20 MLB Players Who Broke Our Hearts

Ever since the National League first came into existence in 1876, Major League Baseball has been filled with stories that have taken the breath away from millions of fans across the world in various ways.

Stories of players fighting through serious injuries, players tragically losing their lives in the primes of their lives, players executing tremendous acts of achievement that left us gasping, and players who through their devious acts left us completely devastated and heartbroken.

Such are the stories that compel fans to continue watching what they believe to be the greatest sport in the world.

Here are just some of those stories.

Bucky Dent: New York Yankees

Up until Oct. 2, 1978, New York Yankees shortstop Bucky Dent had hit just 22 home runs during his six-year career, and was not considered a threat with his bat.

That all changed on one fateful pitch.

Dent broke the hearts of Red Sox fans with his three-run home run into the net atop the left field wall at Fenway Park, leaving Sox left fielder Carl Yastrzemski slumping as he watched the ball land softly in the net up above.

Lyman Bostock: California Angels

California Angels fans were heartbroken by the events that took place on Sept. 23, 1978.

In 1978, outfielder Lyman Bostock signed a free-agent contract with the Angels, and was primed to become a star in the majors. While he got off to a sluggish start, Bostock was hitting .296 by late September.

During a road trip to Chicago, Bostock was in Gary, Indiana on Sept. 23 to visit his uncle. While traveling back from his uncle's house, the car in which Bostock was driving was approached by another car, who fired a bullet into the back of Bostock's car, striking Bostock in the temple and instantly killing him.

Bostock was not the intended target of the shooter.

Darryl Kile: St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Darryl Kile had plenty of reason for optimism in late June, 2002.

Winning 36 games in his first two seasons in St. Louis, including a 20-win season in 2000, Kile was fresh off a victory over the Anaheim Angels in interleague play, allowing just one run on six hits over 7.2 innings.

Four days later, the Cardinals were scheduled to play a day game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Shortly before the game started, Cardinals officials noticed that Kile had not yet arrived at the ballpark. After calling the hotel to check on Kile, hotel officials entered his room to find him motionless on the bed.

He had died of a heart attack.

The Cardinals were shaken to the core, and the afternoon game was cancelled. When the Cardinals clinched the National League Central Division later in the season against the Houston Astros, Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols carried Kile's jersey on a hanger with him during the team's celebration.

Donnie Moore: California Angels

Some events take place in life that are difficult to deal with.

Often, the aftermath is even more difficult to deal with.

California Angels reliever Donnie Moore’s fateful pitch to Dave Henderson in Game 5 of the 1986 American League Championship Series was certainly one of those events.

Moore never recovered from that, and after a failed attempt to reach the majors with the Kansas City Royals, on July 18, 1989, Moore shot his wife Tonya three times after an argument.

Tonya and her daughter Demetria fled the scene, and Moore turned the gun on himself, taking his own life.

Dave Dravecky: San Francisco Giants

In July 1987, left-handed pitcher Dave Dravecky was involved in a trade that sent him to the San Francisco Giants to help them during the pennant drive. Dravecky did indeed help the Giants to the postseason, posting a 7-5 record and 3.20 ERA in 18 starts.

However, the following season, Dravecky was injured early and often. And, after the season ended, Dravecky was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his pitching arm. After rehabbing for most of the following season, Dravecky made a successful return on Aug. 10, 1989, pitching eight innings and earning a victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

However, five days later, in a game against the Montreal Expos, Dravecky made a pitch in the sixth inning and immediately fell to the ground in obvious pain.

Dravecky had snapped his humerus bone, the same bone that had been affected by the cancerous cells.

Dravecky later found out the cancer had returned, forcing his retirement.

Two years later, Dravecky’s left arm and shoulder were amputated.

Nick Adenhart: Los Angeles Angels

The horrific tragedy that struck Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart down before he even started was devastating, especially to his teammates.

To this day, friend and fellow pitcher Jered Weaver etches Adenhart’s jersey No. 34 into the ground behind the pitcher’s mound before each start.

Adenhart was a highly-touted right-hander who endured Tommy John surgery and three years in the minors before making his major-league debut in 2008.

In spring training of 2009, Adenhart was so impressive that he was named to the Angels' starting rotation. In his first start for the Angels on April 8 against the Oakland Athletics, Adenhart threw an impressive six innings, allowing no runs and seven hits, striking out five.

