A true American baseball original has passed. Rocky Bridges, who spent some time with the San Francisco Giants among other teams, has gone to his reward. Along with his wit, humor, and baseball wisdom, he coached a lot of young men along the way in the greatest sport of all. 

If, as has been said, a man's life is measured by the number of lives he touched for the better, Rocky Bridges is in the Life Hall of Fame.

A few gems from the master:

"I'm a handsome, debonair, easygoing six-footer. Anyway, that's what I told them at the Braille Institute."

"I always wanted to be a ballplayer. Now that I've quit playing, I still entertain that idea."

Asked if he'd reached his full potential as a player, he responded, "I might have gone beyond it."

And the all-timer. As Giants coach, he was with the team when they traded for shortstop Jose Gonzalez, who after several weeks of deliberation decided to use the name Jose Uribe.

Quoth the sage, "This guy really is the player to be named later."

RIP Rocky,baseball ambassador and all-around Good Guy.