Nick Adenhart a talent that was taken too soon

Four years ago on April 8th Major League Baseball and the Los Angeles Angels lost a great pitcher in Nick Adenhart. Today when I went on Twitter I saw my bud Ben's tweet (@Shakabrodie) and blog about the Salt Lake Bees and he brought up Adenhart. If you don't read his blog here's the one he posted on the Bees and Adenhart (Salt Lake Bees). 

So, back to what I'm writing about, I remembered that I had the pleasure of watching Nick Adenhart pitch against the Tacoma Rainiers. On June 2, 2008 Adenhart took the mound against the Rainiers and went six solid innings and allowed only two runs and ended a three game losing streak he had and improved to 5-3. While I was upset at the fact that the Rainiers lost I couldn't help be impressed with the way Adenhart pitched. 

Adenhart was taken in the 14th round of the 2004 MLB Draft by the Angels. He made his professional debut on June 25, 2005 with the Orem Owlz, where he pitched six innings, allowed one unearned run, struck out seven, and earned the win to. He would spend the rest of the 2005 season with the Angels Arizona League that summer, where he posted a 2-3 record with a 3.68 ERA and 52 strikeouts. The following spring, at 19, he was one of twelve who earned a non-roster invitation to the Angels spring training, he would then begin the season assigned to the Cedar Rapids Kernels, the Angels Single A affiliate. He pitched well for the Kernels that year, in 16 games he had 10 wins, with a 1.95 ERA, and 99 strikeouts in 106 innings pitched. That year he earned a spot in the 2006 All-Star Futures Game and was promoted to the Rancho Cucamongo Quakes, which is the High Desert-A affiliate. Adenhart won five games and lost two in nine starts with the Quakes, later that year he was also part of the United States Qualifying team along with teammate Brandon Wood.

In 2007, Adenhart became the top-ranked pitching prospect in the Angels organization, Baseball Almanac ranked him as the 34th-best prospect in baseball and second in the Angels organization. He was called up to Double-A to play with the Arkansas Travelers, where he would spend the entire 07 season at. He finished the year with the Travelers with 26 appearances, and had a 10-8 record with a 3.65 ERA. The following year, Adenhart was called up to the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees, where he did spend the majority of the season, he also was declared the 24th-best prospect in baseball that year. During the month of April in 08, Adenhart had a 4-0 record with a 0.87 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 31 innings. As a result of his hot month, the Angels called him up and was scheduled to make his debut on May 1st, pitching on three days rest to. 

He made his major league debut as the starter against the Oakland Athletics and at the time, he was the youngest active-roster pitcher in the majors. In his debut, he gave up five earned runs and walked five in two innings of work, earning a no-decision in a 15-8 loss. While doing research on him, I found that he was very disappointed in his performance and in an after game interview he said that "I let down the team first. You always want to go out and prove yourself to your teammates and your manager and your coaches. I was a disappointment to myself also." In his second start he faced the Kansas City Royals, where he earned another no-decision while going 4 1/3 innings giving up three runs, and striking out three. On May 12, 2008, Adenhart earned his first major league win against the Chicago White Sox in Anaheim, giving up four runs through 5 and 2/3 of work in a 10-7 win for the Angels. After the win, he was sent back down to Salt Lake, where he spent the rest of the year while posting a 9-13 record with a 5.76 ERA in 26 games.

At the start of the 2009 season, Adenhart was declared the best prospect in the Angels organization, and was ranked the 68th overall on Baseball America's 2009 Top 100 list. In spring training Adenhart earned a spot on the Angels starting role, in his six starts in spring training he had a 3-0 record with a 3.12 ERA over 26 innings pitched. He only allowed nine runs and five walks, while striking out 18. Adenhart opened the 2009 season as the number three starter for the Angels. 

On April 8, 2009 he made both his season debut and his final start of his life against the very team he made his major league debut against, the Oakland Athletics. Adenhart was on his A-game that night but earned a no-decision, as he went six shutout innings while striking out five and walking three, as the Angels lost that game 6-4. 

That night shortly after midnight on April 9, 2009, Adenhart was hit by a drunk driver driving a red Toyota Seinna minivan which sent the car Adenhart was in into a telephone pole. Courtney Stewart and Henry Pearson, the driver and another passenger in car Adenhart was in died at the scene, but both Adenhart and Jon Wilhite, a third passenger were taken to University of California, Irvine Medical Center, where Adenhart was pronounced dead due to his injuries he suffered. Wilhite suffered internal decapitation and survived after undergoing five hours of surgery to reattach his skull six days after the accident. Both the Angels and the Bees cancelled their games the next day. A black number 34 patch was placed on the Angles' uniforms, the team also hung his jersey in the dugout for the rest of the year. The Angels celebrated winning the AL West by spraying champagne and beer on his jersey, and then gathered in front of the outfield memorial for a team picture. 

The driver of the minivan fled the scene of the accident, but was arrested. On May 27, 2009 Andrew Gallo was indicted on three counts of murder, one count each of felony hit-and-run, driving under the influence and causing injury, and driving with a .08 percent blood alcohol or higher and causing injury and death. Gallo's blood alcohol of .19 percent two hours after the crash, and was driving with a suspended license. On December 22, 2010 Gallo was found guilty and sentenced to 51 years to life in prison.

Nick maybe gone from not just the fans but baseball, but his teammates keep his spirit alive. Jeff Weaver on an ongoing memorial writes his initials "NA" in the dirt of the pitchers mound before every start, he also named his son Aden in honor of his fallen teammate. Mike Napoli, who caught Nick's final game, goes out to center field before every game, and writes his name in the warning track dirt. Nick's former minor league teammate, Miguel Gonzalez paid tribute to Adenhart by wearing one of his gloves in his first major league start, on July 6, 2012.