The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT Feb. 11, 2012

There are a few memories that will last in my mind forever.

Going to Super Bowl XL (40) in Detroit, watching as Matt Hasselbeck signed an autograph for my cousin at Seahawks training camp in Cheney and walking into the Kingdome for the first time when I was 7 years old.

GRANTED, I'VE been to a ton of different events in Seattle since then, but that first trip back in 1988 was something I'll never forget.

Waking up early in the morning for the drive from Wallace to Seattle and getting a chance to see what professional baseball actually looked like is a chance no kid should ever pass up.

On that particular weekend, the Seattle Mariners were hosting the defending world champion Minnesota Twins. Minnesota had beaten St. Louis in the 1987 World Series.

The company that weekend was also excellent as my childhood friend Kelly Hogan, and his father, Rick, had been able to get tickets to the game through the uncle of Twins reliever Jeff Reardon.

We arrived in town a few hours before the evening game and had the chance to get the autographs of some players, including Dan Gladden, Kent Hrbek, Gary Gaetti, Greg Gagne and a host of other players.

My friend Kelly even talked to Kirby Puckett for 10 minutes like he was one of his best friends, while I was absolutely amazed that Puckett was standing right in front of me.

After making our way into the stadium and walking around, taking in batting practice, we sat along the first base line.

Not a bad view for a first game.

In fact, had I remembered a glove, I could have stole a foul ball from former Mariner Steve Balboni, but it came back into play and he opted to keep the ball instead of giving it to a fan.

To be fair, we had Twins gear on, so I don't hold that against him, nor Harold Reynolds, who earlier that day passed us by for a group of Mariner fans.

AS YEARS have gone on, I’ve never forgotten that trip — nor that restaurant that apparently doesn’t cater to opposing fans, even if they’re a little hungry.

Rick was also a big reason why I kept playing baseball as a kid.

Without him, I probably wouldn’t have played Little League, but somehow at the last minute, he signed me up and got me on a team — even if I was the worst hitter in the history of Little League baseball.

As I grew older, and eventually took a reporting job in the Silver Valley, whenever I’d see Rick, he’d tell me to “keep up the good work, big guy” and that he’d read everything I wrote and loved it.

Sadly, he won’t get to read this column.

Rick passed away suddenly on Tuesday afternoon in Colorado, leaving behind a lasting memory of those that had the chance to know him.

He had worked as a miner in the Silver Valley, in addition to being a disc jockey at KWAL radio in Osburn and a jailor at the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office.

But once the Lucky Friday closed, he had to go where the work was.

Friends say he loved where he was at and loved that he had a chance to keep working.

But Rick loved everything.

His family, his job and friends.

And telling me about the legend of the “Homer Hanky” and its power to beat the St. Louis Cardinals in 1987.

Something tells me I’m going to need one in the near future.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at [email protected].