Terrible News for Baseball and America

[Admin]

CHICAGO -- St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile was found dead in the team hotel Saturday, a spokesperson for the Chicago medical examiner's office confirmed.

The spokesperson, who declined to give her name, did not provide information about the cause of death.

The Cardinals' game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field was canceled. Sunday night's game, in which Kile was supposed to pitch, will go on as scheduled.

Joe Girardi, the Cubs' player representative, addressed the fans and told them the game was called because of a "tragedy in the Cardinals family.''

Several stunned players walked out of the Cardinals' clubhouse shortly after the game was called without comment. Saturday's Cardinals-Cubs game was postponed because of the tragedy.

Kile, 33, had the day off and was scheduled to start the final game of the series Sunday. He was 5-4 with a 3.72 ERA in 14 games this season.

Shortly before the game was supposed to start at 2:20 p.m. CT, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa came out of the dugout and walked across the field to meet with Cubs general manager Andy MacPhail and Girardi. Then all the Cubs came out of the dugout and got behind Girardi.

Speaking in front of the dugout on a microphone, Girardi told the crowd there had been a "tragedy'' and asked fans to pray for the Cardinals' family organization

La Russa, who'd earlier shaken hands with Cubs manager Don Baylor, walked back across the field.

The Cubs filed back into their dugout and down the steps into the clubhouse runway and then an official announcement was made in the press box that the game was off and will be made up later.

The death was the second in the Cardinals' family this week.

Kile pitched the Cardinals into first place in the NL Central on Tuesday night, the same night longtime broadcaster Jack Buck died at 77 after a long illness.

Kile and his wife, Flynn, have 5-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, and a son who was born last August.

Kile had won three of his last four starts, and had a solid work ethic.

"Once you take the ball, you've got a job to do,'' he said after his last start.

Kile, who was 16-11 with a 3.09 ERA and threw 227 1/3 innings last year, had arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder during the offseason.

He pitched a no-hitter while with Houston in 1993 against the New York Mets. He was 133-119 in 11-plus major league seasons and known for an exceptional curveball.

Kile's best season was 2000, when he went 20-9 with a 3.91 ERA in his first year with St. Louis -- finishing fifth in NL Cy Young voting. He also helped St. Louis advance to the NL championship series against the Mets that season.

Kile was traded to St. Louis from Colorado, along with pitchers Dave Veres and Luther Hackman on Nov. 16, 1999, for pitchers Jose Jimenez, Manny Aybar and Rick Croushore and infielder Brent Butler.

A 30th-round pick of the Astros in 1987, Kile was called up to the majors in 1991 and went 7-11. He spent his first seven major league seasons with Houston, finishing fifth in NL Cy Young voting in 1997 after going 19-7 with a 2.57 ERA.

Kile signed with Colorado during the offseason and struggled in his two seasons with the Rockies. He led the league in losses with 17 in 1998 and was 21-30 with Colorado.

[Guest]

Take away his years with the Rockies and he was rock solid.He

seemed like a pretty good guy.I wonder what the problem was?He

was only 33 years old.

I just read about it on ESPN and couldn't believe it.

Sad day=(

[kudzu23]

Any news yet of the cause of his passing? I had read his father died at a early age from a clot. Could this be the same reason??

[Admin]

I think that I read the autopsy would be released tomorrow. I just pray it wasnt drug related, and that hopefully it was something natural and as painfree as possible. He was a good guy and will be missed.