One was a young man who'd just crossed the threshold of his life's dream. The other was an older man who long ago escaped his life's nightmare.Both had just left their places of employment after an honest day's work; the young man from his gig with a Southern California baseball team, and the older man from his job unloading cargo containers at the Port of Miami. The young man was riding in a car with friends, and the older man, who couldn't afford a car, was walking to a bus stop.
It was then when each met the same fate twisted in tragic coincidence.
The young man, 22-year-old Nick Adenhart, who was an up-and-coming star pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels, was killed when a minivan, driven by a then-unknown man suspected to be drunk, broadsided the car in which Adenhart was a passenger. The older man, 59-year-old Mario Reyes, was killed when a Bentley driven by a well-known pro football player, Cleveland Browns' receiver Donte Stallworth, struck Reyes while Reyes was crossing the street.
Adenhart's tragic death on Thursday became a major news story that transcended the sports pages and will continue to be covered with his funeral next week in Maryland, his home state. He will undoubtedly be commemorated by his team and major league baseball the rest of this season.
Reyes' tragic death in the middle of last month was all but obscured by the story of the pro athlete charged with driving-under-the-influence manslaughter in killing Reyes. Reyes since has all but been forgotten, dead and buried in a funeral that most of us in the media, especially the national media, weren't moved to cover.
Consider Adenhart and Reyes separated at worth.
Neither man's death, of course, was more tragic than the other. We in the media just made it seem that way. We always do. It reminded me of what George Jackson observed of our society in one his political economy treatises from prison: "We are not worth more than the amount of capital we can raise."
That which befalls the rich and famous is always presented with more importance than that which befalls the everyman. That is an unfortunate truth. We see it all the time. We paid particular attention to the murder of Washington Pro Bowl safety Sean Taylor a couple of years ago while all but ignoring the similar deaths of other young men like Taylor that have been nothing short of epidemic. The drunk-driving deaths of Adenhart and Reyes so close together reminded of our bias.
Nick Adenhart Dies
Investigators work at the scene of a fatal car crash that killed three people, including Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart.
Ken Steinhardt, Orange County Register / AP
Investigators work at the scene of a fatal car crash that killed three people, including Adenhart.
Ken Steinhardt, Orange County Register / AP
Investigators work at the scene of a fatal car crash that killed three people, including Adenhart.
Ken Steinhardt, Orange County Register / AP
A memorial stands in front of Angels Stadium in Anaheim, following the death of Adenhart.
Mark Avery, Reuters
Angels manager Mike Scioscia answers questions about Adenhart at a Thursday afternoon press conference.
Mark Avery, Reuters
Police identified Andrew Thomas Gallo, 22, as the driver of the minivan that caused the accident.
Fullerton Police Department / AP
As a result, the death of Adenhart -- who had just pitched six scoreless innings, and was scheduled to make $400,000 this year from the Angels after getting $710,000 just for signing a contract with the Angels -- echoed across the airwaves and Web sites as more horrific. The death of Reyes did not.
In only a few circles was it revealed who was Mario Reyes. He was the husband of almost 20 years to Catalina, and the father of a 15-year-old daughter, Daniela. He immigrated to South Florida from Cuba as a teenager. He couldn't afford to go to college. He paid his bills by working numerous construction jobs before becoming an overnight crane operator in Miami.
Reyes was described as an avid baseball fan and was said to be particularly fond of Miami's Florida Marlins and his native country's national team.
His family and co-workers said he had clocked out only minutes before the accident that took his life around seven in the morning. The Miami Herald quoted Reyes' co-worker Renier Calana: "When the time came for him to leave, he grabbed his stuff and headed to the bus stop out front."
A brother-in-law told The Associated Press that Reyes "spent all his free time with his family." He wasn't unlike a lot of other Cuban-American families in greater Miami.
Reyes led a life like most of us -- remarkable in its ordinariness. Had he not been struck and killed by someone as famous as Adenhart -- Stallworth, another pro athlete -- most all of us would never have heard of Reyes, if we remember him at all just a few weeks after his demise. Adenhart we will not soon forget.
What is most important to recall from the tragedy that struck down both of these men, however, isn't what these two men did for their livelihoods. It is the tragedy of drunk driving itself.
According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, someone, no matter their station in life, is killed by a drunk driver every 40 minutes. In 2007, an estimated 12,998 people died in drunk driving related crashes. The good news is that represented a decline of 3.7 percent from 13,491 drunk driving-related fatalities in 2006.
Of course, one drunk driving death is one too many. As Charles Barkley confessed in February upon returning to TNT NBA broadcasts following his New Year's Eve DUI bust in Scottsdale, Ariz.: "I will never get behind a wheel when I've been drinking ... I could be a hypocrite and say I hope nobody drinks and drives, but, clearly, that's unrealistic. But I want everybody to really seriously think about ... if I had something to drink, clearly you can kill somebody else, or you can kill yourself."
