I feel compelled to write this week about someone only 65 days older than myself who has already achieved more, in life and death, than I ever will.
Nick Adenhart, along with two others, died early Thursday morning when a car driven by his 20-year-old friend was broadsided by a driver who, according to Fullerton, Calif. police, had a suspended license and a previous drunk driving conviction. Adenhart, 22, is alleged to have been killed by a drunk driver.
Adenhart was once rated as the No. 1 high school baseball prospect in the nation by Baseball America. He passed up a million-dollar payday in the draft to undergo reconstructive ligament surgery as a teenager; then, he passed up a full scholarship to the University of North Carolina and was selected in the 14th round of baseball's 2004 amateur draft by what were then the Anaheim Angels. He pitched over 500 innings in the minor leagues before reaching the majors last May; he made three starts last year, and last Wednesday, he threw six shutout innings in his first and only start of 2009.
His career in baseball was all about sacrifice. In death, he made the greatest sacrifice of all without even knowing it.
Adenhart died for a cause, you could say. His death, which led to three counts of murder being charged to 22-year-old San Gabriel resident Andrew Thomas Gallo, has the chance to create awareness of an off-the-field problem in sports that's much bigger than most realize.
Nick Adenhart, Carmelo Anthony, Charles Barkley, Gustavo Chacin, Joba Chamberlain, Tony La Russa, Jim Leyritz, Esteban Loaiza, Gabe Pruitt, Zach Randolph, Jason Richardson, Donte' Stallworth, Eddie Sutton, Antoine Walker and Dontrelle Willis. Those are the names of 15 figures in sports -- players and coaches alike -- involved in suspected drunk driving incidents over the past few years.
Adenhart was the victim. The other 14 were drivers.
Between 10,000 and 20,000 Americans are killed every year by drunk drivers. You could probably count the annual rate of steroid-related fatalities on one hand. But ask any sportswriter which three letters garner more media attention -- PED or DUI -- and what's your answer, guaranteed?
Whether they like it or not, athletes are role models. They may not seek the public eye 24/7, but let's be honest. Millions have turned on their televisions to see Joba Chamberlain take the mound for one of the most famous sports teams on the planet. Figures don't get much more public than that.
And yet pro athletes, time and time again, have gone about their lives as if their actions have no repercussions. Even when they get caught, they think they're bulletproof.
Nick Adenhart is dying proof that they're not.
Perhaps now -- now that one of their guys is not the perpetrator, but the victim -- the powers that be in sports will take notice and begin to send the message that this behind-the-wheel idiocy is indefensible and imminently punishable. If Bud Selig wants to hand out 50-game suspensions, I think I've got a damn good reason for him.
The names you read seven paragraphs ago include a Basketball Hall of Famer, two other All-Star forwards, a Rookie of the Year-winning pitcher and a manager with nearly 2,500 wins to his name. These are big names, but when they show up in the news on suspicion of a potentially deadly crime, they disappear quickly. And yet here we are, still talking about Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez.
In life, Nick Adenhart will be remembered as a promising young pitcher, and more importantly, a good person. In death, he'll serve as a reminder -- no one in the game is immortal. Not a fun lesson to learn the hard way.
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Evans Clinchy is a senior majoring in English. He can be reached at Evans.Clinchy@tufts.edu.
