I have one card of Nick Adenhart, from 2008 Stadium Club.
Playing career: Nick Adenhart made four starts for the Angels before being killed by a drunk driver on April 9, 2009.
My memories: I had not heard of him until his death.
Interesting stories: Perhaps no image better captures baseball’s drinking problem than the Angels celebrating their 2009 division title by pouring beer on Adenhart’s jersey. Since his well-publicized death, major leaguers who have been arrested for drinking and driving include at least Miguel Cabrera, Shin-Soo Choo, Coco Crisp, Austin Kearns, Adam Kennedy, Derek Lowe, and most recently Mark Grace. All received the slightest slap on the wrist from the law, and no consequence from Major League Baseball. And yet they did absolutely nothing different than the man who killed Adenhart, who was sentenced to 50 years in jail, they were just luckier. Our sport and our nation’s collective yawn when it comes to drunk driving is a disgrace.
Google Autocomplete results: He is tenth when you type Nick A, after Nick and Toni’s NYC, a restaurant near Lincoln center. There do not appear to be any other prominent Nick Adenharts.
Coming up next: The next profile will be Steve Adkins.
I missed the beer-pouring thing. Talk about being tone deaf. Oddly, my only Adenhart card is from '08 Stadium Club too, but it's the Photographer's Proof autograph, numbered to 50. Bought it maybe a couple days before he died for $5, was psyched that I got a pretty good prospect auto for so cheap.
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