Nils Nilsen for ESPN.com
The Padres are keeping their eyes on minor leaguer Mitch Canham as he grieves for his lost brother.
LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. -- From his nightly perch behind home plate in this Southern California town, San Diego Padres prospect Mitch Canham is the central figure in his own private version of Operation Desert Shield.He stares out at the pitcher from behind a mask and chest protector, shin guards, helmet and protective cup. By the grace of God and half a sporting goods store, he's as insulated as can be from the foul tips, home-plate collisions and 58-foot sliders that threaten to do him harm.
But there's nothing the 23-year-old catcher can cram into his Lake Elsinore Storm equipment bag this summer to protect him from his memories and his fractured heart.
In the sports journalism world, we're accustomed to stories about athletes coping with "adversity" -- from pulled hamstrings to crushing losses in salary arbitration -- but the cliché seems particularly hollow in light of Canham's ordeal. Five years ago, as an Oregon State freshman, he lost his mother to a drug overdose. He swallowed his grief, kept his focus on baseball and helped propel the Beavers to two straight NCAA titles in 2006 and 2007.
"The best leader in the country," his college coach, Pat Casey, once called him.
Nils Nilsen for ESPN.com
All the catcher's protection in the world can't keep the grief away from Mitch.
Last year, the Padres selected Canham with the 57th pick in the draft, signed him to a $552,500 bonus contract and sent him on the road to the majors. Baseball America, which ranked him as San Diego's No. 17 prospect, praised him for his agility and athleticism, and said he need only refine his defensive skills to be a regular catcher in the big leagues."Mitch is such a hard worker and a smart guy," says Boston outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, his former college teammate. "He definitely has the capabilities."
But try focusing on baseball when it hurts to breathe. In Canham's case, the line from inspirational to star-crossed -- from unyieldingly competitive to chronically unfortunate -- has been breached in the most personal and poignant of ways. Why should anyone be subjected to pain this acute in first and second installments?
On March 23, Marine Lance Corporal Dustin Canham, Mitch's younger brother, died while serving in the African nation of Djibouti. Multiple investigations have determined that Dustin, 21, died of natural causes while exercising in his tent. But the military's investigations haven't satisfied the family, assorted Washington state government officials and the (Portland) Oregonian newspaper, which ran a hard-hitting editorial in June beneath the headline, "Another Casualty Coverup."
In Lake Stevens, Wash., Dustin and Mitch Canham's father, Mark, and Dustin's 19-year-old widow, Devyn, are slowly coming to grips with their loss. Mark Canham writes letters, peppers everyone from secretaries to brigadier generals with phone calls, and tries to make sense of a story line with too many missing sequences. He recently shared his story with Mary Tillman, the mother of former NFL defensive back and Army Ranger Pat Tillman, whose friendly-fire death in Afghanistan prompted a congressional investigation.
Photo Gallery
Game day for Mitch Canham in Lake Elsinore, CA, provides a respite from the troubles that have plagued his family recently. Follow Mitch through a day at the park. Photos
Mitch Canham, meanwhile, proudly bears his patriotism with a "God, Family, Country" tattoo across his back. But he, too, is troubled by what he perceives as the series of half-truths the family has received surrounding the events in Djibouti."I stand behind our country," Mitch says. "But from my point of view, the military has given us incomplete answers and fumbled everything about it. They've slapped us in the face rather than try to help us out. It makes it hard to listen to the national anthem before every game."
Through 79 games, Mitch is hitting .285 with five home runs, 53 runs batted in, a .398 on base percentage and a .423 slugging percentage for Lake Elsinore. But the numbers seem inconsequential compared to the dozens of times he has reached for his cell phone only to realize you can't text-message a ghost. He wears Dustin's Marine Corps dog tags around his neck as a constant reminder of his loss. In his dreams, he and Dustin are still kids spending the day go-kart racing or venturing to the corner store to buy candy.
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