Players and staff around the major leagues remembered Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart on Thursday, with some teams holding moments of silence in his memory before their games.

“Here today, gone tomorrow, you never know,” Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “That’s why you’ve got to enjoy today. That’s sad.”

The 22-year-old rookie was among three people who died early Thursday after their car was struck by a motorist who ran a red light. He made his season debut a few hours earlier in a loss to Oakland. It was just the fourth start and appearance of his major league career.

“A young man realizes his dream of making the big leagues, pitches six shutout innings, drives home and he’s gone,” New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “Your heart goes out to that young man and his family. It makes you realize how precious life is. You have to be happy to wake up every day.”

Baltimore Orioles manager Dave Trembley had watched Wednesday’s Athletics-Angels game on television.

“It really puts things in perspective,” he said. “Don’t take anything for granted, No. 1. Appreciate what you have.”

The Angels’ game against Oakland on Thursday night was postponed after commissioner Bud Selig conferred with Los Angeles owner Arte Moreno.

“Nick was just 22 years of age, with a wonderful life and career ahead of him,” Selig said in a statement.

Union head Donald Fehr said the players’ association was “shaken and deeply saddened.”

“The first thing you think about is his parents, his family,” Cleveland Indians manager Eric Wedge said. “It shouldn’t take a great deal to have perspective in this game, but when something like that happens, it brings you back down to earth.”

Indians infielder Ryan Garko remembered seeing Adenhart during spring training.

“Reality just kind of sets in, that this is a game, that this is a job, that there are a lot more important things in life,” Garko said. “He seemed like a young kid just to me, I’m only 28. Just terrible. Just anytime to see a young kid go before his time. Just sad for a family.”

Aaron Wells was athletic trainer of the Orem Owlz when Adenhart played for the Pioneer League club in 2005.

“It was very obvious that he was going to be a successful professional pitcher,” said Wells, now the team’s general manager. “Very humble, extremely good in the clubhouse. He was just such an unassuming guy, just went out and did his business.”

The Cincinnati Reds showed Adenhart’s photo on the video board and asked fans to stand and remove their hats for a moment of silence in his memory before the seventh-inning stretch during their game against the New York Mets.

“It makes you want to hug your kids. It just goes to show you, tomorrow’s not promised to anybody, so enjoy today,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “It seems like, for a while there, something happened to the Angels every year, like eight or 10 years in a row. You could look it up. I was in LA when the Donnie Moore thing happened.”

There was a moment of silence in Toronto before Detroit played the Blue Jays.

In Halfway, Md., an unincorporated community 75 miles west of Baltimore where Adenhart played Little League, residents recalled him as a fun-loving youth whose following grew as his talent ripened.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said Staci Boward, president of Halfway Little League.

Tim McSherry, a neighbor, said Adenhart was a jokester and a Wiffle Ball fanatic who, along with another neighbor boy, challenged their parents and coaches to a Wiffle Ball tournament in their early teens.

The community cheered Adenhart on as his talent matured at nearby Williamsport High School, he said.

“That was a common bond for a lot of people: ‘Hey, you going over to see Nick tonight?”‘ McSherry said.