Los Angeles Angels pitcher Jered Weaver and his wife Kristin gave birth to their first child on Friday, and they named him after a friend Jered lost more than four years ago. The baby’s name is Aden, which is spelled that way to honor former Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart.
As most of you know, Adenhart and two other friends were killed by a drunk driver back in 2009, when he was only 22 years old. Prior to his death, Weaver and Adenhart had become close friends. Weaver was an emerging ace at the time and Adenhart was an up and coming prospect, and Jered basically took him under his wing. Weaver still writes the initials “NA” on the back of the mound when he pitches.
For those asking, the Weavers did in fact spell their new son's name Aden in honor of Nick Adenhart.
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) July 6, 2013
Jered and Kristin honored the Adenhart family with the spelling of their son’s first name, but the name itself is a tribute to an 11-year-old boy they recently met who was ill. Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports pointed out that the boy, Aidan, had come to Angels Stadium to meet his two favorite players, Weaver and Dustin Pedroia, and later passed away.
All in all, a classy tribute from the Weaver family.