Later that night, after having dinner with friends, the car in which Adenhart was a passenger was struck by a drunken driver, killing Adenhart and two of his friends, while another friend survived.

The driver of the vehicle that struck Adenhart's car, Andrew Gallo, was convicted and sentenced to 51-years-to-life on December 22, 2010.

Ken Caminiti: San Diego Padres

When San Diego Padres third baseman Ken Caminiti broke through with a career year in 1996 (40 HR, 130 RBI, .326 average), he was awarded the National League Most Valuable Player award.

In 2002, one year after Caminiti retired, he admitted in an interview with Sports Illustrated that he was using steroids for that entire year in.

Two years after that, Caminiti was dead of an overdose.

Steve Bartman

The Chicago Cubs have not won a World Series championship since 1908, and haven't even been to one since 1945.

On Oct. 14, 2003, Cubs fans' hearts were broken once again.

With the Cubs leading the Florida Marlins 3-0 in the eighth inning, and holding a three games to two lead in the NLCS, things were looking bright for the Cubs to finally make their way to the Fall Classic.

Steve Bartman's interference once again left the Cubs suffering.

Jackie Robinson: Brooklyn Dodgers

When Jackie Robinson first broke baseball's color barrier on April 15, 1947 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, some of his own teammates were very hesitant in playing alongside Robinson.

In Bill Kirwin's book Out of the Shadows: African American Baseball from the Cuban Giants to Jackie Robinson, Kirwin recalled what Dodgers manager Leo Durocher said to his team to immediately stop the racial divide:

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"I do not care if the guy is yellow or black, or if he has stripes like a f—ing zebra. I'm the manager of this team, and I say he plays. What's more, I say he can make us all rich. And if any of you cannot use the money, I will see that you are all traded."

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From that point on, Robinson was an accepted member of the Dodgers. Within 12 years, each team had finally integrated.

Robinson's death in 1972 at the age of 53 robbed the baseball world of one of its greatest players and pioneers. Fans were left hearbroken at his loss.

Rafael Palmeiro

On March 17, 2005, Baltimore Orioles first baseman Rafael Palmeiro appeared before a Congressional committee investigating the use of steroids in baseball.

Palmeiro famously shook his finger and said, "Let me start by telling you this: I have never used steroids, period. I don't know how to say it any more clearly than that. Never."

Just four and a half months later, Palmeiro was suspended for doing something he told Congress he had never done, and he was out of baseball by the end of the year.

Despite being one of only five baseball players to achieve 3,000 hits and 500 home runs, Palmeiro garnered just 11 percent of votes in his first year of Hall of Fame eligibility in 2011.

Mark McGwire: St. Louis Cardinals

The baseball world was enthralled by two men in September 1998.

Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals and Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs were taking dead aim at the single-season home run record set by Roger Maris in 1961. Just three years after a work stoppage in baseball left fans in apathy, McGwire and Sosa's chase of the record reinvigorated fans who were finally starting to come back to the park.

McGwire eventually broke the record.

However, at the time, McGwire was using Androstenedione, a testosterone-producing pill that, while not banned by MLB, had been banned by the NFL, the Olympics and the NCAA.

McGwire would finally admit in 2010 that he had been steroids during his playing days as well.

Thurman Munson: New York Yankees

With his fiery personality, bulldog attitude and gritty style of play, New York Yankees catcher Thurman Munson quickly became a fan favorite, and his example on the playing field led to the Yankees naming him as their first team captain since Lou Gehrig in 1939.

However, on Aug. 2, 1979, Munson was killed when his Cessna jet crashed near his home in Akron, OH.

The entire city of New York was devastated, and Munson's No. 15 jersey was immediately retired by owner George Steinbrenner.

Bobby Thomson: New York Giants

The Brooklyn Dodgers were clinging to a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning on Oct. 3, 1951 in the very first live sporting event to be televised nationally. The Dodgers and New York Giants were tied at one game apiece in the three-game playoff to decide the National League pennant.

With two runners on and one run in, Bobby Thomson strode to the plate to face Dodgers reliever Ralph Branca, who had already given up a homer to Thomson in Game 1 of the playoff series.

Just minutes later, Thomson broke the hearts of Dodgers fans across the country.

