Nick Adenhart

Nick Adenhart (1986-2009)

Around midnight last night, rookie Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed in an auto accident in Fullerton, CA, along with 2 passengers. A third is in critical condition. They were struck by a drunk driver while Adenhart drove his Mitsubishi Eclipse. Nick was 22 years old.

It saddens me deeply to see a major league player with so much potential die in such a tragic and unnecessary way. He had such a bright future and died just hours after pitching 6 shutout innings in the big leagues. His career didn't get off to a great start, as he was injured coming out of high school. But he worked hard and improved and rehabbed to get to where he is now, rising the last 4 years from one minor league level to the next. And he just pitched the best game of his career. It is not fair. I'm a Red Sox fan and I'm deeply upset by this. I can't even begin to imagine how the Los Angeles Angels organization, his teammates, and his family must feel. It is a terrible loss for all of baseball. I watched a one minute long montage of his performance from last night and his stuff was great. He was throwing curveballs and making batters look foolish chasing them. What his career would have been like we will never know, but I'm sure if he had the opportunity it would have been great. Everything I read about him was admirable. He was a worker who cared about his team more than himself and never wanted to let the team down. He was a quiet but strong individual who overcame the adversity of a bad injury to get to the major leagues. I can't even describe how upsetting this is with words.

I knew this kid back in high school who played basketball, football, and performed in track and field. A few months after a graduated from high school, during the summer, he was killed by gunshots outside a club in Brockton, MA. There are parallels here, though they are different events with different circumstances and at different levels. But one thing was surely the same. Two promising individuals were killed in an unfair way at such a young age and it was not their fault! I talked to Jose once and had a conversation about rap music. It didn't seem like much and probably didn't mean much to him, but I am quiet and usually don't talk to people. I am glad I got to talk to him and be his teammate. Jose was a special person. He was a track star - he was considered by many as the best player on the entire squad. He also was a great wide receiver on the football team and a big part of the reason we won the superbowl in the 2006-2007 season. He played on the basketball team but didn't get much time, and never got a chance to prove himself in his senior year. I miss Jose. The memory of his death always comes back to me and I think about him often.

I am confounded by the unfairness of it all. Who knows what he would have done? Who knows what Nick would have done? But I will never be a big sports star - I don't even play in college and I'm not athletic. To see people who had talent die in such a horrible unfair way bothers me to the point where I don't understand life anymore.

Needless to say, it is a stunning moment in the sports world which caught us all off guard. Baseball fans and sports fans around the world will agree that this is quite possibly the most tragic thing that can ever happen to an athlete. To finally make it to the big leagues, play well, and be forever removed from the face of the earth. Rest in Peace, Nick Adenhart. You will be sorely missed. It will take time for the Angels and all of Major League Baseball to recover from this. But we will never truly recover. There's no coming back from death.

Here is a link to a montage of Adenhart pitching against the Angels, with a voiceover talking about his death.

Here is a link to a longer video talking about how Adenhart got to where he was Wednesday, as well as news about the tragedy.