A Tragic Everyday Waste

Only a few hours after 22-year old Los Angeles Angels top pitching prospect Nick Adenhart pitched a stellar six-innings of shutout baseball in his first start of the season, his life was tragically cut short, killed by a drunk driver last week.

SI.com's Jeff Pearlman penned an article which sums up much of my own feelings. People can spew clichés and tell weepy stories about how to honor Adenhart, and that's all well and good. But is it going to take more and more famous celebrities and athletes to die for us to condemn in no uncertain terms the pure stupidity of drinking while intoxicated? Not to diminish the tragedy of a life cut short, but do people realize that there are around 14,000 people who die each year at the hands of alcohol-impaired drivers who don't happen to have a unhittable curveball or are represented by Scott Boras?

It's a tragic irony that within the same month of Adenhart's death, Yankees phenom Joba Chamberlain pleaded guilty to driving under the influence, after being caught with an open bottle of Crown Royal whisky in the passenger seat, and Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth was charged with DUI manslaughter, driving drunk and striking and killing pedestrian Mario Reyes, who worked overnight shifts at a shipping company to provide for his wife of 20 years and 15-year old daughter. And how about former Yankee Jim Leyritz, who also killed a woman while driving under the influence? He's free on bail while waiting for his trial on May 25th, doing some radio shows while the victim lies six feet under. Leyritz's lawyer, David Bogenschutz, incredulously said of the video footage where Leyritz didn't follow directions during one sobriety test and then faltered in another, "It's the best defense video I've seen."

Consider the case of St. Louis Rams defensive end Leonard Little, who in 1998 killed 47-year old mother and wife Susan Gutweiler while driving while intoxicated, "completely destroying our family" as son Mike Gutweiler says. Little's punishment? 90 nights in jail as part of a work-release program and 1,000 hours of community service. Are you kidding me? It gets worse. In 2004, Little was arrested for DWI and failed three sobriety tests, but was acquitted of the felony charge. Little resumed his NFL career with hardly a hiccup. It's a joke.

I'm not implying at all that Adenhart's death isn't tragic because of the idiocy of people like Chamberlain, Stallworth, Leyritz and Leonard Little. But I wonder if Leonard Little's agent sobbed for Susan Gutweiler the way Scott Boras sobbed for Nick Adenhart. I wonder if Jim Leyritz's lawyer sobbed for Nick Adenhart. The sports world doesn't hold a monopoly over the perpetrators or the victims of drunk driving. There are far too many of both groups.