Dreams and Eternity

You may have heard the news this past week about the tragic death of a young baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim named Nick Adenhart. He was killed late one evening in a hit-and-run accident on the same night in which he had fulfilled a lifelong dream of pitching in the “major leagues”. Adenhart was only 22 years old. Shortly before his season debut, Nick had called his dad and said, “You’d better come. Something special is going to happen”. Something special did. The rookie pitcher shut-out the Oakland Athletics for six innings in his first “big league start”. Although the Angels eventually lost the game (after it was turned over to their bullpen), Nick’s teammates, managers, and the media all spoke of the great game he had pitched and the hard work he had done this past year to reach his goal. The news of the accident came as a shock to everyone. No one expects that to happen to a young person who is on the verge of living the dream of a lifetime. However, death is no respecter of persons.

While you may have heard about Adenhart’s death, you may not have heard about the death of a former major league baseball pitcher who had lived out a dream similar to Adenhart’s. Former Detroit Tiger pitcher, Mark “The Bird” Fidrych was found dead this week in an apparent accident involving a truck used in his hauling business. He was 54. Fidrych was nicknamed “The Bird” because of his resemblance to the Big Bird character on the popular children’s television show, Sesame Street. Mark was tall and gangly with long, curly, blonde hair. He had a gregarious personality as well as many endearing eccentricities.

I had the privilege of attending the very first game that Fidrych pitched at Tiger Stadium. What a memorable experience for a teenager! It was the summer of 1976 and just happened to be the once-a-summer trip I made to Tiger Stadium back then. The young pitcher on the mound that day seemed very different than the Mickey Lolichs, Denny McClains, and John Hillers that had dominated from that “holy hill” before.

In between innings, Fidrych was down on his hands and knees patting the dirt on the mound. In the middle of an inning, you might see him running around the infield high-fiving his teammates when they made good defensive plays. I found out later that he was actually “talking to the baseball” before he pitched it. “The Corner” (Tiger Stadium was at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull streets) was electric that day as “The Bird” had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning. He ended up throwing a complete game, two-hitter defeating the Cleveland Indians, 2 - 1. What excitement he brought to “the old ballpark” that day and for the rest of the summer. He won seven of his first eight decisions including a complete-game win on “ABC-TV’s “Monday Night Baseball” against the Yankees. He sold out stadiums wherever the Tigers played and was voted to be the starting pitcher in the All-Star game as a rookie. He pitched 24 complete games that season and won 19. He was the American League Rookie-of-the-Year and runner-up to the Baltimore Orioles', Jim Palmer for the Cy Young Award. He too, like Nick Adenhart, was living a childhood dream.

Unfortunately, injuries cut short Fidrych’s baseball career and certainly, this recent accident cut short his life. It reminds us again that death is no respecter of persons. As coaches, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement, the dreams and the thrill of the moment and forget about the seriousness of life and death issues. These two deaths give us a sobering reminder of what is most important to prepare for – not the next game, but eternity.


Where will you spend eternity? Click on this link and scroll down to the "What about you?" section.