Jeffrey Loria wants to live forever.

Hey, just in case you missed this news last week (as I did):

Owner Jeffrey Loria, in recent months, has rejected overtures from a half dozen people who expressed interest in buying the Marlins, including one of South Florida’s most famous residents: Former Florida governor Jeb Bush.

According to a source, Bush made a “large offer” to buy the team this offseason, but Loria told him he’s not selling. A second source said Bush had put together a group of wealthy investors, with Venezuelan media mogul Gustavo Cisneros among possibilities mentioned. Cisneros declined to discuss the Marlins in an e-mail.

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Loria, 72, theoretically would have more incentive to sell after 2014, when he no longer would need to share profits with Miami-Dade County. But a friend of Loria insists that barring a health problem or change of heart, he does not want to sell because he loves owning a team.

I’m often reminded of something Pat Buttram supposedly said to Gene Autry ... “Hell, Gene, on the sports pages a man can live forever. Look at Dempsey. They still call him champ. Look at DiMaggio. He’s been retired for years and he’s now bigger than ever. If he was an actor out of work, he’d be looked on as a has-been. I mean it, Gene. On the sports pages you never die.”

Jeffrey Loria probably wants to live forever. I don’t really blame him. I blame the Lords of Baseball for letting Loria into their little club in the first place.