If you haven't already, I would encourage you to go read Rev Halofan's moving tribute The Loss of Nick Adenhart on Halo's Heaven, which I really think sums up exactly how all of us feel about "our" players.
These players we will never know are family, we know the illusion of them better than we know some of our own kin. We still tell stories about the time they did this great feat or that terrible blunder as if those curveballs and errors happened in the backyard.
Although most Angels' fans did not know Adenhart personally, there is still something very personal about inviting players into your home, via the internet or television for 162 games a year. And baseball is a great escape; no matter what is going on in our lives, we always have baseball from March to October. It's no wonder we are all devastated when "real life" crosses over into the lovely fantasy world we have built.
The updates on the crash from TMZ.com (they are the fastest news) show that the following people have been killed in last night's crash:
Nick Adenhart, 22
Henry Nigel Pearson, 25, a law student who wanted to be a sports agent.
Courtney Stewart, 20, who was a student at Cal State Fullerton.
Survivor:
Jon Wilhite, a former baseball star at Cal State Fullerton, has survived the crash, but is still in the hospital. No word yet on his current condition.
The driver of the van that ran the red light and hit the car with Adenhart has been identified as Andrew Gallow, who was driving under the influence and on a suspended license. He is in police custody.
The game tonight has been cancelled out of respect to the Angels' organization and Adenhart's family.
The A's will resume play on Friday night. Brett Anderson is now listed as the starting pitcher.
