Nick Adenhart Future Angels Memorial

[Halonut]

Stephen put together a nice memorial pg for Nick on his site. Fans can email him and add to the tribute pg. i got mine in this afternoon. here is a link...

http://futureangels.com/memorial/adenhart/default.aspx

 

[Jock176]

Great site!
Just found an announcement for a memorial for Nick in Baltimore http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/ne...t_id=4268636&vkey=news_ana&fext=.jsp&c_id=ana
I still can't read any story on the subject with completely breaking down around crying. I drove down the 91 freeway yesterday and saw the Lemon off ramp and had a big lump in my throat.
I am a little disappointed, thought the flags aren't at half staff any more. I figured at least though April or least the memorial service on Thursday. Thanks for posting Halonut

 

[Halonut]

anytime man...i still get teared up when i think about it. baseball aside, he was a great kid

 

[Pinbreaker]

I noticed at the game today that the Angels had his jersey hanging in their dugout..

The M's also took time to have a moment of silence for Adenhart, Fidrych, and Kalas.

 

[G $MONEY$]

I noticed at the game today that the Angels had his jersey hanging in their dugout..

When i was watching one of last weekends Angels/Bosox games, the announcers said that the Angels were gonna take Adenhart's jersey on all road trips for the rest of the year and even have a empty locker for him in all their dressing rooms.

 

[THREADKILLER-crohrer]

There will be a memorial service for him at Williamsport HS on Friday.

 

[cgilmo]

here is a note from Torii Hunter

It's not easy, but we're moving on, moving forward, because that's what we do. We're professional athletes. We'll go about our business and play quality, exciting baseball for you fans. But no one will walk into our clubhouse this year without thinking about Nick Adenhart. He'll always be with us, this year and forever.

We all have our own ways of grieving and coping, of dealing with a tragedy like this. You've got to live your life and treat people the way you want to be treated. It starts right there. Do what you can to help others. Don't always be so concerned about yourself. Think about making others around you comfortable and happy, and that will affect you in a positive way.

You never know when God calls you to come home. We're a family here, and when He called Nick, it was like losing a brother. It hurts. One of the first things I did was call all my family members and tell them I love them. Every time I leave the house, I tell my wife and kids I love them. It's something we all should do every chance we get. Talk to your kids, your brothers and sisters, tell them how you feel. You never know when something like that, what happened to Nick, might happen to you.

When you're on a team like this, you spend more time with your teammates than you do your own family. So you become close, and naturally it hits everybody hard. Nick was just a kid, really, but he was a popular kid, a great kid. He was on his way to great accomplishments in this game. He wasn't here long, but he did get to live out his dream to play in the big leagues - and shut out the Oakland A's for six innings. That was the kind of performance that showed what was ahead of him. He pitched with his head and his heart. He had a gift and knew what to do with it.

Nick struck out guys he'd been watching since he was in junior high school. He was living out his dream. I kept pumping him up between innings, and I'll never forget that look he had, that determination. When he came off the field after that last inning, when he put them away in order in the sixth, I could feel him, what it meant to him.

I left the stadium around 11:30. It just so happened Nick's dad was here. It must be incredibly hard on his family right now, but at least his dad was able to see him, and Nick was able to tell his dad he loved him. Nick dropped him off at his hotel and went out with some friends, and they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He did nothing wrong. It could have happened to any of us.

That's why I encourage everyone to look your loved ones in the eyes and tell them how you feel, how you love and appreciate them. And when I called my brothers the next day and told them I loved them, I also told them to please never drink and drive. That has to stop. No more drinking and driving. Period. We have to be more respectful to each other.

Those of us who make good livings playing a game know how fortunate we are. Not everyone can make it to the big leagues, obviously. But you can take something from Nick and his life, how he went after what he wanted, how he pushed through some adversity last year and kept believing in himself.

He was a tremendous young man, kind of quiet but funny in his way with his easy manner and style. He had a great work ethic and amazing talent. He loved his family. Those are some of the things we should remember when we think about Nick. He was one of us, a baseball player, a competitor, and we're carrying on in his spirit and memory. It's the best way we can honor him.

That's what Nick would want us to do. I know he'll be watching us, pulling for us, an eternal Angel. We'll never stop thinking about Nick Adenhart, keeping him in our hearts and minds for the rest of our careers and our lives. A guy like that never really goes away. He's always a part of you.

