You may know that, besides talking politics, I love Rock & Roll. What you may not know is that I'm also a huge Boston Red Sox fan and enjoy watching baseball in all its forms from Little League to Major League. Those who love baseball understand its mysteries - the game behind the game which is an odd concoction of strategy, psychology, and history. Baseball is a real, living organism made up of a multitude of individual lives forming a tradition unlike any sport ever known.
No description of baseball so eloquently illustrates how this sport is intertwined with our own history as James Earl Jones' soliloquy in 1989's Field of Dreams:
Tragically, time was indelibly marked on Wednesday night when California Angels' promising young pitcher, Nick Adenhart, was killed by a drunk driver only 6 hours after he had pitched 6 scoreless innings against the Athletics in his 2009 debut. Nick had just been called up from farm team, Salt Lake Bees, where he had played since last season. He was a top prospect for the Angels this year, and his father had actually flown in from his home in Maryland to be in the stands to watch his son pitch his first 2009 game.
Baseball is now suffering from the stupid and irresponsible actions of a drunk driver who unthinkingly took this young player's life. All in the sport, from players to staff to family and to fans, all feel that loss today. Nick will now take his place in the long lineage of baseball players that marks the passage of time. What a mark he will leave.
As my beloved Red Sox open a weekend series in California against the Angels today, I'll be rooting, as usual, for Youk, Papi, Dustin, and the other Sox.
But, on this Easter weekend, I'll be thinking of Nick.
Note: I'm taking some time this weekend to be with my family. I hope you have a great holiday.
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