Angels Are Maintaining Adenhart’s Presence

Ken Higdon always packs the jersey in his travel bag last. That way, he knows he will not forget it. That way, Higdon knows a part of Nick Adenhart is always journeying with the Los Angeles Angels.

Higdon is the Angels’ clubhouse manager, so one of his responsibilities is making sure their equipment makes it from one city to the next. Since Adenhart, a 22-year-old pitcher, was killed in an automobile accident on April 9, one of Higdon’s solemn responsibilities has been as a caretaker for Adenhart’s jersey.

“It really hasn’t sunken in to the fullest that we lost a guy that was unbelievable,” Higdon said. “To me, doing this is like saying every day, ‘Hey, Nick, what’s going on?’ ”

After Higdon arrived at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, he removed Adenhart’s gray-and-red jersey from his bag, put it on a white hanger and placed it in one of the regular player lockers. On Saturday, another player hung jeans and a striped shirt beside Adenhart’s No. 34 jersey. Bats rested in the locker as well.

“He’s just like all of us,” Higdon said. “He travels with us.”

When reliever Scot Shields leaves the clubhouse to walk to the bullpen, he usually takes Adenhart’s jersey and hangs it in the Angels’ dugout. Shields said the Angels do it because Adenhart “is still part of this team.” After games, Shields usually retrieves the jersey and returns it to the clubhouse.

“We think about him every day,” Shields said. “He doesn’t leave our hearts.”

Several hours after Adenhart pitched six scoreless innings in his fourth major league appearance, he was a passenger in a car that was broadsided by a minivan operated by a man suspected of drunken driving. Adenhart, who was the Angels’ premier pitching prospect, and two others in the vehicle were killed.

The team honored Adenhart by affixing his picture on the outfield fence and maintaining his locker at Angel Stadium. Tim Mead, a spokesman for the Angels, said the organization also decided to hang Adenhart’s jersey in the dugout, at home and on the road. Higdon said he did not need an e-mail reminder to keep Adenhart’s jersey in the same stack with the other jerseys.

“It was a no-brainer,” Higdon said. “I don’t think anybody even needed to tell us what to do. We all felt that way. From the time it happened, he wasn’t going anywhere.”

Higdon, 46, who has the bulky physique of a retired offensive lineman, has worked for the Angels for 17 years. He arrives at the ballpark four hours before day games and 10 hours before night games. Higdon carries one Adenhart jersey on the road because, he insisted, there is no way he would ever forget it or lose it.

“Not even worried about it,” Higdon said.

Shields said the Angels were comforted by seeing Adenhart’s jersey because it is a reminder of him and how fortunate they are to still be playing. Higdon likes seeing the hanging jersey because if he had not thought about Adenhart yet that day, the jersey prompts him.

“You look at him, and he’s a pretty special dude,” Higdon said. “He had his stuff together and he worked hard. He was unbelievable. Just a really good kid.”

As Higdon discussed the jersey, it was evident that he viewed it as an extension of Adenhart and the closest the Angels can ever be to him. He stressed that Adenhart’s jersey was treated like every other Angels jersey. But when Higdon was asked if he tosses Adenhart’s jersey in the laundry after every game, he smiled briefly and said it was occasionally washed.

Sometime on Sunday, the Angels will finish their series against the Yankees and will pack for a flight to Oakland. While Higdon hustles to get the uniforms and equipment bags assembled for the trip, he will pay special attention to the last item he puts in his bag: Adenhart’s jersey.

“Unfortunately, we’re all part of something that happened,” Higdon said. “It affects all of us. I think it makes you appreciate what you have. It’s an honor for me to do that every day.”