tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440935426564046632.post8166989232837366630..comments2023-10-31T06:28:39.733-07:00Comments on Pink Hat Nation: Eric Show RevisitedDave Harringtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02287769082318243321noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-440935426564046632.post-46882658993412548022009-05-19T13:42:00.000-07:002009-05-19T13:42:00.000-07:00I am compelled to post here because I was an acqua...I am compelled to post here because I was an acquaintance of Eric Show's from 1985-1989. I've been a baseball fan for over 26 years and meeting and knowing Eric's social facets are two of my fondest, but bittersweet memories.<br /><br />I wrote a letter to him in early 1985 telling him how interesting he was, especially his passion for music and his science studies. Even though I was and still am a Phillies' fan, he piqued my curiosity. I did not think I would actually meet him, much less receive a very personable hand-written response. I thought I'd just receive an autograph (and I would have been just as happy!)! My conversations w/ him ran the gamut from politics, science, music, and poular culture. Sure, I was curious about him as a player (who isn't curious about their favorite baseball players?), but the more we chatted at the ballpark every year the Padres would be in town or by letter (once or twice a year), I learned that he really wanted people to take him seriously not just as a ballplayer, but as a committed, passionate musician. He had this zest for life back then that was unforgettable! He also made sure that, even though you were perhaps a mere satellite in his world, your opinion(s) meant a lot to him. <br /><br />Throughout those years, I learned that he had many friends and acquaintances on the road like me. He was insecure about his role as a star baseball player, but wanted to show the world he was "man enough" to succeed. He wished to surround himself with people who truly understood him as a person and filled his need for companionship. Even though fans adored him, at least early in his career, he felt he was never good enough. This is very sad because he had the ambition to improve himself as athlete to the nth degree, the personality to light up a room, the brains to win at any argument (whether about poltics, music or science), the looks to turn heads, and the warmth to befriend anyone he wished. People of high intelligence like him tend to be emotional and *very* empathic towards others to the point where he/she must cater to everyone. Eric felt he had to "save" or make amends to everyone even though his personal life was not always stable. I was always concerned that fame might not deal him a good hand, especially that he was still impressionable and could be very thin-skinned. <br /><br />I was no starry-eyed, naive fan, either, I knew that fame and living on the road could be filled with temptations. I figured, he's an adult, he had to make up his own mind about his decisions, whatever they were. I did not feel it was my place to judge him, considering he was twelve years older than me.<br /><br />I did not hear from him after 1989; I just thought since I was busy with college and he was doing his baseball thing and I thought we'd meet up again later in the future. When I heard of his death in 1994, I was upset and saddened but not shocked. I wondered why he shut his friends out when he really needed them? Only he knew the whole story, but perhaps he did not want to let us down and be disappointed in him.<br /><br />Today would have been his 53rd birthday. Every May 19th that's passed since his passing, I save a part of the day to remember him how I remembered him--a gentle, amicable, intelligent soul with a gift for being the devil's advocate in many of our debates. And even though I may not have known him intimately, I am pleased as punch that I got some glimpses of what Eric Show the human being was really like.CarolynMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04251075986906123028noreply@blogger.com