FanHouse Nick Adenhart

Shortly after midnight on April 9, Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed by a drunk driver just hours after a start against the Oakland Athletics. Now Adenhart's parents are speaking out about how they've dealt with their grief over the last six months.

"I have some days now that, you know, you try to move to that place where you're thankful for the time you had," Janet Adenhart says in an interview that will air Tuesday on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. "But we're definitely not there yet."

NEW YORK – This is how it ends, in the Angels' perfect little world. They steal their share of bases, acts of defiance that come so naturally, and the starting rotation hands the ball over to the bullpen, which doesn't fall apart. Mike Scioscia, the crafty former catcher who is fluent with quips and stingy when it comes to making managerial mistakes, probably allows a tear or three to leak as his players drench him with celebratory bubbly.

This is for Nick, the Angels will say, in between bursts of hugs and laughter, and they'll tell his story to anyone who asks. The Angels believe his spirit is with them, lingering, guiding them through this remarkable season. "Oh yes, he's cheering for us," Bobby Abreu, the Angel outfielder, was saying Thursday afternoon, as he took shelter in a soggy Yankee Stadium. "We keep him with us here and here."

If you could remove one uncomfortable detail, there was a heartwarming scene after the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim clinched their division title on Monday night.

They broke out the beer and champagne, sprayed it all over each other and then remembered Nick Adenhart. They got his jersey and poured the booze all over it, as if he were there with them.

But Adenhart was there only in spirit. A drunk driver killed the 22-year-old pitcher in April.

Not to be a party pooper, but yikes. Give the Angels points for irony, but a beer shower wasn't the best way to honor this particular teammate's memory.

In the immediate aftermath of the tragic crash that claimed the life of Angels' pitcher Nick Adenhart and two of his friends, things looked bleak for Jon Wilhite. The former Cal State Fullerton baseball player was in critical condition and his head and spine had been separated, a horrific condition known medically as "internal decapitation." According to this article about the surgery required to save his life, more than 95 percent of people that suffer the injury die at the scene of the accident and most that do survive the immediate aftermath end up paralyzed.

Wilhite not only survived, but he's walking and was able to throw out the first pitch at the A's-Angels game in Oakland Saturday night. He's expected to make a near-full recovery, which both of his parents call "a miracle." The A's honored the lone survivor of the accident not just by having him throw out the first pitch, but by helping Wilhite's friend and former teammate at Fullerton, Kurt Suzuki, raise over $50,000 to help with his recovery.

Earlier this season on Opening Day a fan named Brian Powers was killed at Angels Stadium when he got into a fight with one other fan, and a third person came and punched him in the head, knocking him over and causing him to crack his head on the concrete. I'm not exactly superstitious, nor do I put much faith in these types of things, but you have to admit that Powers' death certainly wasn't the greatest omen for Angels Stadium this season.

Powers' death was quickly followed by the tragic loss of Nick Adenhart in a car accident, and now there's been more violence at the stadium. On Wednesday night two men were shot in the parking lot by an off-duty police officer.

OAKLAND -- The Angels have been just a shell of the team that was supposed to run away with the AL West, having lost five top starting pitchers and their best hitter, but general manager Tony Reagins said things are about to turn.

"There is some light at the end of the tunnel," Reagins told FanHouse before the Angels opened a two-game series against the A's on Monday night.

Reagins said that injured starters John Lackey, Ervin Santana and Dustin Moseley all could be back within weeks, and Vladimir Guerrero might be back by early June. (Kelvim Escobar has had a few setbacks and now is likely to come back a reliever sometime in June, at the earliest.)

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Jered Weaver gave the Angels a much-needed respite Tuesday night. Weaver, along with left-hander Joe Saunders, is one of the last men standing in a Los Angeles rotation ravaged by injuries and, of course, the tragic death of Nick Adenhart.

He pitched seven innings and allowed three runs as the Angels beat the Tigers, providing a quality start and taking some of the pressure off of a bullpen which entered the night with a major league-worst 8.31 ERA.

Unfortunately, it was only one night, and Los Angeles has many ahead.

The tragic death of 22-year-old starter Nick Adenhart is definitely going to be the low point of the Los Angeles Angels' season -- at least let's hope they don't have to deal with another death -- but much less significant problems are continuing to plague the defending AL West Champions. Specifically, they can't escape the injury bug.

While John Lackey, Ervin Santana, and Kelvim Escobar try to fight their way back to the mound, Vladimir Guerrero has joined them on the disabled list and Dustin Moseley left Friday night's start after just three innings with an apparent elbow injury -- an elbow which was surgically repaired in 2007.

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It's been a while since a week of baseball was this sad -- we saw the tragic passings of Nick Adenhart, Harry Kalas and Mark Fidrych. And without waxing too sentimentally, it's the loss of these men that remind us exactly just how little sports matter in the grand scheme of things. RIP, gentlemen. Power rankings (that feel just a tad inconsequential, to be honest) after the jump.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- A series full of drama and emotion got a little more entertaining today, when Josh Beckett whistled a ball past Bobby Abreu's head, inciting a bench-clearing incident that resulted in four Angels getting ejected.

Even after it was all over and the Angels had pulled out another dramatic 5-4 victory, taking two of three in the series, there were some unhappy folks in the winning clubhouse.

"That was as flagrant as anything I've seen in this game, and it's unfortunate," said manager Mike Scioscia, who had to watch the last eight innings of the game on television after he got the boot.