My co-blogger Jacqueline Ruyak passed away on October 21 after a brief illness. She and I had been friends for 36 years, but it was only in the last 10 years or so that we discovered our mutual love of baseball. It became a tradition for her to come to the West Coast when her beloved Phillies were playing the Giants. I sometimes went to Philadelphia when my Oakland A's were playing the Phillies. We took road trips together to see spring training games in the Cactus and Grapefruit leagues, Arizona Fall Ball and many minor league games. It is hard to believe that we will no longer sit side by side filling out our scorebooks and commenting on the new crop of cute players. We will no longer mail our team badges to each other. I know that Jacqueline had a passion for writing baseball commentary and our blog was the perfect forum for her. I am forever grateful for our baseball friendship. I cannot imagine spring training without her.
