My Wife Was Slowly Dying of Cancer. Each Night I Turned to the Same American Ritual to Cope.

Sports Shohei Ohtani’s Great Season Is Helping Me Grieve My Wife’s Death While baseball’s greatest player seemed to do the impossible, I was confronting a loss that felt like the end of the world. By Max Perry Mueller July 06, 202612:11 PM Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Ellen Schmidt/Getty Images and Getty Images Plus and courtesy of author. Copy Link Share Share Comment Copy Link Share Share Comment Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. The early months of the 2026 Major League Baseball season marked the beginning of what might become the greatest season ever played by the greatest baseball player—and my favorite player—who has ever lived.

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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Slate Magazine.