ANAHEIM, Calif. _ The path wasn't clear, but the destination was not in doubt. Nick Adenhart seemed bound for baseball greatness, with lightning in an arm that produced 94-mph fastballs and sharp overhand curves, before the 22-year-old Angels pitcher was killed by a drunken driver on April 9, 2009.
The only question was how he'd get there.
Joe Saunders, a former Angels pitcher whose clubhouse locker was next to Adenhart's, thinks Nick would have been a solid starter for five or six years before moving to the bullpen _ like Hall-of-Famer John Smoltz _ and becoming a dominant setup man or closer.
Former Angels reliever Kevin Jepsen, who came up through the minor leagues with Adenhart and was also a 2009 locker mate, is convinced Nick had the stuff and mental makeup to flourish as a big league starter for a decade or more.
"I know baseball is not everything in the big picture of life, but Nick was such a good talent, he had such unbelievable potential, that you think, were there All Star Games, was there a Cy Young Award, in his future?" said Jepsen, who retired in 2018.
"You sit there and start thinking, what kind of career would Nick have had in baseball? And I'm sure it would have been a great one."
Tuesday marks the 10th anniversary of one of the darkest days in franchise history. Adenhart, just hours after pitching six scoreless innings against the Oakland Athletics in his fourth major league start, was killed when the car in which he was riding was broadsided by a minivan a few miles north of Angel Stadium shortly after midnight.
Adenhart, the small-town kid from Williamsport, Md., who overcame major elbow surgery in high school, was the organization's top pitching prospect, a lean-and-lanky 6-foot-3, 185-pound right-hander.
Adenhart and three friends were headed to a dance club in Fullerton to celebrate his 2009 debut when their Mitsubishi Eclipse was struck by a Toyota Sienna that blew through a red light at 65 mph at the intersection of Orangethorpe Avenue and Lemon Street.
The driver of the Eclipse, Courtney Stewart, 20, a Cal State Fullerton student and aspiring broadcast journalist, and another passenger, Henry Pearson, 25, a law school student and aspiring sports agent, also were killed.
A fourth passenger, former Cal State Fullerton catcher Jon Wilhite, survived despite suffering an internal decapitation _ the impact of the crash separated his spine from his skull _ an injury that is often fatal.
It took years for Wilhite, who also suffered collapsed lungs, broken ribs, a fractured scapula and brain shearing, to recover. Now 34, Wilhite was married in Temecula last fall and remains close to the Angels, serving as a guest instructor in spring training in recent years.
"He's a walking miracle," said Tim Mead, the Angels vice president of communications. "Jon is doing so well."
The driver of the minivan, 22-year-old Andrew Thomas Gallo of San Gabriel, had a blood-alcohol content of more than twice the legal limit more than two hours after the crash. He was driving on a suspended license because of a 2006 drunken-driving conviction.
Gallo was convicted of three second-degree murder charges and sentenced to 51 years to life in prison. Currently an inmate at the Ironwood State Prison in Blythe, Gallo will be eligible for his first parole hearing in 2028.
"I took three lives when I was 22 and seriously injured another," Gallo, now 32, said in a written response to questions sent to him in prison. "I took Nick Adenhart, Courtney Stewart and Henry Pearson's lives and severely impacted Jonathan Wilhite's life in many ways. I not only took their lives, but I also destroyed all those who loved and cared for them.
"They were all so young, lives cut short through my irresponsible actions. I took life for granted and never weighed the consequences for my selfish, reckless ways. They had so much to live for, so much of a great future ahead of them. That's something I have to live with."
