Blaise Agnew has left us much too soon, at the age of 62. He passed away on Wednesday. Blaise was a longtime member of CDMSBL, playing with the Hawks, Twins, WhizKids and most recently with the 62+ Yankees. He also played several years in the Colonie Senior Basketball League. He always gave 100%: taking the extra base, diving for the ball, cheering on teammates, etc. More importantly, he was a good person. A friend to all who were fortunate enough to know him. The obituary is in todays Times Union.
So sad to hear this. Blaise was a neighborhood guy where I grew up in Latham. Great guy from elementary school on! He was as nice as can be to anyone he met. A whole lot of people will be saddened by his early passing, including me. Godspeed, Blaise Agnew!
Most days I like going to the league's bulletin board. The news there is almost always an upper, except when, in postings like these, it's not. Then it's a hard, sad read.
I'm not sure how it happened, maybe just hanging around behind the backstop during a game at New Scotland, but about eight, ten years ago, Blaise and I struck up a "Hello, good to see you" friendship where we'd talk baseball, work, family. It'd was pass-the-time conversation but always pleasant, and, a reminder of one of the unpublicized but enduring pleasures of the league.
Whenever my Peppers teams faced Blaise's Whiz Kids I'd think as I stepped on the field,, it'll be good to see Blaise again. He wasn't terribly tall, maybe 5-9, 5-10, and he was thin, but he could play ball, mostly the infield as I remember, and he was a good hitter. Mainly, I remember he wore a big smile and always said it was good to see me, and I replied in kind.
The obituary said he died of pancreatic cancer. It also said, line after line, how good he was to his family and friends, how they loved him for it. The first news was hard and a surprise; the second, about his kindness, was not.