RIP Nick Adenhart and friends

By Rick Morris

It's absolutely surreal how fast things move in today's society. As I type this, at this time last night, Nick Adenhart was in the midst of what would be his final Major League start, a dominating performance that would be marred only by an uncharacteristic meltdown from the LA bullpen. At that time, that was what the shape of misfortune looked like.

Now, tonight, the public has had all day to absorb the sad news that he and his friends met with a tragic fate after the game at the hands of a drunk driver and there are already many tribute videos to select from on YouTube. In the course of my (relatively) short life I've seen the news cycle move faster and faster to where it is now almost instantaneous. It feels awfully surreal and certainly does not make news like this hurt any less.

We grieve for his friends and family and also the friends and family of the other unfortunate souls in that vehicle which was at the wrong place at the wrong time. The loss of Nick Adenhart as a pitcher -- which those of us who closely follow the long-term fantasy baseball picture can well appreciate -- pales in comparison to the loss of him personally. By all accounts, he seems to have been a great guy, very down-to-earth and the kind of person who made you proud to be a baseball fan because he seemed by his nature to underline your pure enjoyment of the game when you watched him. Our Senior Editor Jason Jones has written about this before -- the kind of loss you feel when you hear about something like this that you did not get to know such a person firsthand. I'm sure that's what many people are feeling tonight as anecdotes and tributes are flowing in from all over the baseball world.

As previously mentioned, there are already many tribute videos available tonight. I selected one that I thought was in the proper spirit of Easter Week. Nick Adenhart and his friends are now in a better place though that scarcely lessens the pain of their loved ones. May they be able to derive some comfort from that eventually. RIP.