MVN - Most Valuable Network

In Tribute: Matthew Beaudoin

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We often treat baseball as life and religion around these parts, but sometimes real life trumps baseball and often for all the wrong reasons.  In this case, the Yankee/Red Sox fan rivalry seems to have spilled into an ugly incident in Nashua, NH.

“Ticked off by an earlier scuffle and taunted by anti-Yankees chants, a 43-year-old mother pulled out of a New Hampshire parking lot last week and rammed into one of the Red Sox fans taunting her, prosecutors said today.

The woman, Ivonne Hernandez of Nashua, had allegedly been drinking and was charged with reckless conduct, aggravated drunken driving, and second-degree murder. She was arraigned in Nashua District Court this morning on charges she used her car to kill Matthew Beaudoin, 29, of Nashua, who died Saturday of head trauma at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington.” - Boston.com

While the story has been covered widely, I found Dan Lamothe’s take on Red Sox Monster to be most refreshing as he calls upon the Red Sox to honor Beaudoin who apparently shielded a friend from the fatal impact.  To that end, Dan has created the following petition.  Full text of the petition is after the jump;

To: The Boston Red Sox While some of the details of the death of Matthew Beaudoin remain foggy in the public sphere, we believe he deserves special recognition as both a baseball fan and person.

Beaudoin, 29, of Nashua, N.H., was struck by a vehicle early Friday, May 2, operated by 43-year-old Ivonne Hernandez, also of Nashua, according to articles in the Manchester Union Leader, the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald, among other publications.

Family and friends have indicated the incident occurred after an argument in a bar and a subsequent altercation in a parking lot in which “words were exchanged between Hernandez and the group about the Yankees and the Red Sox,” according to the Union Leader. Hernandez was arraigned Monday, May 5, on a second-degree murder charge, and also faces felony charges of reckless conduct and aggravated driving while intoxicated, according to the newspaper reports.

While how much the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry played a role in Beaudoin’s death remains in question, witnesses have said that another woman struck by the vehicle, Maria Hughes, 21, suffered only minor injuries in part because Beaudoin shielded her from Hernandez’s vehicle, according to the Boston Globe.

Given Beaudoin’s rooting for the Boston Red Sox and his apparent heroic actions before death, we ask that the Red Sox consider honoring Beaudoin’s memory with — at the very least — a day in his honor. It seems like a fitting, honorable tribute, and one that would give Beoudoin’s fellow Red Sox fans and baseball fans in general a chance to mourn one of their own.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 12:46 pm and is filed under Tim Daloisio. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.