Agent Scott Boras Reveals Human Side in Wake of Adenhart's Death

In my opinion, one of the most amazing things to emerge in the aftermath of the sudden and crushingly sad death of the young Angels pitcher, Nick Adenhart is the open way his agent has mourned him.

If you haven't seen the video of Scott Boras speaking at the Angels' team press conference on Thursday morning, check out the clip here.

What's stunning is the the way he openly weeped without feeling the need to excuse himself as he said a few words about the tragedy he learned of in the middle of the night. It is a natural thing to do but I never thought I'd see Scott Boras allow himself to appear vulnerable in quite that manner. All we ever see of the man is his steely gaze and his intransigence during negotiations.

Boras made himself available for radio interviews in Southern California throughout Thursday and Friday. It wasn't self promotion. It was his duty he said. Some might say it was self-aggrandizement. I see it differently.

There are a lot of hours to fill on talk radio and when something occurs for which there is a huge demand for reactions, shows reach out everywhere to give their listeners a reason not to turn the dial.

Even on Friday morning, Boras still had a difficult time speaking about Nick. His words were excruciatingly slow and measured. He rarely was able to get to the point of the actual question posed by the radio host.

You might wonder why Boras appeared at the table along with the Angels brass during that press conference. It was at the request of Jim Adenhart, Nick's father. In a way, Boras was the surrogate for the family and along with Jim had experienced the heights of happiness only hours prior to the dreaded phone call.

That is the good side of the agent-as-surrogate parent role. We've all seen the bad side enough to make his honest grief seem at odds with everything we think we know of him. I for one am happy I witnessed it.

Comments

[MilwaukeeDan]

Ms. Duffy, although I don'y follow sports like I used to(Boras being one of those reasons), there is no one that has contributed more to my dislike of agents and pro sports than Boras. If MLB dies in this recession, Boras gets top blame(and for a beer costing $6.00 at stadiums).

[sportsd]

Milwaukee Dan: first off, thanks for taking the time to read and comment. I agree that he is a most-hated figure in the game. However, baseball owners have blamed agents for years when in fact as you saw this winter, teams could say no...and did to Manny Ramirez. It could be this economy will give them more courage like they had regarding Man-Ram.

[sportsd]

Thank you for demonstrating the disparity that will always exist when we try to judge the feelings of a public person. We never know who they truly are

[cnelson130]

I agree with Paula, and I thought it was a very poignant moment (I got choked up just watching Boras at the press conference). It's nice to see a human side to the sports agent business, and my opinion of Boras as a human being (I now believe he may actually be one) has certainly improved.

[RobinSeattle]

To be dead blunt about it, I don't care how Boras feels. I'm much more concerned with how Adenhart's family and friends deal with this because they are the ones who have to handle the feelings of emptiness, powerlessness and sense of loss arising out of this tragedy.

For Boras, Adenhart was, first and foremost, just a way to access more of MLB's dollars. He didn't have near the emotional connection to Nick that Adenhart's parents, siblings and teammates did. So let's not cry any tears for the multimillionaire loudmouth agent here.

[Nommo]

Boras was just counting the future revenues he ain't getting on this guy. Please. Be for real. Those were B-movie tears.

[Raco]

And I thought I was cynical.