``Darryl Kile and Ken Caminiti were very close friends of mine,'' said Bogar, the Red Sox first base coach, whose major league career brought him to Houston from 1997-2000. It was there he met Caminiti, who was into his second tour of duty with the Astros. It was also there where during the 1997 season he befriended Kile and remained close to him until his death June 22, 2002 from coronary disease.

Another Cardinals and Red Sox farmhand, Josh Hancock, died in a car accident April 29, 2007, while drinking and talking on his cellphone.

``When I heard about Nick, you know, you just start thinking about things and, really, the wonderful things about Darryl and Ken that kind of pop into your head. But at the same time, it's just very difficult to think that they're no longer with us and [neither is] Nick Adenhart, obviously a wonderful kid and a very talented kid who was up in the big leagues at age 22, and the world of potential he had. It's just devastating.''

Bogar didn't know Adenhart well mostly because his job was to work with infielders. Adenhart spent his time with the pitching coaches on the Futures squad.

``Everyone spoke so highly of him. A kid from a nice family who was rising fast and had all the tools,'' said Bogar. ``Obviously, he's in the Angels' starting rotation at a young age, so you know what kind of ability he must have had and how far he'd come.''

And so the trip out West for the Sox was quite emotional.

``It'll be tough,'' said Brad Penny, who pitched for the Dodgers last year. ``But not as tough as it is for that family right now. My heart goes out for them. What a tragedy.''

The Red Sox had observed a moment of silence before the game in memory of Adenhart.

``It's horrible,'' said Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon, a coach in the Angels system for many years. ``I didn't really know Nick. I know the guys there are having a real hard time today. It's just awful - all of us who have kids - you know that it's an awful moment. Where the accident occurred is not far from my home. I was thinking about it a lot during the course of the game. That is beyond my scope. [Mike Scioscia] is great and he'll handle it as well as anyone could. They'll hang together because that's a tight-knit group.''

Jason Varitek thought the Angels did the right thing by postponing last night's game against the A's.

``You lose some part of your family and one of your young teammates, there's other people in the car from what I understand and their families, his family, his teammates, everybody. It's a tragic thing that happened, and our hearts go out to all of them,'' Varitek said.

Varitek imagined it would be difficult for the Sox and Angels when they meet tonight.