By
Maxx Wolfson
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Osburn newest Wildcat to have jersey retired
Shelley Duncan is lonely.
The UA right fielder lost his best friend, Kelsey Osburn, nearly a year ago.
Osburn passed away on July 17, 2000, after being struck by a ball during batting practice in a summer league game in New York.
The 20-year-old Arizona infielder had his jersey number retired during a ceremony in his honor Saturday. Osburn became only the fourth Wildcat to receive the honor.
Osburn, a native of Tucson who grew up watching Wildcat baseball, will have his jersey, No. 41, retired alongside former Arizona greats Jim Wing, Terry Francona and Jerry Kindall on the wall in left field at Sancet Field.
"I broke down into tears earlier because I would never imagine that little guy would be on that wall forever," Duncan said. "That is a pretty awesome thing."
Kelsey's father, Michael, who led a moment of silence Saturday in memory of his son, remembers a conversation he had in the New York hospital in July with Duncan while he was visiting Kelsey.
"He told me in the hospital that he never had any close friends until he was on the team with Kelsey," he said. "The summer has been very difficult for him, and we will help him as much as we can because he is a member of our family as well."
Duncan has been without his best friend for seven months now and is worried that he will never be able to find anyone like Kelsey again.
"Especially being here playing baseball, I have sort of drifted off from most of my friends," said Duncan, while fighting away the tears rolling down his face. "My brother has been gone a lot, playing baseball too, so I have always relied on Kelsey.
"He was my best friend, and he was the only guy I ever hung out with. Whenever I needed to tell someone something, he was there, and since he has been gone, I have not had anyone to fill his role. I don't think I ever will have anyone be able to."
The older players on the team who played with Osburn are making sure the 20 new members that never got the chance to meet him will realize how much he meant to the tradition of UA baseball.
"His teammates won't let them forget what he meant to the team," Michael Osburn said. "His brother has adapted the philosophy that Kelsey was always up, and everything was always positive. That is something that is very rare in people, and his teammates that he came in with won't let them forget that."
Osburn, who is known for always having a smile on his face and for his hard work ethic on the field, was also known for another tradition on the baseball field - diving.
As a tribute to Osburn, Duncan thought it would be a good idea for the whole team to dive across the wet and muddy field.
"Every rainy day Kelsey would always be diving everywhere and get wet and dirty," Duncan said. "So me and (Brian) Pemble saw a puddle, and we said, 'Lets do it.'
"So we took off and (dove in the mud) in honor of Kelsey."
Duncan might be lonely without his best friend, but his memory will live on forever, not only in his heart but also in left field at Sancet Field.