Barkley was talking about all of us, the famous and the ordinary, the young and the old, the rich and the working class.
My worry is that this message is only heard when it is someone of fame, like Nick Adenhart -- described as having his whole life ahead of him -- who suffers the horrible fate. It is as if other victims of this insidious deadly chance don't have as much life worth living.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-11-2009 @ 7:16PM
Steel Wheel said...
Beautifully written.
Reply
4-11-2009 @ 7:35PM
Mike said...
It was a poignant piece, with one exception. There is a difference in the level of tragedy because Mr. Reyes was 59. He married the love of his life, he watched his children being born and watched them grow up.
Nick Adenhart was 22. He didn't get to realize any of these wonderful things. If required to make a choice, most retired baseball players would trade their careers for a life with their families.
Mr. Reyes' abrupt, inexcusable death is indeed a tragedy. But let's not make this about money. I cried because Nick Adenhart was a baby who had his whole life ahead of him, baseball or no baseball.
4-11-2009 @ 8:43PM
becarefulangel said...
Not to disrespect or to take away from the Reyes family, but I think the fact that Adenhart pitched the best game of his career before his death makes it that much sadder.
4-12-2009 @ 5:34AM
alfredblueflamee said...
Did both have ups and downs in each length of life. Is death news or is who died the real news. How many cars with sober drivers kill other people every hour of the day. Why is substance blamed for the error of the human? Who is to say weither the sudden death of a car wreck is worst than a awful long suffering death by many available deseases was not in wait of the victim that was killked suddenly by car. Was what ever life time you lived a very good time. I thank 100 years is short. 15 seconds of the best time ever had is forever joy.
4-12-2009 @ 8:11PM
dinohealth said...
GREAT STORY, KEVIN...AND A HAPPY EASTER TO YOU!
4-11-2009 @ 7:42PM
tien said...
As wonderful as this was written, I don't quite get the point of it..are you saying Reyes, and others who are killed in situations like these, should've gotten more attention--or that Adanhart should've gotten less?
Reply
4-11-2009 @ 11:00PM
COWBOY GARY said...
Neither. Whether you are famous or not is irrelevent. The tragedy of losing a loved one to such a senseless event is the same. Most are not in the public eye, and it is out of sight, out of mind. We, as a country, should be outraged at the glamorization of alcohol and the damage it inflicts. The laws ought to be triply tough on those who take the lives of others (or even maim) while under the influence. All should get press coverage to keep the epidemic in the public eye. Stay strong MADD
4-11-2009 @ 8:27PM
gmaestral said...
Nick Adenhart was and still is my second cousin. He came from a beautiful family, and was a geat kid. It seems so unfair to burry our children. I know that he is in Haven. I try to teach my kids to be careful at these intersections. It seems like most drunk drivers survive these crashes, and destroy lives, and families. For the most part they will drive drunk again if given the chance. God Bless the Adenharts.
Reply
4-12-2009 @ 10:25PM
smeyelecat2 said...
I am so sorry for the loss of your cousin. Famous or not, young or nearing retirement - family is family and the death of a member leaves a whole in one. My prayers are with you and your family.
4-11-2009 @ 9:06PM
BO$$ MAN C said...
Mr. Blackistone's point was not to give less to Adenhart or more to Reye's it was to point out each's equal humanity, and that each story is as tragic as the other, but the media will make the Adenhart story out to be more tragic nonetheless. And to Mike, I agree Nick Adenhart was still young and it's easy to feel it is more tragic since he had his whole life ahead of him, but I disagree. Mario Reye's had lived longer, but he also had more responsibility to a family. He had a wife and children to take care of. To say he had a good life, he was old, etc. is misguided at best, now since he is deceased his family will be without an primary income, and children without a father.
Reply
4-12-2009 @ 9:21AM
Mike said...
Boss, I understand what you're saying.....but the main point I wanted to make is that even though the circumstances surrounding the cause of their deaths are equally tragic, there is a definite inequity involved. One had the opportunity to live 59 years and make whatever he could out of his life and the other did not.
I'm saying this because I have a very personal perspective. I'm 47 and have stage 4 cancer and I don't have much time left. People may think that my passing before the age of 50 is tragic, but I've visited the children's cancer ward at my hospital several times and there is no comparison between my life and the lives of these children.
Instead of self-pity, looking at these kids only makes me realize that I've been blessed to have this long. Would I love to be able to see my grandchildren grow up? Of course, I would almost sell my soul for that opportunity. However, one look at these kids and that thought almost seems selfish to me, because most of these kids will never live to even have a first kiss.
