Editorial: Die-hard fans can rest in peace

Saturday, Oct. 21, 2006 | 8:05 a.m.

For years we've marveled as archaeologists have pulled fascinating finds from ancient burial sites in which prized possessions have been buried alongside their owners. From these we've been able to peer into the past and glimpse at what life was like.

We wonder what future archaeologists will think when they explore our cemeteries generations from now and find dear old Uncle Fred buried in a Chicago Cubs casket.

You can now be a baseball fan not just to the grave but beyond. According to the Associated Press, Major League Baseball has approved a licensing agreement with a company called Eternal Image to make urns and caskets adorned with a fan's favorite team logo. The company will start with the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers and, of course, the Cubs, who are adept at burying themselves well before the end of each year's pennant race.

Baseball officials say the teams and the league have fielded requests for years from fans who want this, and since June the company that produces the caskets and urns has received at least 1,000 inquiries.

"Passionate fans express their love of their team in a number of different ways," league spokeswoman Susan Goodenow told the wire service.

The urns will include a message declaring that Major League Baseball "officially recognizes" that the deceased was a "lifelong fan" of their team.

This is apparently part of a trend in the funeral business as people are trying to find something that shows "the life and the passions of the person that has passed away," said Kurt Soffe, a spokesman for the National Funeral Directors Association.

Maybe it's fitting. As the saying goes, no one ever said on his death bed that he wished he had spent more time at the office, and this is just the perfect resting place for the person who wished he had spent more time at the ballpark.

So what will archaeologists a thousand years from now think when they find Uncle Fred's final resting place?

Probably that the poor guy could have lived until then and never seen a Cub's World Series victory.