Hall of Fame Atlanta Braves pitcher Phil Niekro died at the age of 81.
The headline took me back to the roots of my career in eastern Ohio, and, specifically, the little sleepy community of Blaine.
Located on the old National Road that at one day, centuries ago, was the main stagecoach route from the eastern seaboard to the wild west, when I lived back in those parts, it was a tired very tired old coal town with a dirty creek running through it, a rough set of railroad tracks that rattled my car every time I drove over the crossing, and a well-used but very tired ball field.