Heavy hearts abound
ANAHEIM, Calif. Jerseys and pants were hung up, shoes were lined up neatly in a row, baseballs and a glove rested on a shelf and a tall jar of dirt from the pitcher's mound stood on the top of a lineup card.
It looked as though Nick Adenhart had momentarily stepped away from his locker in a corner of the Los Angeles Angels' clubhouse.
But he'll never be back.
The grief-stricken Angels took their first tentative steps toward moving on after the stunning death of their 22-year-old rookie pitcher, beating the Boston Red Sox 6-3 Friday night.
"We're happy to get a win," manager Mike Scioscia said. "It doesn't do much for what happened the last couple of days, but we're playing baseball. When the game's over and you start to think about it, it doesn't ease the pain."
The Angels paid tribute with a moment of silence for Adenhart and two of his friends who were killed about 36 hours earlier in a car crash after being broadsided in a Fullerton intersection by a suspected drunken driver.
The game began hours after Andrew Thomas Gallo, a 22-year-old from San Gabriel, was charged with three counts of murder by the Orange County district attorney. He ran a red light in his minivan and hit the car carrying Adenhart and his friends, police said. A fourth passenger riding with Adenhart remained hospitalized in critical condition, but was expected to live.
Gallo had nearly triple the legal blood-alcohol level and could get nearly 55 years to life in prison if convicted of all charges, police said.
Flags flew at half-staff at Angel Stadium and around the major leagues to honor a rookie who had accomplished little but showed the promise and potential for a long career.
The Angels, their fans and Adenhart's parents held tightly to their memories that provided cold comfort to a group still in shock from the sudden deaths of the pitcher and his friends Courtney Stewart and Henry Pearson.
"It's still very somber," catcher Jeff Mathis said. "We're feeling it."
Adenhart's parents, Jim and Janet, met privately before the game with Scioscia and pitching coach Mike Butcher, who was instrumental in Adenhart's development during spring training.
The divorced couple each took a keepsake jersey from their son's locker and the pitcher's mother took the red hat he wore while tossing six scoreless innings Wednesday against Oakland in the best performance of Adenhart's brief major league career.
The rest of the locker's contents were left in place, including Adenhart's iPod, and they will remain there for the rest of the season. On the road, a locker will be set aside for him in remembrance.
