A Cloud on an Otherwise Sunny Day

The time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the marketplace
Man and boy stood cheering by
And home we brought you, shoulder high

Today, the road all runners come
And shoulder high we bring you home
And set you at your threshold down
Townsmen of a stiller town

Smart lad to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose

Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears

Now you will not swell the route
Of lads who wore their honors out
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died, before the man

So set before its echoes fade
The fleet foot on its sill of shade
And hold to the low lintel up
The still defended challenge cup

And round that early-laurelled head
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girl's

A.E. Housman, "To An Athlete Dying Young"


Surely someone, somewhere, has recited this poem in the past few days. The tragic death of Angels' rookie Nick Adenhart puts a damper on an otherwise joyous time of year. Spring is supposed to be the season of rebirth. The season of hope for nature and for baseball fans. 22 year old athletes are supposed to be invincible. Thats why we idolize them.

Nick Adenhart's death, his falling victim to an intoxicated driver, is a tragedy of epic proportions. Throughout the imagined community of Angels' fans, the community of their team and management, and the larger human family, there is a sense of loss whenever something so senseless happens.

It says something about our society that upon hearing the words "baseball player" and "fatal auto accident" a third term instantly came into my head "Drunk Driving." In this case, it was not the crash victims who had erred in judgment by getting behind the wheel of a car after consuming too much alcohol. Rather, they feel victim to someone else's irresponsibility. Nick Adenhart, consider yourself exempt from the paragraph which follows. May you rest in peace.

Athletes racking up DUI arrests is a long and lamentable tradition in professional sports. Charles Barkley recently did a 3 day stint in the slammer for a DUI. NFL Wide Receiver Donte Stallworth stands charged with killing a pedestrian whom he struck with his car while driving with an illegally high BAC. Yankee hurler Joba Chamberlin was arrested not too long ago for exceeding the legal limit for blood-alcohol. LA Clippers forward Zach Randolph was picked up and detained for DUI on April 6. Half of the Cincinnati Bengals have at least one DUI arrest. Lets keep going here, in baseball alone off the top of my head I can think of Rafael Furcal, Tony LaRussa, Dontrelle Willis, Hunter Pence, Sidney Ponson, Esteban Loiza, Jim Leyritz, Jim Hickey, Gustavo Chacin, Ryan Freel, Scott Spezio, the list goes on and on.

In April 2007, Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock died in a car crash. Testing showed that Hancock's BAC was well over the legal limit. The Cardinals responded by taking alcohol out of their clubhouse. Nice gesture, but it doesn't get to the heart of the problem.

Major League Baseball has a golden opportunity here. Take a stand and take the lead in the fight against drunken driving. I'm not proposing harsher penalties for DUI arrests for players nor am I proposing any kind of draconian measures be taken against offenders at large. I am not proposing that alcohol be banned from big league parks or that MLB get out of bed with the major beer companies. But baseball can take proactive steps in advocacy for safer decision making. Get players out in the community to educate teens about the risks of drinking before getting behind the wheel. Have players do public service ads. Get those players and coaches with DUIs in their pasts to become the poster boys of safe, sane and sober behavior. Expand the Designated Driver program at parks. Do more to make taxi and public transport services available for ballpark patrons. Give M.A.D.D. free airtime every once in awhile during broadcasts. Partner with Alcoholics Anonymous to help encourage folks who have lost control to fight back. Fund rehab programs and education programs. Do anything and everything which screams to the world "MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL STANDS FOR RESPONSIBILITY!"

Dead players have an impact on us all, cause tears to flow across the country, and capture the media's attention. Lets see what a few living players could do if unleashed by MLB for the greater good.

The way to remember Nick Adenhart is to take positive steps towards eliminating the need to recite Mr. Housman's poem so tragically often.