Leave it to SoSG readers to bring up some questions about the Angels' alcohol-filled celebration, juxtaposed with the jersey of Angel Nick Adenhart, who died in an accident caused by a drunk driver:
Los Angeles is headed back to the playoffs for the sixth time in eight years, and the Angels intend to go with the memory of their late teammate alongside them. The 22-year-old pitcher’s death in an April car accident roiled their season early on, but it couldn’t sink this resilient team.ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP)—The Angels soaked the jersey in beer, champagne and tears, holding Nick Adenhart’s No. 34 high in the middle of the celebration he missed.
Opined SoSG reader Dusty Baker:
Is it strange/ironic to be dousing Adenhart's jersey in a drunken, wanton manner given that it was that very substance that led to his untimely death? Just sayin'...
Yikes. Dusty's got a point. This is a little weird, right?
photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
13 comments:
I'm not the only one up in the middle of the night.
It's a touching picture. Dusty does have a great point though. How else do they involve their fallen teammate in the celebration?
I dunno?
Congratulations to the Angels and their fans. They're celebrating like I hoped our Dodgers would.
I can see their thought process to include his spirit in the celebration but they probably should have thought twice about how they actually did it
I considered it a little morbid even before Dusty's comment. If they really wanted to honor Adenhart's memory, they shouldn't even by showering in the booze. But that's my opinion.
Raising a glass to the jersey would have been slightly less awkward, but as long as none of these guys got behind the wheel afterward, I guess it's OK.
More offensive to me was Brian Fuentes' actions immediately after the game. The whole team went over to the spot on the wall with the Adenhart tribute and laid their hands on it. Nice, right? But then Fuentes (and one other Angel, I think) dumped a beer on the mural and then chucked the can over the fence. Classy.
Remember when those Texas A&M students died in that unfortunate bonfire construction accident. And they did a bonfire in their memory?
The Angels have done many great things to honor Adenhart. This picture is not one of them.
Hope they didn't drive after celebrating, or they will be watching the post season with Nick.
They were including Ardenhart's thought into the celebration. The beer was incidental. It's only disrespectful to those that want to find it to be disrespectful. Yes he was killed by a drunk driver. Unless the Angels were driving around, drinking, and dousing his jersey all at the same time I have a hard time finding disrespect in including his jersey in a baseball tradition.
If the Eagles make the playoffs this year, I shudder to think what they will do to celebrate.
" Steve Sax said...
If the Eagles make the playoffs this year, I shudder to think what they will do to celebrate."
Their organization will play that popular Baha Men hit - "Who Let the Dogs Out" - over the PA system.
Big League Stew linked to this story.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Why-we-shouldn-t-be-offended-over-the-Adenhart-c;_ylt=AgOxesAAdoej42pJ4yvq5uoRvLYF?urn=mlb,192846
I give the Angels a complete pass on this.
Yes in retrospect people can dissect and use logic to identify some morbid irony, but the spirit in which it was done was, to me, 100% proper. The presence of alcohol is the only similarity between the tragedy and the celebration, but the context is completely different.
I have no problem with it.
@KempKershaw; thanks for the headsup. We've updated our sidebar accordingly!
@KempKershaw and EK: Yeah but Duk is an idiot so his opinion is worthless at best
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