 

[Jock176]

Here is Nick's online obituary and condolences from Maryland.
The family requests the omission of flowers. Memorial donations may be made to "34 Angel Forever"; send donations payable to The Nick Adenhart Memorial Fund, Geier Financial Group, 2505 Warwick Way, Suite 200, Marriottsville, MD 21104. Arrangements are by Osborne Funeral Home, Williamsport, Md.
"34 Angel Forever" send checks payable to The Nick Adenhart Memorial Fund, Geier Financial Group 2505 Warwick Way, Suite 200 Marriottsville, MD 21104

A little bit more closure tomorrow.
Please Rest in Peace Mr Nick as my 4 1/2 yr old called him the night he died. My wife knew I was taken it pretty hard so she in my son to cheer me up and say a Prayer with me (He is learning how to say his nightly Prayers), He happen to come in to the room at the end of the tribute to Mr. Nick ( good timing on my wifes part) on Fox sports west. They were showing his last game pitching, it was the 6th inning and he was about to to do his last strike out. I was very teary eyed. My son asked me" Dad will you do a Prayer with me" I LOST IT! My son goes dad why are you crying are you hurt. I said is son I am. Iam very very sad. I showed him Nick and told him what happened. He kinda understood about going to haven and all but not the dying part. About then they showed Mr. Nicks picture (him stting in his Angels uni. with the baseball in hand sitting on a stool with a big smile. my son goes "dad is that Mr. Nick (I have to wipe my eyes now hold on...) I said yes Andrew it is. DAD he has a uniform just like me does he plays Baseball. Yes he does, son, yes he does! Then as only a 4 yr old can do. "Dad I like Mr. Nick can I call him Mr Nick from now on?" Yes of course, he will like that. then he says "Good Dad. I love you!" and I love you too Andrew. When his picture left the screen we bowed our heads said a Prayed to Jesus and Mr Nick.
That was tough, over the weekend every time my son saw Nick's picture he would say " hey dad there is Mr. Nick where is Mr. Nick is he playing baseball today. Yes son he is up in haven with the Angels in the sky.
God Bless the Adenhart's , the Stewart family, the Pearson family and Jon Wilhite.
http://www.osbornefuneralhome.net/obituary.aspx?MemberId=57430&MName=Nicholas James Adenhart

 

[Bornagaincollector]

I read that Torri Hunter comments & the link about Dad & his little boy and the other comments.It just plain sad and brings tears to my eyes everytime i read or think about this tradedy.

 

[Jock176]

Posted a few hours ago on the LA times web site about the memorial service Nick Adenhart.

About 200 attend a private service for the Angels pitcher killed in a traffic accident a week ago.
By Dan Connolly
4:06 PM PDT, April 16, 2009
Reporting from Williamsport, Md. -- On a crisp, cloudless morning, a tight-knit rural community and a contingent of major league baseball personnel from Southern California joined together at a quaint, red-brick church to honor a young man who bridged divergent worlds.

Nicholas James "Nick" Adenhart, the 22-year-old Angels right-hander from Western Maryland who was killed last week in a car accident, was buried today after a private service attended by about 200 people.
Led by a Maryland state trooper, a five-mile procession of 70 cars drove to the interment at the Greenlawn Memorial Park.

"The community honored Nick Adenhart today," said Tim Mead, the Angels' vice president of communications, who was among 11 club representatives who flew to Maryland. "You just sensed -- certainly the hurt -- but the pride in this community for Nick. It was a very nice service."

Those in attendance included Angels owner Arte Moreno and his wife, Carole, General Manager Tony Reagins, Manager Mike Scioscia, pitching coach Mike Butcher, Angels pitchers Dustin Moseley, Jered Weaver and John Lackey, scouting director Eddie Bane and scout Dan Radcliff, who was credited with signing an injured Adenhart for $710,000 in the 14th round of the 2004 amateur draft.

The Angels players and coaching staff flew in from Seattle on Wednesday night and then returned for tonight's Thursday night's game against the Mariners.

A public memorial service will be held Friday at Adenhart's alma mater, Williamsport High School, at 7 p.m. Organizers are expecting at least 2,000 attendees.

On April 9, Adenhart, the organization's top prospect, pitched the best game of his brief big league career, throwing six scoreless innings against the Oakland Athletics in just his fourth major league start.

Hours later, he and two friends were killed in Fullerton, when the Mitsubishi Eclipse he was riding in was struck by a minivan that ran a red light. The driver of the minivan, Andrew Thomas Gallo, 22, has been charged with three counts of murder as well as fleeing an accident and DUI-related felonies.

One week later, family and select friends of Adenhart mourned their loss at Downsville Christian, Adenhart's childhood church, which is adjacent to a working farm and across the road from a general store that rents videos, sells sandwiches and has a full wall display of various pieces of fishing equipment -- a world away from the glitz of Southern California and the glare of the major league spotlight.

The service lasted nearly an hour.

"It was hard. It was heartbreaking," said Dean Albany, the Orioles' East Coast cross-checker scout, who managed Adenhart for several years with the high-level select team, the Maryland Orioles. "The hardest thing for me is I still don't believe it happened. You want to pinch yourself and wake up, but you just don't wake up from this."

While at the service, Albany said he could sense what Adenhart meant to the community.

"We all have our own heroes growing up. [Orioles greats] Jim Palmer and Brooks Robinson were my heroes," Albany said. "Nick Adenhart was a lot of people's hero around there. So this was tough on a lot of people, a lot of small kids in that little community."

Five miles from the church, at Williamsport High, more than 30 bouquets of flowers are arranged in the chain-link fence that surrounds the school's baseball field, where Adenhart starred.

Four baseballs are wedged next to the flowers, including one with the following rain-smudged inscription:

"Thank you Nick for giving us hope. For showing us that big dreams can come true. You were a true hometown hero. We miss you and you will never be forgotten."