Wait ‘Til the Next Life

Gene Hermanski, former Brooklyn Dodger spring training legend, has died at the age of 90. Hermanski is often lauded as one of the most welcoming of the Dodgers when Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1947, putting an arm around the rookie when most teammates ignored him, and for suggesting that all the Dodgers wear number 42 to confuse snipers who might take a shot at him. Given Robinson’s more obvious distinguishing characteristic, the GHI leaves it to readers to determine if Hermanski was trying to break the tension with gallows humor or was a stone cold moron.