Ryan Braun: Milwaukee Brewers

Just weeks after winning the National League's Most Valuable Player, the baseball shockingly learned that Milwaukee Brewers left fielder had tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, which is in direct violation of MLB's drug policy.

This triggered an automatic suspension of 50 games.

While fans were no doubt heartbroken, Braun could be exonerated if recent reports are true.

Braun was apparently taking medication that elevated his testosterone level. If MLB agrees with the finding, it would represent the first reversal of a positive PED test since testing was implemented in 2003.

Kirby Puckett: Minnesota Twins

During an incredible 12-year career, during which he led the Minnesota Twins to two World Series championships, center fielder Kirby Puckett was selected to 10 All-Star teams, won six Gold Glove awards and finished in the top three in MVP voting on three separate occasions.

In late March, 1996, while Puckett was busily preparing for his 13th season with the Twins, he was stricken with glaucoma. After several surgeries, Puckett was forced to retire from the game at the age of 36.

Just 10 years later, Puckett died of a massive stroke at the age of 45.

Roberto Clemente: Pittsburgh Pirates

On Dec. 31, 1972, just three months after he had collected his historic 3,000th hit in baseball, Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente decided to accompany a flight of supplies to be delivered to the earthquake-stricken country of Nicaragua.

After three other flights of supplies had been intercepted by corrupt government officials in the country, Clemente decided to accompany this particular shipment of supplies himself—to ensure that they arrived safely, and in the right hands.

Just shortly after take-off from Puerto Rico, Clemente, on a plane that was overloaded by 5,000 lbs., died when the aircraft crashed into the ocean off the coast of Isla Verde.

Clemente's death while conducting the supreme act of kindness and generosity devastated the baseball world.

His legacy is remembered each year with the Roberto Clemente Award, given to a player who each year represents the example set forth by Clemente himself.

Joe Jackson: Chicago White Sox

"Say it ain't so, Joe."

Well, the words may not have been uttered to him as was thought, but Shoeless Joe Jackson and the acts of several players from the Chicago White Sox in 1919 caused heartache in fans all across the country.

In a story that horrified baseball, eight players from the Chicago White Sox were indicted on charges that they had conspired to throw the 1919 World Series.

The players, who were apparently fed up with the cheap ways of White Sox owner Charles Comiskey, received thousands of dollars for attempting to throw the World Series and give the title to the Cincinnati Reds.

While the eight men were eventually acquitted of the charges, MLB commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis took it upon himself to hand down justice, permanently banning all eight players, including one of the greatest hitters in baseball, Shoeless Joe Jackson.

Pete Rose: Cincinnati Reds

On Sept. 11, 1985, Pete Rose broke a record that had long been thought unbreakable.

Just four years later, Rose broke hearts instead of records.

Four years after collecting his 4,192nd hit to break Ty Cobb's career hits mark, Rose accepted a permanent ban from the game of baseball for betting on baseball, including on his own team.

Cal Ripken Jr.

When MLB returned from a work stoppage that canceled the 1994 World Series, fans were loathe to come back, tired of the griping between players and owners that cut short two seasons.

However in early Sept. 1995, one man helped immensely in bringing fans back to the game—Baltimore Orioles iron-man Cal Ripken, Jr.

On Sept. 6, 1995, Ripken played in his 2,131st consecutive game, breaking the record set by New York Yankees legend Lou Gehrig.

Ripken's story and his quest to break Gehrig's record captivated fans in that late summer, and for one shining moment on that night, all was right in the baseball world once again.

Lou Gehrig: New York Yankees

On May 2, 1939, New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig went into manager Joe McCarthy's office and took himself out of the lineup, ending his string of 2,130 consecutive games played, a streak that started in 1925.

Gehrig's skills had suddenly and completely deteriorated. Six weeks after taking himself out of the lineup, Gehrig learned that he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and that there was no cure.

The baseball was stunned when Gehrig ended his remarkable games-played streak, they were even more stunned upon learning the reason why.

Just two years later, Gehrig was dead at the age of 37.

Once again, the baseball world was stunned.

Doug Mead is a featured columnist with Bleacher Report. His work has been featured on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, SF Gate, CBS Sports, the Los Angeles Times and the Houston Chronicle. Follow Doug on Twitter, @Sports_A_Holic.