When your heroes die

I remember watching Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run. I was at plenty of Dodger games with Don Sutton on the mound and Tommy Lasorda in the dugout.

If you live long enough, you will watch your childhood heroes die. The stars of your youth will succumb to the inevitability of age and mortality. You may have forgotten about them for years, but when you learn about their demise, images of them in their youth and vitality will…