So many major league careers depend on providential twists. Forty years ago, Tony Oliva played in the 1965 World Series as a star outfielder with the Minnesota Twins. He finished in the top three in the American League batting race in seven of his first eight full seasons in the majors, making the All-Star team each year. But halfway through the 1971 season, when he was batting .375, the then-30-year-old Oliva tore cartilage in his right knee diving for a ball. He was never the same after that.

 And some of the most promising never get to the World Series. Hall of Fame shortstop Ernie Banks, of course, played 19 seasons without tasting postseason excitement. But look at Lyman Bostock, the California Angels outfielder who hit .311 during his first four seasons in the majors.

 On Sept. 23, 1978, Bostock was riding in the backseat of a car when a man pulled up alongside and fired a shotgun into the vehicle. The man later said he was trying to hit his wife, sitting beside Bostock. But he hit Bostock, instead, and the ballplayer died the following morning at age 27. The killer was found not guilty by reason of insanity.