Rest In Peace, Ellie

Elrod Hendricks has died. Elrod was the longtime bullpen coach for the Baltimore Orioles. He also played for the O's during the glory years, sharing catching duties with Andy Etchebarren in the late 60s and early 70s including three straight World Series from 1969-71.

One of my earliest memories of him was going with my sister to batting practice back in Memorial Stadium. We were standing at the rail behind home plate but we were both too timid to ask any of the players to sign. After a while Ellie saw us standing there and asked us if we would like him to sign our baseballs. "Yes, please. Thank you, sir". I think we got a couple of other players that day but the only one I remember was Ellie.

I also remember a few years ago when my sister and I went to the final game of the year. Being the bullpen coach, Ellie was always one of the last people in uniform to leave the field and that year he was scheduled to have back surgery in the off season. So after the game we waited around in the flag court and decided to try to get his attention. Now the flag court is a maybe a couple of hundred feet from the bullpen. So my sister and I yelled out together, "ELLIE!" He looked in our direction, saw us waving like maniacs, smiled and waved good-bye.

I only met him a couple of times and exchanged a handful of words but it sure feels like I've lost a friend.

Good-bye, my friend. Good-bye.