Longtime baseball executive Syd Thrift, whose front office career spanned 5 decades and more than a half dozen big league clubs, has passed away at the age of 77.

While my thoughts are with Thrift’s family and friends, I think I speak on behalf of most Orioles and Pirates fans of a certain vintage in hoping that when and if Syd is reincarnated, he’ll be coming back as a flower shop owner or perhaps a cruise director.