NOVI, Mich. — On the front door of his Michigan home hangs a wreath streaked with golds and reds, matching the leaves on the changing trees surrounding it.
Inside, the man who tore through Octobers past by smashing two of the most dramatic World Series home runs of our time answers the doorbell by yanking open the door and practically leaping into view, devilish grin, twinkling eyes, greeting a visitor as if teasing a trick-or-treater.
"Aaaaaahhhhahhhhhahhhh!"
Except, this has nothing to do with Halloween.
It is a brisk autumn evening, and Kirk Gibson is in a place he never dreamed of being, waging a battle he never planned on fighting and surrounded not by teammates and postseason scouting reports, but by a loving family and a crack team of doctors and therapists.