Nick Adenhart, Henry Pearson left us too soon

April 10, 1:05 AMSan Francisco Giants ExaminerTheo Fightmaster

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Hank, seen here dressed as Jake Taylor, loved baseball, and life.

The news about 22 year old Angels pitcher, Nick Adenhart, shook the baseball world Thursday.  We tend to put our athletes, movie stars and other celebrities up on a pedestal.  It’s almost as if we value their lives against a different metric than our own.  That’s exactly why the news focused around Adenhart was so surreal.  After all, we just watched him pitch last night, looking like the epitome of virility. 

But, tragically there were two other young lives lost early Thursday morning in Fullerton, California. Courtney Frances Stewart, who was only 20 years old, and my good friend Henry Pearson, 25, were also victims of this senseless and detestable crime. 

Andrew Thomas Gallo, 22, of Riverside, was driving under the influence, something he had once before been arrested for. Kevin Hamilton, a lieutenant with the Fullerton Police Department, identified Gallo as the driver of the minivan that blazed through a red light prior to broad-siding the Mitsubishi Eclipse that was driven by Stewart, and carrying Adenhart, Hank, and Jon Wilhite, the only survivor. 

Hank, who was celebrating his friend’s fourth big league start, was an aspiring sports agent. In fact he had already gained a few clients while he was attending Western State University College of Law. He was set to graduate next year. 

I had the pleasure of going to college with Hank at Arizona State University. There we both were aspiring sports broadcasters, spending much of our time helping produce a campus sports show, Devil’s on the Deuce, among other endeavors that included debating baseball, the virtues of Northern California versus Southern California, and enjoying the night life of Mill Street. 

It was in the studio and in the editing rooms of the Walter Cronkite building that I came to appreciate Hank’s work ethic, professionalism, intelligence and drive. And though he was a couple years younger than me I respected his focus and maturity. But it was away from the pressures (or what at the time we believed to be pressures), of school, extra curricular student broadcasting and the over hanging worries of actually finding a job, where I got to know a happy, genuine, and smart human being.

There aren’t enough people on this planet who fit that description. And the fact that we seem to lose an aberrant amount of them keeps some of us from getting to that jovial state ourselves. 

Truly, the hardest part, like any accident, is the fact it was an accident. The sudden finality is impossible to fathom, and it manufactures anger, rage, gloom and heartbreak.  But it also reminds you of the memories and how they were formed.

I know Gallo didn’t go out Wednesday looking to kill three people and put his own life at risk, but he didn’t try not to either. 

Our public’s consumption, and accepted misuse of alcohol is a topic more worthy of an entirely new branch of government than a simple column here.  But the marriage between alcohol and sports is an unhealthy one, and I’ll leave at that.  It is hard for me, at least today, as a friend, to see the difference between someone who commits a premeditated murder, and someone who consciously decides to put himself and others in grave danger as a direct result of his own actions. Is there a difference at all? Right now I’m not sure there is. 

Nick Adenhart, along with Stewart and Henry for that matter, won’t ever realize the potential of the natural gifts they were blessed with.  We sadly, won’t be able to watch these young people progress, mature and realize their own dreams on this earth. Perhaps the only thing we can do is take this painful reminder as a not so subtle hint that our time on this earth is not certain, guaranteed or even going to end happily. But by knowing this hopefully we can enjoy the stay a little bit more. Hank, I'm glad I knew you, and can call you a friend. You will be missed terribly by many. 

Please read this very touching tribute by a man who knew Hank far better than I, Matt Clapp