Nick Adenhart

Nick Adenhart

Nicholas James Adenhart was an American right-handed baseball starting pitcher who played parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. In 2009 he was killed in a car crash just after pitching his first start of the season. Both the Angels and the Salt Lake Bees suspended their next games in honor of him.

About Nick Adenhart in brief

Summary Nick AdenhartNicholas James Adenhart was an American right-handed baseball starting pitcher who played parts of two seasons in Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. A graduate of Williamsport High School, he was highly touted as a high school prospect until an injury in his final game required Tommy John surgery. He was drafted by the Angels in the 14th round of the 2004 Major League baseball draft, and began playing in their minor league system after the surgery was a success. He spent three full seasons in the minor leagues before making his major league debut on May 1, 2008. In 2009 he earned a spot in the Angels’ starting rotation, but was killed in a collision with a drunk driver just after pitching his first start of the season. Both the Angels and the Salt Lake Bees suspended their next games in honor of him after he was killed. He is survived by his parents, Janet and Jim, a former United States Secret Service officer, and a son named Henry, who is a pitcher at the University of Oregon. His parents divorced and Janet later remarried Duane Gigeous, with whom she had a son called Henry, whom she also played baseball with at the North Carolina Tar Heels. He also had a daughter named Emma, who was a first-grader at North Carolina State University. He died in a car crash in 2009, and his funeral was held in his hometown of Silver Spring, Maryland, where he was a junior at Saint Maria Goretti High School in Hagerstown, Maryland.

His funeral was also held in Silver Spring; he was the only son of a former U.S. Secret Service agent. He had a no-hitter and 14 strikeouts during a playoff quarterfinal matchup, and as a result was named the Gatorade Player of the Year in Maryland. In his senior year, he threw a perfect game in his very first outing, striking out 15 of the 21 batters faced. In 2003, at the age of 16, he pitched for the Youse’s Maryland Orioles, who went on to win the All American Amateur Baseball Association Tournament for that year. In November of that year he signed a letter of intent to play with the North. CarolinaTar Heels baseball team at theUniversity of North Carolina, although his chances of being drafted high continued to climb. He fell to the first round, 413th overall pick in 2004, and was selected by the Angel’s scout Dan Radcliff and director of scouting Eddie Bane. During his professional debut on July 26, 2004, he also attended classes at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. During that time he made his pro debut on August 1, 2004. He pitched 18 innings and posted a win-loss record of 1–0. In a 1-0 loss during the playoff quarterfinals matchup, he had a 1. 04 earned run average during the regular season in his junior year, and had 14 strikeouts in his regular season game against the Baltimore Orioles.