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I’m sure that many of you have heard already, but the Pirates’ famous “Lemonade/Cotton candy/Coke Here!” vendor, Kenny Geidel, passed away yesterday at the age of 67. When I was a little kid, my friend Mike and I used to attend bunches of Sunday afternoon games at Three Rivers. His dad had daylight season tickets and whenver they had an extra ticket, they’d bring me along. Mike and I would always look for the lemonade guy whenever we were at the park. Last summer, I got a text from Mike that said, “Leeeeeeeeeemonaaaaaade heeeeeeeeeeeere!” and I knew that he was home for the weekend and at PNC.
Some things become every bit as much a part of the ballpark as the game and the team itself; that’s why everybody’s favorite ballpark is their home park, whether it’s as nice as PNC or as rundown as the Mellon Arena. Without Kenny, PNC is a little bit less special. As people have noted, nobody worked harder anywhere than the Lemonade Guy and it’s weird to think that the next time I go home, he won’t be there.
The fans weren’t the only people that noticed either; Paul Maholm tweeted about his death this afternoon. It’d be great for the Pirates to stretch this winning streak to four, just to tack one on for Kenny Geidel.
Kevin Correia pitches tonight for the Bucs against Ted Lilly at 7:05. I think I’m going to make my way to Durham tonight for Rudy Owens’ start.
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