Getting to First Base

RIP Nick Adenhart, and a reminder for our safety

Maybe I shouldn’t have made baseball seem so vitally important in my last post. I mean…it’s just a game.

This morning, a red minivan in California ran a red light (because the driver was drunk), and struck a silver car. Three people died.

Sadly, this kind of thing happens all the time. This particular time, one of the dead people happens to be a very promising pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels, Nick Adenhart.

Just last night, as I was watching MLB Tonight on the MLB Network, I was thinking about how exciting it was going to be to watch Adenhart’s career develop. He had just thrown six scoreless innings against Oakland, and the hosts of the show were all abuzz about his potential.

Now, he’s dead.

This is the part where I take a brief break from obsessive sports fandom to remind you: If you drink alcohol tonight, or any night, GET A @%*&!&^ DRIVER. Nick Adenhart shouldn’t have died, but the driver* of the red minivan – who already had a DUI on his record – didn’t think all the stuff about ‘consequences of driving drunk’ applied to him..

*The identity of the driver has been made public, but I am squeamish about publishing his name myself. Even though he was unspeakably stupid for driving drunk multiple times…it generally ends badly (read: in suicide) if too much is made about someone who is responsible for deaths like this. If you want to more about the driver, that’s out there, and you’ll be able to find it pretty easily.

These things really do hit hard all around the sport. I’m not even an Angels fan (though I do think they’re a VERY likable team)…and I shed a tear or two for Adenhart today.

Some reaction:

• A teammate’s wife.

• The market for Adenhart baseball cards – how…uncomfortable.

Chilling photo from the Angels' presser this afternoon.

• White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen (from this article):

“That gives you an idea you’re not invincible. You’ve got to pray and you’ve got to thank God every day for what you have. You’ve got to thank God every day for what your situation is, no matter what kind of situation you have because all of a sudden your life can go.

“You don’t know how you’re going to die, when you’re going to die. I feel for them. I feel most for the family and the organization right now. I think they’re going to go through a tough time, especially when you’re in your 20s. You’re supposed to die someday, but I don’t think you should die that way and that young.”

• Adenhart’s team.
• Christina Kahrl
• Photos from the scene