Senseless as We Want to Be

It's partially because they're athletes, a projection of all we could hope to be, physically. That's why it's such a shock, to hear the news rookie Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed in a car accident last night, a few hours after his first start of the young 2009 season. We don't want any 22-year-olds to die, let alone those who just starred on our tv sets, who play a game so well it can be a job. New season, young, rookie--all things we don't expect to hear in the same sentence as death. Someone runs a red light, and that's it. We don't want death to be so sneaky, ruining our games, let alone baseball, the only major sport that can possibly go on forever.