Their deaths will be far more tragic than mine.
4-11-2009 @ 9:16PM
jeaniemaxx said...
Heart warming epistle! Good tonic!!!
Reply
4-11-2009 @ 9:51PM
Courtney said...
This is so true. We do judge people by their income and it is unfair.
Reply
4-11-2009 @ 10:35PM
cooky64649 said...
I would love to know the immagration status of both the victim in Miami and the per in Cali!
Reply
4-11-2009 @ 10:56PM
jzz3skys said...
I completely disagree with Mr. Blackistone's interpretation that these two tragic accidents exemplify a class-based bias against the victim of the lower socio-econcomic status. That's a very misleading conclusion and in order to make that point Mr. Blackistone has to disregard the facts and play up the ethnicity.
In other words, there were two fatal automobile accidents involving seven people including two professional athletes, in which a total of four people lost their lives.
In the California accident, besides Mr. Adenhart, passengers Courtney Stewart and Henry Pearson also lost their lives, while a fourth victim, a former collegiate baseball player named Jon Wilhite was recently removed from the critical list. The driver suspected of causing the accident, Andrew Gallo, has been indicted on three counts of murder, based on the facts as they are known, his blood-alcohol level, and his previous record.
The Miami accident, as I understand it, involved only two people, Mr. Stallworth and Mr. Reyes, and despite the tragic loss of life, the charge, as I understand it, is DUI manslaughter, possibly because the victim was crossing a heavily-trafficked six lane causeway outside of the crosswalk. You may want to check the complete facts online, but that is one.
So basically the sports press including Mr. Blackistone, have focused on the sports figures involved, but we've heard nothing of the three other California casualties including the two other murder victims.
So in short, I'm just not buying Mr. Blackistone's implications, first that Mr. Reyes is the only "forgotten" victim in these two tragic accidents, and more importantly (because I come from immigrant stock myself), that Mr. Reyes's humanity, because of his immigrant and/or ethnic origins, is being undervalued in comparison to Mr. Adenharts by Mr. Blackistone's professional colleagues at the Worldwide Leader. However, if he feels that that's the case, he may feel a moral obligation to take it up with his employers.
Reply
4-16-2009 @ 7:02AM
royalpt78 said...
It wasnt about his ethnicity. You read way too much into this story man.
4-11-2009 @ 11:07PM
COWBOY GARY said...
Whether you are famous or not is irrelevant. The tragedy of losing a loved one to such a senseless event is the same. Most are not in the public eye, and it is out of sight, out of mind. We, as a country, should be outraged at the glamorization of alcohol and the damage it inflicts. The laws ought to be triply tough on those who take the lives of others (or even maim) while under the influence. All should get press coverage to keep the epidemic in the public eye. Stay strong MADD
Reply
4-11-2009 @ 11:27PM
T said...
In one the jock was the victim and in the other the perp so why would the victim in the latter get as much media as the former?..Ya Reyes did not get as much attention as Adenhart but he did get much more than most victims.You can take any set of facts and pull them to match your thought process..Yes,life is unfair,Virginia
Reply
4-12-2009 @ 1:15AM
soccerced said...
Another reason the Reyes Death/Stallworth Murder while drunk was not widely covered by sports writers I feel is that they do not want to jepordize their connection to the atheletes. Face it writers don't want to do stories about working people trying to make enough to go to a ball game. They want to be there in the lockerroom and putting their take of the days sporting events to print.
Reply
4-12-2009 @ 1:19AM
Adam said...
I hate to say it, and other users have touched on it, but this seems to boil down to "famous person treated like a famous person, unfamous person treated like unfamous person." Nobody is questioning the tragic deaths of either individual, but this is reality, for better or worse. Unfortunately, people die all the time for all sorts of reasons, and we can't and shouldn't expect the media to report on every single one, nor are most of us interested to hear about every sad death.
It's not a question of money, just who has more attention. Rich people die all the time, but they're not reported on either, certainly not just because they're rich. Some people-- athletes, actors, musicians-- are in the limelight constantly, and that continues through their successes, failures, and yes, their deaths.
If you want to look at media prejudices (bear in mind this has nothing to do with sports, but you brought it up) look at all the missing persons cases the media follows. Do they ever cover missing people of color? Do they ever cover missing men? Missing older people? Missing ugly people? No. Most of the missing cases the media tracks are pretty, young, white women or young white girls. There's thousands of missing people in America, yet the media routinely focuses on a small subset.
Is this some nefarious plot of class and race warfare? I doubt it. Simply speaking, the media is superficial and just want fast stories of high ratings. Covering Adenhart and Stallworth attracts more attention, thus, brings in more money, than covering Reyes or the drunk driver who killed Adenhart.
Reply