Angels

My last blog post was about the magic of baseball. Today the baseball world is rocked by tragedy and sadness. The game has lost a rising star.

22 year old Nick Adenhart, starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels, was killed last night in a hit and run accident. Adenhart had, just earlier in the night, pitched six innings of scoreless ball, notching 5 strikeouts along the way. His team's bullpen eventually gave up 6 runs to the opposing Oakland Athletics, thereby losing the game, but Adenhart was brilliant on the mound.

This is an incredibly devastating loss.

I remember insensitively remarking about the death of John Travolta's son "people die everyday, why pay extra attention to some celebrity's kid whom I've never met". While it's true that people die everyday, there is no reason to hesitate in mourning the loss of life, especially young life. I propose we all take a minute every morning to think about the thousands of people that will die around the world during the day. I think doing so could really put our lives into perspective, as well as cause us to treasure each moment as we so often forget to do. People die everyday, and that's something we cannot let ourselves forget, or deceive ourselves about. In this age of incredible technology, vast medical and health knowledge, and increased life expectancy levels, we tend to forget about our mortality, about the inevitability of death.

Nick Adenhart was my age, 22 years old. He was a quiet, shy kid who was nervous when he got called up to the Angels as a 21 year old in May of 2008. Last night he looked poised, confident, and dominant on the mound. It's not fair to wonder what Nick might have achieved in his major league career, but rather we should celebrate the incredible pitching performance he gave last night. In just his fourth major league start he was able to completely shut down the Oakland Athletics, a lineup that included solid hitters like Eric Chavez, Jason Giambi, and Orlando Cabrera. Adenhart exited the material world while on top of it; I'm sure he was celebrating his impressive effort before tragedy struck.

The Los Angeles Angels must sublimate their sadness and mourning into on-field excellence; they must not forget their fallen teammate, but must adopt a "win-it-for Nick" attitude. With all of the adversity that has already hit the Angels this past year from losing the ALDS to losing out on Mark Teixeira to losing a majority of their starting rotation to injuries, they must be feeling very frustrated and stuck about now. Adenhart was a bright spot for this team, and now a dark shadow has fallen over his locker. The Angels must pick up the pieces and move forward by playing their best baseball. They owe it to Nick to play their best and to stay competitive, especially after the gutsy performance he gave last night.

Adenhart will not be forgotten, nor will his final performance. I find incredible wonder in the fact that a kid my age was able to dazzle and dominate on the biggest stage in America's pastime. Therein lies the magic of baseball.