A long and difficult path

On Sunday, I joined my friend Tony Longobardo in Saratoga for a 5K run to benefit the families of fallen New York State Troopers.

In 2006, I was Tony’s teammate on a softball team that won our league’s championship. Tony pitched and I played outfield. Tony missed the end of the season after his son Joey, a state trooper, was ambushed and murdered by an escaped convict in western NY.

I grieved for Tony and his family. I also worried that my work against the death penalty might ruin our friendship. But Tony soothed my anxiety by telling me that he’d never supported the death penalty – but even if he did, it wouldn’t change his feelings toward me. I can’t tell you how much that meant to me.

After the run, I got a chance to meet Don Baker, Joey’s friend and sidekick, who was nearly killed in the same ambush by a bullet that penetrated his body armor. Trooper Baker looked great. From early reports, Tony said, it had appeared that Don was more seriously injured than Joey, who was “only” struck in the leg. But yesterday, Trooper Baker was able to run the 3.1 miles with apparent ease and share a warm greeting with the father of his fallen friend.

“Life is strange,” Tony commented. “Things never turn out like you expect them to.”

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