“Baseball America’s Youth Player of the Year in 2003, Adenhart rivaled Homer Bailey as the top high school pitching prospect in the 2004 draft until he blew out his elbow that May and needed Tommy John surgery. Undaunted, the Angels drafted Adenhart in the 14th round and signed him for $710,000. Adenhart began 2008 by going 4-0, 0.87 in his first five starts at Triple-A Salt Lake before Los Angeles whisked him to the big leagues and asked him to pitch on three days’ rest against the Athletics. The experiment bombed, as he lasted just two innings and gave up five earned runs on three hits and five walks. After he continued to struggle with his control in subsequent starts against the Royals and White Sox, the Angels returned him to Triple-A and he never found his April groove again. Adenhart won just one of his next 10 starts and went 5-13, 7.08 the rest of the way.”

That was how Baseball America described their No. 1 prospect for the LA Angels, Nick Adenhart. Last night, he pitched six innings against Oakland in a solid manner.

Now, he’s gone, killed in a car crash with three others.

This goes to show you how unimportant baseball is in the scheme of things. Adenhart was on his way, he really went and fulfilled his dream, surely without knowing he was living the final night of his life.

A guy who struggled with injuries, Tommy John surgery, trying to find his way back into the game’s prospect elite, even trying to please his coaches too much and getting lost in the way. Now we are only left to wonder what would happen if he could just keep on pitching.

Keep on living.

A really tragic story which saddens us and I think I speak for us all at the Houston Astros in paying our respects and condolences to his family and our fellow colleagues at the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.