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Andrew Bellatti Dies in a Traffic Collision- Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher Baseball Player

His words were about the life that was lost.

Her words were about the life that should be saved.

If it was by the grace of God that Andrew Bellatti walked away from the accident he caused that killed a man, it was by the grace of the woman he made a widow that he is free to continue his promising pitching career with the Rays.

Bellatti was 18 and home in the San Diego area after his first pro season on that January 2010 afternoon when he sped across the yellow lines on a rain-slicked road by his old high school, lost control of his Ford Mustang and crashed head-on into a van.

The driver — 50-year-old David Reid, a career Navy man known as Steele Canyon High’s “Drama Papa” for his volunteer work — was killed. His son, Garrett, was hospitalized with injuries that required surgery. Bellatti’s then-girlfriend, whom he was driving to her basketball game, was hurt, too. Bellatti? Barely a scratch.

Facing vehicular manslaughter and other charges that could have sent him to prison for seven-plus years, Bellatti hand wrote a heartfelt letter to David’s widow, Lynette Reid, detailing his sorrow.

“There really wasn’t anything I could say to make the situation better,” Bellatti said last week. “But I just really wanted to say I’m sorry. And when I wrote the letter, it was like I couldn’t have said enough ‘I’m sorry’s.’ “

Lynette didn’t need to read the half-page letter to influence how she felt. As devastated as she and her kids were, as many reasons as she had to seek vengeance, she saw no reason to ruin another life, believing mercy is what David would have wanted. She instructed her lawyer to ask the judge for leniency, limiting Bellatti’s penance to a short stint in county jail.

“I just couldn’t see where him going to prison would help me or my children or anything else,” said Lynette, remarried and relocated. “I’ve always felt like it’s kind of the Shakespeare thing — the quality of mercy is not strained. And I really believe that.”

Bellatti, through a plea agreement, was sentenced to eight months, and between time served and time off, he spent less than 90 days behind bars.

Still, walking into a 7- by 11-foot three-bunk cell in the underground South Bay Detention Center was punishing for Bellatti, especially without then knowing how long he would be there, wearing a blue jumpsuit.

“I was 19 years old, and to be honest, right when I got in, I couldn’t see light at the end of the tunnel,” Bellatti said. “I thought my life was over.”

He kept to himself and out of trouble, taking advantage of some jail staff members recognizing him as a former high school star. He got out in time for the next spring training.

His five years’ probation is set to expire in November, lawyer Patrick Hall said. Bellatti was forced to surrender his license for a year, and scared by the judge’s threat that even a minor violation would lead to a probation revocation, he hasn’t driven since, relying on family at home, teammates in-season. “There’s just no point,” he said. “It would be catastrophic to me.”

Bellatti is 23 now, far enough along in the Rays’ system after a solid year as a reliever at Double A to earn his first invitation to major-league camp. The team stood behind him the entire time, with farm director Mitch Lukevics saying Friday he is “an outstanding young man who was involved in a sad and unfortunate accident.”

The passage of time, along with faith and family, has eased Bellatti’s burden. The flashbacks and sleepless nights have ended, and he finds himself thinking less about the experience, though also more able to talk about it — noticeably devoid of much emotion — when asked.

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Noelle Montes

Update: 2024-05-04