Well, in light of the recent tragic death of Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart at the hands of a drunk driver, people are probably inclined to feel even less sympathetic towards Joba than they were before.

It’s bittersweet that just prior to the accident, Nick would have pitched the best game of his short major league career — six shutout innings against Oakland.  It was, on the one hand, a reminder that in every way Adenhart was just coming into his own as both a player and a person. The outing was a promise that would remain unfulfilled.  But, on the other hand, if I had to guess, most major league pitchers would be psyched to know that the last thing that did before they died was pitch a shutout game — even if the death that followed was one that came too soon.

A lot of the discussion surrounding Adenhart’s death has been focused on his talent as a pitcher.  Being a sentimental sap, I tend to be drawn towards the more personal.  I was most touched by a comment made by his childhood friend David Warrenfeltz, “I just remember the little kid stuff we did.  One summer, we dug up my whole backyard to make a Wiffle ball field. And we cut up my mother’s boots to make a catcher’s mitt. Just little stuff, like riding our bikes to buy baseball cards. Normal kid stuff.”

I don’t know how you make a catcher’s mitt out of boots — I was not aware of that as part of the normal kid experience — but it’s nice to hear this kind of remembrance nonetheless. And speaking of the human face of this tragedy, let us not forget that there were two other people in that car with Adenhart.  Two people who weren’t famous.  As Mike Francesa said, who knows?  Maybe they were both really good at something also.

That guy’s all insight.

And then we have Joba.  While I certainly don’t think he looks any better in light of this recent tragedy, I also think it should maybe make us realize that ultimately his field sobriety video isn’t that big of a deal.  So he said New York drivers are obnoxious.  Truth bomb:  New York drivers are obnoxious.  I have heart palpitations when I drive in New York.  So, he said New Yorkers are less polite than Nebraskans.  Truth bomb:  Nebraska is in the Midwest, so this is obviously correct.  So he said Yogi Berra was short.  Truth bomb: Yogi Berra is short.  He is adorable and lovable and everything wonderful, but the guy’s pequeno.  Would I have encouraged Joba to make the Yogi comment  in a public forum?  Uh, no.  But the dude was drunk — if you will recall, that’s why he was pulled over — and having what he thought was a private conversation with a cop.  It’s called impaired judgment.  And if Yogi’s not mad, you can’t be either.

If there are people out there who want to be upset with Joba, I think it’s important to remember that the real issue remains the DUI.  Not some nonsense that he babbled on candid camera in a drunken stupor.

If that wasn’t already obvious, the death of Nick Adenhart should make it pretty clear.