O's Bechler Passes Away

[SmedIndy]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...s_bechler_dead

Sad news. I wonder if there was some inherited condition involved?

[Craig S.]

Terrible news - his poor wife and soon-to-be child. I don't think anyone expects a player to die from something like that during spring training. From what I've seen, the workouts don't look nearly as horrible of those in football camps.

Whatever the cause, it's just sad.

[Max Power]

2 and 1/2 months before the birth of his 1st child. It does not get sadder than that.

I do hope they look out for Ephedrine, Phentermine and the like - - just a guess.

[JamesI]

What a tragedy. The poor woman and child.

[pathogan]

...man ohman...prayers for the family...

[Max Power]

The reports are already flying that he came into camp out of shape, and had diet pills in his locker. If true, maybe this will be a warning alarm for others thinking of doing something like this..........

[cubfan33]

It will be interesting to see what the tox screen comes back with. The Washington Times sure made it sound like the "bottle thrown in the trash" is some sort of coverup. Is this normal for their coverage of the O's?

I'm also very curious how MLB will spin this - will they go after the evils of ephedrine if that comes back as a contributing factor? Will they do something like the NFL did, with "new regulations" that really are nothing new?

BTW, it looks like the O's staff did everything right. They got to the player quickly, got him off the field and attempted to cool him and got him to the hospital rapidly. These things just can't be stopped sometimes.

Prayers to the family. It was eerie when I read the wife's name - Kiley.

[KCBOOMER]

Sad Deal.

[gyb13]

there have been plenty of rumors about ephedrine having played a part....and apparently Stan Conte was telling his players about the dangers of it.... now i guess we wait a couple of weeks for the exams' conclusions and see what mlb does next

[cubfan33]

I won't scoop myself, but a piece on this will be up on BP tomorrow.

The product found is Xenedrine RFA-1. Bechler was a regular user and took 50% more than the recommended dosage. He had no solid food in his system (and apparently had not eaten for two days.) He was hypertensive, had an undiagnosed liver abnormality, and was "profoundly dehydrated."

His physical did not include an EKG, though he did have one in 1999 which was normal. However, he had gained nearly fifty pounds in that time and over twenty since the 2002 season.

It's a shame that this occurred. Pitcher or not, any human loss that may have been avoided is shameful and calls on those left behind to act.

[SmedIndy]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2003/0219/1511221.html

Looks like this wasn't the first time Bechler dealt with heatstroke.

[cubfan33]

I like to think that this is as complete a look as we'll get at the Bechler situation and offers some suggestions for how teams can change things.

I wish I had more space for Dr. Casa - he's amazing.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ne...0carroll.shtml

[gyb13]

Former prospect tries to get rid of evidence!

nah, j/k....riley didn't realize what he was doing...

[LisaG]

this is just terrible. i refuse to imagine, even for a second, losing my husband already, let alone being pregnant at the time. and this guy is even younger than me. i can hardly believe this after that football guy dying last year (from the same stuff.) i guess i'm really surprised that in this era, any guy trying to make the team (unlike someone with a guaranteed contract like mo vaughn) would report to camp fat and out of shape and think that drugs and starvation would make things right. maybe something really was wrong with this guy if he already had high blood pressure (how can you have that if you're only 23 and are a normal healthy guy) and something wrong with his liver, too. maybe he had some kind of eating disorder as well- i'd bet that not just girls have this problem- and maybe he was making himself vomit, or was using laxatives, too. i wonder if it will ever come out.

i'm not surprised his teammate tried to cover for him. i don't guess he thought the guy would actually die- he was probably trying to keep him from getting in trouble

[Ytown Tribe fan]

Minirant:

This may sound crass, but shouldn't a professional athlete be expected to be in shape when reporting for duty? Guys getting paid big bucks to excel at a sport should, at the MINIMUM, be in better shape than the rest of us, no? Am I wrong?

Yeah, I know, I know -- in today's society it's common to look for a shortcut to hard work. Why work out all winter when you can just take a pill? But Jeez Louise -- you'd think a guy who isn't even guaranteed a spot on the team would do whatever he could to get on that team, rather than get a regular job somewhere, even if it meant laying off the stuffed-crust pizza a little bit.

We have reporters like Jayson Stark moaning and groaning about the evil pills that should be banned or regulated. Fine. Whatever you do, don't talk about personal responsibility or an employer's reasonable expectations.

Look at the military. You got men and women, aged 18-40+, who are expected to be in reasonable shape just to hold their jobs, and they aren't getting paid millions, I can tell you. If they turn into fat slobs, they get put on "profile". If they don't shape up, out they go.

Shouldn't we expect at least that much of our very best athletes?