Tragedy resonates beyond Anaheim

It began soon after the news broke Thursday morning -- a handful of bouquets, a lone baseball and some loose papers, expressions of sorrow from a few grieving fans outside the entrance to Angel Stadium. Inside the stadium, the flags flying at half-staff.

But the procession of visitors didn’t end and by nightfall, this makeshift tribute to pitcher Nick Adenhart was of a size and scope equal to the profound sense of loss washing over anyone who watched. Wreaths, stuffed animals, red balloons, more flowers, more written messages.

On one balloon: Nick, You’re An Angel Now.

The death of the Angels rookie, who was killed early Thursday morning as the result of a traffic accident, reverberated around the tight baseball community and resonated across the country.

Only the night before, Adenhart had pitched six scoreless innings against the Oakland A’s before being lifted for a reliever.

Angels General Manager Tony Reagins, at a news conference Thursday morning, described Adenhart as a “poised, disciplined” pitcher.

“Nothing fazed this kid,” Reagins said. “He dealt with the peaks and valleys of development. Last night, we saw one of his peaks.”

In the afternoon at the stadium, Oakland infielder Mark Ellis and pitcher Russ Springer, who once played in Anaheim, walked across the hallway to the Angels’ clubhouse to pay their respects, not long before the Angels held a team meeting at 3 p.m., during which Jim Adenhart, Nick’s father, addressed the team.

“We were just kind of reminiscing about what Nick brought to the team, to the clubhouse,” center fielder Torii Hunter told reporters as he drove out of the players’ parking lot. “He was a very funny kid and he’s going to be missed. Every time you come to the stadium and you go in that clubhouse, you’re looking at Nick Adenhart’s locker.

“A lot of these guys in here have never lost anybody in their family that’s close to them. I hate that this happened, but this is part of life. This is the real deal. That’s why you’ve got to kiss your kids, kiss your family every day when you get up in the morning and before you leave for work.”

The feeling was no different in the A’s clubhouse.

“It’s sad,” first baseman Jason Giambi said. “The kid goes out there and throws the game of his career. He was phenomenal last night, and to have it cut short like this, my heart goes out to his family and all the other families involved.

”. . . The sad part about it was this kid was just about to begin his big league career. The guys around here you ask about him said he was a great kid and worked hard. He just got a chance to touch his dream a little bit. He didn’t quite finish it off, but at least he got a chance to do that. The way he threw the ball last night he was going to have a bright future.”

Adenhart’s death -- in an accident allegedly caused by a drunk driver -- resonated with Angels fans on many levels.

For one family, it brought back the horrific memory of how a drunk driver can cause irreparable harm -- an accident from 10 years ago.

Lou Meneses of Orange, who has been going to Angels games for 25 years (“I just love the Angel style of play”), stood in front of the stadium’s entrance with his 16-year-old daughter, Annie, and one of her friends, Cassidy Hernandez.

“I’m happy to be alive,” Meneses said. “Life is so precious. People take it for granted. I was telling the girls, ‘Always look before you cross the street when you’re driving.’ Because they just started driving. Look both ways because some people go right through red lights.”

Annie interjected, saying: “My sister [Christiana] was hit by a drunk driver in a crosswalk. She lived. But she lost a lot of her memories.”

Lou: “She was in a coma for a couple of weeks and almost didn’t make it.”

Annie: “They told us she was dead.”

They planned to also pay condolences at the crash site.

“There should be stricter laws about drunk driving,” Lou Meneses said. “This guy just goes through a red light and a poor innocent young guy and his girlfriend and other people get killed.

“For what reason? You get some guy who’s had too many beers or whatever, and it’s a tragedy. The guy was a future All-Star.”

Times staff writer Mike DiGiovanna contributed to this report.

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lisa.dillman@latimes.com