His corner locker remained intact -- uniform, spikes, baseballs, glove, equipment bag, water bottle and all. His No. 34 jersey hung in the dugout as it has for every game, home and away. The photo of him in mid-pitching motion was affixed to the center-field wall.
The Angels clinched another American League West championship with an 11-0 victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday night, their fifth division title in six years, and the one player who wasn't there to live it, to feel it, was the one player who seemed to be everywhere in Angel Stadium.
"There isn't a guy in this locker room who isn't playing for his memory," reliever Jason Bulger said of Nick Adenhart, the 22-year-old Angels pitcher who was killed with two friends when their car was broadsided by an alleged drunk driver near Angel Stadium on April 9, four days into the season.
"We took him onto the field, and not just on the center-field wall," Bulger said. "He's in our hearts right now. He's been a huge part of this season and will continue to be in the postseason."
On Monday inside the clubhouse, when the Angels celebrated their division title, players talked of Adenhart.
"We lost a dear friend, dear brother, dear teammate, Nick Adenhart," outfielder Torii Hunter said, as champagne was poured on him. "We had a lot of obstacles, but we came through."
Angels players then honored Adenhart by running out and touching his photo on the outfield wall.
Throughout the season, the Angels overcame their share of injuries to key players such as Hunter, Vladimir Guerrero, John Lackey, Ervin Santana and Scot Shields.
They weathered the typical ups and downs of a 162-game schedule, those stretches when the offense fell flat, the starting pitchers couldn't keep the team in the game, or the relievers couldn't get anyone out.
But how does a team cope with the death of a promising young right-hander who hours before he was killed had thrown six shutout innings against the Oakland Athletics at Angel Stadium?
"It seemed like a dream to me," pitcher Dustin Moseley said that day.
How does a team that is used to joking around in the clubhouse sit in that same room and listen to Jim Adenhart, his voice cracking with emotion, thank players and coaches for befriending his son just hours after Nick was killed?
"That was one of the toughest things I've ever seen," pitcher Joe Saunders said. "Seeing his dad come in here, someone suffering emotionally like that. As a new father, I could only imagine what he was going through."
