A week ago I attended a memorial service for my cousin Mike Eady. Mike was 67 and passed away from a heart attack while playing soccer.

Mike came from a family of 6. He had a twin brother Pat, a younger sister Janice and younger brother Jim. So many of the stories from the memorial service supported the storyline of an idyllic childhood growing up in Eugene and Sacramento. Growing up in Portland and frequenting Eugene for Saturday Ducks games, I remember the Eugene years the best. I wish there was a way to articulate the level of hilarity that the Eady family brought into our lives. Pat and Mike, seemingly joined at the hip since birth had an innate ability to play off each other and argue a point in rapid succession as if they knew what the other one was going to say next. You had no chance in part because it was coming at you fast, but also because you were laughing so hard.

Late into life Mike still had an appreciation for the classic shows of the sixties and seventies with enviable recall. Perry Mason, Twelve O’Clock High, Laugh In, Candid Camera, Hogan’s Heroes, Green Acres, Gilligan’s Island, The Beverly Hillbillies. His recall included not just the character names but their real names as well, and oftentimes what other shows they appeared in.

Mike was a lover of the game of baseball, and in particular minor league baseball. For several years he was a season ticket holder for the Sacramento Rivercats. In 1984 Glenn Wagonner authored a book titled “Rotisserie League Baseball” which was the origin of what’s mostly called Fantasy League Baseball today. A bunch of guys in New York came up with the idea of competing against each other over baseball stats to basically see who is the better General Manager. They held an auction draft where each owner, with a limit of $260, bid on players to fill out their team and compete in both offensive (HRs, RBIs, Avg. and SBs) and pitching categories (ERA, Whip, Wins and Saves). Mike of course got wind of the book and ended up starting the Ring Lardner Rotisserie League in Sacramento with family and friends in 1985. Baseball stats, competition, social gatherings to talk sports. He’s was all-in. The League is still going today, in its 38th year, but unfortunately now looking for a new commissioner to replace Mike.

Mike was a prolific writer. Some owners produced newsletters associated with their teams where they would oftentimes complain about underperforming players as well as the goings on of the league regarding baseball matters as well as social gatherings. Mike’s team was the Eady Atoms and the name of his Newsletter was “Atomic Droppings.” I would need to sit down before starting to read because I knew the LOLs were coming, even some ROFLs. Case in point. One year when Dusty Baker was managing the Giants and playing their hated rivals the Dodgers, the Giants were up big and Dusty put in some subs prematurely and almost let the Dodgers back in it. Mike was incensed. “You don’t take your foot off the gas playing the Dodgers. That’s like stopping in the middle of sex because you already know how it’s going to end!” Among the most hilarious stories I’ve ever read is Tennis A-Go-Go. Give it a read for a good laugh.

The thing I most admired about the Ring Lardner Rotisserie League is a feature I have failed to incorporate into the Fantasy Leagues I have participated in over the last 4 decades. While each team owner contributed some money for the betting pool, the league wasn’t about winning money. It was understood that there would be an end of the season banquet and much of the money from the betting pool would support dinner and drinks that night. The winner would take home a few bucks and of course, bragging rights, but there has always been a strong emphasis on the social aspects of the league. The auction draft at the beginning of the season and the banquet at the end were days owners could look forward to and be assured of hilarity with their friends. Mike was a strong proponent of the social aspects. He got it. He who dies with the most friends at the end wins.

I grew up with 3 wonderful sisters and was the only boy in the family so the Eady cousins were the closest thing I had to brothers growing up. Jim and I are about a year apart and share fond memories of going to Autzen stadium watching the hapless Ducks in the 1960’s and ’70’s, sitting in the Knot Hole Gang seats (basically in the end zone right in front of the loudspeakers). 6-5 was a stellar season for the Ducks back then and Knotholes tickets cost 50 cents.

One summer in Eugene we spent the afternoon at the Amazon pool with Jim. An impressive outdoor facility with a set of 3 pools including a diving pool, our parents could get rid of us from 1-5pm for 15 cents a kid. I remember Jim and I were minding our own business down at the deep end of the pool taking a bit of rest and talking, hanging onto the side of the pool with our heads above water. Out of the blue, we hear “Hello, Bill” and “Hello, Jim” and there was Pat and Mike jumping in right above us, one hand on our heads, dunking us under the water and holding for a few seconds, and then disappearing off to another part of the pool. The odd thing was, as uncomfortable as that was at the time, I couldn’t wait to come back to Eugene for the next round of elder brother abuse.

The Turn Verein gathering hall in Sacramento was packed with friends and family to pay tribute to the man Mike was. To know him was to experience very intelligent conversation on a wide range of subjects with a unique perspective and usually a roomful of laughter. Mike valued his friends a great deal and it showed at the Memorial Service. He was admired and loved by many, and though he died much too young, in many ways he won the game of life. He will be remembered fondly by so many of the people whose lives he touched.

Rest in peace, brother Mike.