A True Baseball Curse

The tragic death of Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart on Thursday morning was shocking and sad. Only 22 years old, and having just pitched 6 shutout innings the night before for the Angels, Adenhart was killed by an idiot who ran a stop sign. Adenhart was thought of as an up-and coming pitcher who overcame surgeries and a 14th round selection, and an all-around good guy.

After digesting all of this yesterday, I started thinking about the so-called curses of baseball: Red Sox (Curse of the Bambino), Cubs (Goat Curse), Phillies (Curse of William Penn). All of these are silly notions that have to do with lack of championships and general ridiculousness. But the LA/California/Anaheim/LA Angels feels like a truly cursed team. Consider that since the expansion team began in 1961:

1965: Pitcher Dick Wantz died of a brain tumor just a month after his debut.
1972: Infielder Chico Ruiz is killed in a car accident.
1974: Pitcher Bruce Heinbechner is killed in a car accident.
1977: Shortstop Mike Miley is killed during spring training in a car accident.
1978: All-Star Lyman Bystock is shot and killed in his car, mistaken for someone else.
1989: All-Star reliever Donnie Moore shot his wife and killed himself, after fighting depression for 3 years following the famous home runs he gave up during the 1986 ALCS.
1992: The Angels team bus crashes on the way back from series in new York, severely injuring Manager Buck Rodgers.

All these things, plus a team that never won a championship for 41 years, led many to believe that the Angels were cursed. But all of that seemed behind them- a World Series title in 2002, a consistently winning team, and no tragedies for 17 years- until yesterday. And other teams have tragedies as well- Daryl Kile, Steve Olin, Tim Crews, Thurman Munson. But the Angels seem to have had more than their share. All things may not be related, but the sadness of Nick Adenhart's way-too-soon passing makes one wonder- is this the baseball curse that should really be taken seriously?