We should not expect our idols to live forever, but when we hear of their passing, it is a shock to the system, a jolt to the senses.
How can it be, we ask ourselves, that our favorites have left us. In the lastĀ week, those of us baby boomers who embraced those legends may be feeling loss more than usual. The NBA lost a star and the inspiration for its logo, Jerry West. He led the Los Angeles Lakers to greatness and then went to the front office and built a team of his own to return to the summit.
On Tuesday night, the system felt another shock, and this one was personal.
Hearing his name made you stop and look and listen. Seeing him play was appointment viewing, which was quite difficult in the 1960s because you could only see one game a week unless you lived in a Major League city. Unless it was an All-Star Game, seeing Willie Mays or the San Francisco Giants was the rarest of occasions.
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I saw Mays in person only once, but it was a moment I will have next to my heart for the rest of my life.
