In Memoriam

The baseball world mourns the tragic loss of Cardinals’ pitcher Josh Hancock, 29, who was killed in an automobile accident in the early morning hours of April 29th while driving on Interstate 64 in St. Louis. Hancock made his big league debut with the Red Sox in ’02, he kicked around with a few clubs before finally realizing his potential as a set-up guy with last year’s World Series. Yesterday, he pitched a few innings in relief in an otherwise meaningless ball game. Today, he is gone.

His team cancelled tonight’s game as the players and fans try to cope with another senseless loss (five years ago, St. Louis pitcher Darryl Kile died from an arterial blockage in his heart). St. Louis is a great baseball town, indeed, a great American city. The Cardinals are as much an American institution as is apple pie. Today, baseball fans everywhere send their condolences to the young man’s family, to the Cardinals, and to their devoted followers.