It was midsummer 2014, another lost season for the Phillies, but that was the least of anyoneufffdufffd'ufffd'ufffdufffdufffds concern in that little house in Sea Isle City.
Jerry Gehman lay dying.
He'd spent most of his 72 years saving lives on that beach in the summer and the rest of the year guiding lives at West Deptford High, a teacher and athletic director. In 1980, he stopped lifeguarding and went to work for the Phils, first as a security guard, later as a bartender, but not in 2014. Colon cancer had ravaged his body. By midsummer, it sent the big man with the big laugh to hospice.