Rangers’ Darren O’Day carries memory of Nick Adenhart to World Series

Nick Adenhart made it to the World Series.

His spirit is here, in the bullpen of the Texas Rangers, in the heart of a former teammate who promises never to forget.

His initials and uniform number are here, in silver ink, beneath the bill of Darren O’Day’s cap. Whenever the Rangers summon O’Day from the bullpen, he pauses to collect himself, and to look up at what he has written on his cap.

NA 34.

“It helps me keep things in perspective,” O’Day said. “I go out there, and it might be a tight game.

“It helps you to take a little moment before you go out and pitch.”

Adenhart last pitched April 8, 2009, throwing six scoreless innings for the Angels. O’Day, by then pitching for the New York Mets, sent his friend a congratulatory text message.

O’Day never heard back. Adenhart and two friends had died when a drunk driver ran a red light and slammed into their car. Adenhart, 22, the Angels’ brilliant pitching prospect, had just made his fourth major league start.

“It’s unfortunate everybody only got to see his real talent on the night he passed,” O’Day said. “I hope everybody remembers how good he was.

“He would have been a No. 1 starter for a long time. He was a great guy, a great teammate.”

In 2007, Adenhart and O’Day were teammates for the Angels’ double-A Arkansas affiliate. In 2008, O’Day made the major league team out of spring training. When the Angels sent him to triple-A Salt Lake, Adenhart was there to pick up his spirits.

“When you get sent down the first time, it’s tough. You think you’re up there for good,” O’Day said. “He went out of his way to make sure I was doing all right.”

The Angels removed O’Day from their 40-man roster after the 2008 season, concerned about his torn labrum, an injury that can often mean the end of a pitcher’s career. But O’Day rehabilitated the injury without surgery, and the Mets claimed him on waivers.

Three weeks into the 2009 season, the Mets needed a roster spot. The Rangers claimed O’Day on waivers, and he and former Angels teammate Darren Oliver have established themselves as the right-left duo to set up closer Neftali Feliz. In 136 games for the Rangers over the last two seasons, O’Day has a 1.99 earned-run average.

O’Day made his Rangers debut in Toronto, two weeks after Adenhart died. The Rangers then traveled to Baltimore, and O’Day drove more than an hour into suburban Maryland to visit Adenhart’s burial spot.

“I had my peace with him,” O’Day said.

On the verge of his World Series debut, O’Day will rely on Adenhart’s spirit to calm him amid the pressure of baseball’s grandest stage.

“It’s pretty stressful what we do,” O’Day said. “Everybody thinks we’ve got it pretty easy.”

When the time comes to enter the game, and to focus, O’Day has his ritual: peek at his cap, take a deep breath, and go get ‘em.

When he does, NA 34 will be in the World Series.

bill.shaikin@latimes.com