Adam LaRoche and ADD[J. Mark English]

Paul Newberry writes:

On Sunday, after scooping up a routine grounder that should have been the third out of the inning, LaRoche took his time getting to first and was stunningly beaten to the bag by Washington's Nick Johnson, who was hustling all the way.

Standing at his locker beforehand, LaRoche stressed that he doesn't want to blame attention deficit disorder for his mental blunder. He was diagnosed with the condition in high school, and it would be easy enough to stamp a medical explanation on Sunday's boneheaded play.

"I just need to pick it up a step," LaRoche said. "If I was going to blame this on ADD, I would need go get some medicine to treat it. But that had nothing to do with it."

An admirable stance, to be sure, but a leading expert on ADD believes that LaRoche should take this opportunity to address an issue that is surely having an impact on his life — and perhaps serve as an inspiration to others with the disorder.

"A lot of people with ADD try to hide their symptoms," said Dr. Patricia Quinn, a Washington, D.C., pediatrician who has studied the condition for more than 30 years. "They tend to suffer in silence. No one knows they're having a problem. But when you're in the spotlight like he is, playing a game in front of all those people, the symptoms come out where everybody can see it."