We're familiar with Kennedy. He wore our shirt and threw balls at other guys who don't. He didn't seem like a bad guy. And like him or not, he was one of ours, so we spent many afternoons and evenings hoping he would be great for us.

So yeah - it's depressing. Never met him, never paid much attention to him once he was out of green and gold, but it's depressing.

To put it in context, it's sad you lost someone who was close to you... but of the two who have been lost, Kennedy was closer to the rest of us than your friend/relative was to us, so we care about his passing more.

Such is human nature. All lives are not equal - just the ones we've known.

to hear of your loss...may your memories bring you some comfort. She certainly knew the way to your heart (giving you the tickets as a gift)and I am sure you miss her companionship very much. God Bless You.

what I've been thinking since I heard the news, but so far either no one dares or I'm the only one thinking it.

Didn't you hear?  He's gotta shovel out an enlarged black hole over in the Andromeda galaxy for about 100-200 years!

I don't see it: 100 trillion neuron connections dissolve within minutes of death, yet somehow Joe is "playing baseball" somewhere? Sans the functioning of the brain?

Unquestionably he's playing in another dimension, but the "ball" is probably a cube.

Second, the last line gives me some hope for the 2008 season: "The garland briefer than a girl's" - hopefully that refers to Jon's first start for the Angels.