Rod Beck dead at 38

Rod was found dead in his home Saturday by the local police who were responding to a call. Foul play is not suspected.

This one hits home for me. Rod never played for any of my favorite teams, but he was always a guy that I liked watching and reading about. I'm sure we'll get to hear the stories from his former teammates over the next few days, but I'll go ahead and tell you now that you won't hear from anybody who didn't like the man. Everybody loved Rod Beck. He was just one of those people who made no enemies. I loved reading the stories about Rod living in his Winnebago when he made a comeback in the minors at the end of his career. He actually parked the RV at the ballpark and would sit and drink beer with the local fans who stopped by to say, "hi."

An exact cause of death hasn't been determined, but I do know that Rod had some difficult battles with drug abuse in the past. All I know is that Rod was taken from this earth too early. 38 years old is too young to die. I'm not 38 yet, but I'm getting close and I'm not ready to go yet.

My thoughts and prayers are with Rod's family and friends.