There’s never been a more appropriate name because if you treated Bud with respect he would go out of his way to take care of you. As most of you know Papadakis died Tuesday at the age of 56, after a four-year battle with Wegener’s granulomatosis and bone cancer.

As a sports writer on the Peninsula since 2001, I’ve been able to meet hundreds of athletes and coaches. Most are a pleasure to talk to, but Bud was one of my favorite people to deal with because he would always shoot straight from the hip. There was no subterfuge with him, no bull, just pure, plain, unadulterated emotion. He literally wore his heart on his sleeve.

Baseball fans around these parts know about Bud’s exploits. He was a stud athlete at Terra Nova High, where he received All-County honors in baseball, basketball and football. He went on to play all three sports at CSM before enjoying a solid baseball career at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, playing with the likes of Ozzie Smith and Mike Krukow.

But as great an athlete Bud was, he was an even better coach and person. He managed the San Carlos Joe DiMaggio baseball team for a number of years, guiding the summer league powerhouse baseball program to three World Series titles. But it was his relationships with the players that I noticed the most. Guys loved to play for him. Former Serra High, Cañada College and San Carlos Joe DiMaggio standout Brian Belli might have been Bud’s No. 1 fan. Here’s what Belli had to say about Bud over the last few years.

“Bud really motivates us and gets us to play,” Belli said. “He takes the pressure off you, and he’s always got your back. ... No matter if I pitched a shutout or gave up a lot runs, he said, ‘I love you either way.’”

In a nutshell, that was what Bud was all about. It was a joy to talk to Bud after games. After he was diagnosed in June of 2005 with Wegener’s — a debilitating disease that attacks the immune system and gets worse over time — he continued to coach, even though the disease was clearly taking a toll and ravaging his body.

Bud lost over 50 pounds in the ensuing years, but he kept on approaching each day as if it was the time of his life. Bud’s family and friends helped him through his final, precious years. Of course, baseball also served a huge role in his life, and the sport gave him life when it was hard for him sometimes to simply wake up.

For many years, the baseball field was Bud’s psychologist, a place where he could go to get away from life’s daily grinds. But more than ever the ballpark became his oasis, energizing him from the constant pain he had to endure from numerous chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

“The best medicine was going to the yard and watching the kids play unbelievable baseball,” Papadakis said after getting diagnosed with Wegener’s.

Bud was funny, serious and entertaining — often at the same time. He had so many great one-liners that at times I almost cried from laughing too hard. Some of his classic lines from over the years include: “I told my players it’s OK to show your emotions. If men aren’t supposed to cry, then I’m a woman.”

On describing his San Carlos pitchers in ’06: “They’re no longer virgins anymore when it comes to pitching.”

Once he got diagnosed, Bud knew the end was inevitable. He always had an appreciation for baseball, but now he really understood how fortunate he was to be able to use his talents to coach the game and spend time with the players and young men he raved about.

Often times after talking with him after games he would tear up under his wraparound sunglasses. While it was tremendously sad to see Bud go, you knew he treated life the way it was meant to be lived: Cherishing each breath, second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour, with joy, with spirit, with great appreciation.

Emanuel Lee can be reached at emanuel@smdailyjournal.com and (650) 344 5200, ext. 109.