The Sept. 10 issue of Red Letter Daze featured an article about a particularly exceptional Cornell graduate. After being diagnosed with ALS in September 2006, Michael Goldsmith ’72 made it his mission to raise awareness and funds to find a cure for this terminal and incurable illnesss, known to the public simply as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Putting his lifelong love of baseball to good use, Goldsmith teamed up with Major League Baseball, specifically Gehrig’s own New York Yankees — culminating in Major League Baseball’s 4ALS Awareness Day this past July 4, when Goldsmith threw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium.

But if the event had been pushed to a date just a few months later, Goldsmith might not have seen the results of all of his hard work — he died Nov. 1.

Goldsmith is survived by two of our own: Austen ’07 and Jillian ’10. Family and friends gathered Nov. 3 for the funeral in Albany, where Goldsmith had been living in a hospice since early August.

Growing up diehard Phillies fans in Philadelphia, Goldsmith’s children felt conflicted about the World Series — between the team that they love and the team that did so much for their father and his cause. It turned out to be a fitting compromise, however: The Yankees dedicated Monday’s Game 5 to Goldsmith, a true MLB hero, but the Phillies won the day — the Yankees didn’t win it all until they left Philly and returned to Yankee Stadium last Wednesday. There is no better example of poetic justice.

Send any questions, comments or suggestions about Daze or this issue in particular to me at daze-editor@cornellsun.com, and get the latest Red Letter Daze news on Facebook or Twitter.

Take me out to the ballgame,

Allie Perez