They had been planning the trip for a couple of months now, since they saw the Los Angeles Angels' schedule. On Tuesday, April 28, Nick was supposed to come home. Ask anyone around Williamsport and Hagerstown: They had been gearing up for the hour-plus drive to Baltimore for months now.
"That was the plan," said Jereme Leazier, 24, a former classmate of Nick Adenhart's at Williamsport High. "We were always going to be here, even if it wasn't his night to pitch."
Sitting in the stands at Camden Yards on Tuesday night, Leazier was one of many fans wearing an Adenhart T-shirt. Nearly three weeks have passed since Adenhart, a 2004 graduate of Williamsport and a first-round draft pick of the Angels, died as a result of injuries suffered in a car accident. From the visitors' clubhouse at Camden Yards to the tightknit community 75 miles west of the ballpark, emotions are still raw.
Below the third-base stands where Leazier and his buddies were seated, in the bowels of the stadium, is the visiting team's clubhouse. Between catchers Jeff Mathis and Mike Napoli was a locker for No. 34. Adenhart's jersey hung alone. The night's lineup card sat untouched on the stool.
The people of Western Maryland have been able to grieve privately. But because their workplace happens to be televised nationwide, the Angels have not.
"It's hard. It's tough to talk about that," Angels center fielder Torii Hunter said. "We want to move on, but we'll never, ever forget him. He's probably looking down on us and saying, 'Man, what are you guys doing? Don't get so down when you lose.' He's a competitor, he's a baseball player. I'm pretty sure he's looking down and [saying], 'Let's go, keep pushing.' He's in a better place. He's in a better place than we are. We got problems."
Since the accident, players have known they would close the season's first month in Adenhart's backyard, the first time they've been back in the area since an airplane whisked a handful of players and team personnel into and out of town for the funeral service.
"It seems like every day there's something that reminds you about him. This being his hometown and everything, it hits home for us," pitcher Jered Weaver said. "It's another reminder of his presence and what he meant. Each day, it's supposed to get a little easier, but at the same time, it's tough. He was so young, such a great guy. It would've been nice to be out here, just visiting his family, you know."
