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Adenhart shut down the A's last night in his final appearance.
22-year old Nick Adenhart was living a dream. Early this morning, that dream turned into a nightmare.
Adenhart had faced adversity throughout his entire baseball career. It all started two weeks before the 2004 draft, when the then-18-year-old prospect who was projected to go in the top five seriously injured his elbow. He fell all the way to the 14th round, where the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim took a chance on him.
He underwent Tommy John surgery, and spent most of the next four years in the minors.
He finally made it to the show last season, when he made three starts. He earned his only Major League decision, a 10-7 win over the White Sox, in his Major League debut on May 12. He would struggle in his other two starts, walking 13 while only striking out four.
In 2009 he seemed to turn a corner. The Angels were in serious need of some pitching after losing Ervin Santana and John Lackey to injuries in spring training. Adenhart stepped up.
According to manager Mike Scioscia, Adenhart had been working hard all winter long and came to camp looking to take the next step in his career. He did.
Last night, Adenhart made his first start of the season. He kept the A’s off balance all night as he threw six shutout innings and left with a 4-0 lead. The bullpen would eventually let the game slip away, denying Adenhart his second career win. It was a tough break for the young righty, but Adenhart showed all of baseball how good he could have been.
Just a few hours after the game, everything changed. Adenhart was a passenger in a friend’s car when a minivan driven by 22-year-old Andrew Thomas Gallo went through a red light and hit them, sending the silver Mitsubishi Eclipse into a pole. Two of the passengers were pronounced dead at the scene. Adenhart later died in surgery.
In just a split second the promising young pitcher, who was just a few hours removed from his greatest professional achievement, was gone.
But the loss obviously goes far beyond the field of play. Both the Adenharts and the Angels lost a part of their family far too soon. "The Angels family has suffered a tremendous loss today," Angels General Manager Tony Reagins said to MLB.com. "We are deeply saddened and shocked by this tragic loss.”
In the hours to follow, the shock was felt all over Major League Baseball. Yankees’ manager Joe Girardi, who did not know Adenhart personally, fought to hold back tears at his pregame press conference.
"It's one big fraternity, one big family. Your heart goes out to that family and that young man. You realize how precious life is. You wake up every day and be thankful for what you've got, because you never know," Girardi said.
Angels center fielder Torii Hunter thought he was dreaming when he first heard the news. When he found out that the teammate who was lost was Adenhart, he was in disbelief, especially because Adenhart was so masterful on the mound just a few hours earlier. Hunter told MLB.com that he “had a smile from ear to ear” during that performance.
As impressive as he was on the mound last night, Scioscia was more impressed with Adenhart's personal growth.
"His growth as a person over the last four years is something we're very proud of with him…It was a privilege to watch, and his family should be very proud. He was an outstanding young man," Scioscia said.
Adenhart, the top prospect in the Angels organization, finished his career with a record of 1-0. He was undefeated.
Today, the rest of the world experienced something he never felt in the big leagues. A stunning loss.
For more on the Nick Adenhart tragedy, see MLB.com's coverage and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Examiner William Martinez.
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