"We were just kind of reminiscing about what Nick brought to the team, to the clubhouse," center fielder Torii Hunter told reporters as he drove out of the players' parking lot. "He was a very funny kid and he's going to be missed. Every time you come to the stadium and you go in that clubhouse, you're looking at Nick Adenhart's locker.

"A lot of these guys in here have never lost anybody in their family that's close to them. I hate that this happened, but this is part of life. This is the real deal. That's why you've got to kiss your kids, kiss your family every day when you get up in the morning and before you leave for work."

The feeling was no different in the A's clubhouse.

"It's sad," first baseman Jason Giambi said. "The kid goes out there and throws the game of his career. He was phenomenal last night, and to have it cut short like this, my heart goes out to his family and all the other families involved.

". . . The sad part about it was this kid was just about to begin his big league career. The guys around here you ask about him said he was a great kid and worked hard. He just got a chance to touch his dream a little bit. He didn't quite finish it off, but at least he got a chance to do that. The way he threw the ball last night he was going to have a bright future."

Adenhart's death -- in an accident allegedly caused by a drunk driver -- resonated with Angels fans on many levels.

For one family, it brought back the horrific memory of how a drunk driver can cause irreparable harm -- an accident from 10 years ago.

Lou Meneses of Orange, who has been going to Angels games for 25 years ("I just love the Angel style of play"), stood in front of the stadium's entrance with his 16-year-old daughter, Annie, and one of her friends, Cassidy Hernandez.

"I'm happy to be alive," Meneses said. "Life is so precious. People take it for granted. I was telling the girls, 'Always look before you cross the street when you're driving.' Because they just started driving. Look both ways because some people go right through red lights."

Annie interjected, saying: "My sister [Christiana] was hit by a drunk driver in a crosswalk. She lived. But she lost a lot of her memories."

Lou: "She was in a coma for a couple of weeks and almost didn't make it."

They planned to also pay condolences at the crash site.