A Lesson from a Boy

This is not a sports story.

This is a story of a boy who had a passion, like some of our own children. He was a good student in school, but he was a natural with a baseball, and his dream was to become a major league pitcher. By the time he was 15 he was considered the best high school pitcher in the country. Baseball America named him national Youth Player of the Year. He was expected to be a top draft pick in 2004.

Then, in a playoff game that year, his elbow popped, and he had to undergo reconstructive surgery. One major league team decided to take a chance and drafted him anyway...in the 14th round.

He didn’t quit. In the minor leagues he continued to rehabilitate his arm, and pitched with success until he reached the upper levels. He had a miserable season in AAA, and did even worse in three starts in the majors at the end of the season. He went home and spent the winter studying tapes of Nolan Ryan, Greg Maddux, and Sandy Koufax.

This spring his team had three starting pitchers on the disabled list. The boy pitched well enough to earn a spot on the major league roster.

Last Wednesday night he pitched six shutout innings against the Oakland Athletics. Everyone who saw him was impressed with how polished and confident he looked. His fastball was clocked at 94 MPH. He had fulfilled his dream.

A few hours later Nick Adenhart, promising 22 year old pitcher of the Los Angeles Angels, was dead. He was a passenger in a car that was broadsided by a minivan driven by a drunk driver.

Amidst all the sorrow and anger about a young life being cruelly taken, most people seem to have overlooked the lesson Nick taught us. A lesser person would have given up after the injury and told himself, “Well, I guess I can be a P.E. teacher.” Instead, Nick devoted all of his time and energy into achieving his goal.

We must live like every day is our last.