Cardinals pitcher killed
ST. LOUIS — Three days earlier, St. Louis Cardinals teammates left anxious messages on Josh Hancock's cell phone and watched the clubhouse door as game-time approached and their middle reliever remained absent. No reason to worry, Hancock had simply overslept.
On Sunday, there was no relief. Instead, for the second time in five years, the Cardinals mourned the loss of a teammate.
Hancock, a key member of the bullpen on St. Louis' World Series championship team last fall, was killed early Sunday when his sport utility vehicle slammed into a tow truck parked on a highway to assist a motorist. The accident brought back painful memories of Darryl Kile's death in 2002.
"There's a big hole that's going to be there," manager Tony La Russa said. "This is brutal to go through."
The Cardinals postponed their home game Sunday night against the Chicago Cubs. La Russa informed Hancock's family of the accident.
"What words can you give somebody in a situation like this?" Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "It's a terrible, terrible thing that happened."
Hancock, 29, was alone in his 2007 Ford Explorer when the SUV struck the rear of a flatbed tow truck at 12:35 a.m. The tow truck was in the left lane behind a vehicle that had struck the median, and the driver said the emergency lights were flashing at the time of impact, police chief Joe Mokwa said.
Hancock died upon impact, Mokwa said. The driver of the tow truck, whose name was not released by police, was in the truck at the time of the crash and was not injured.
Mokwa said it appeared Hancock was driving at or just above the speed limit, and there were no alcohol containers in his vehicle.
"We may never know what occurred," Mokwa said. "It appears that he just merely didn't see the tow truck."
The medical examiner's office scheduled an autopsy while police surveyed the accident scene while gathering details of Hancock's final hours. Services were planned for Thursday in Tupelo, Miss., where Hancock's family lives. Hancock was single.
"All of baseball today mourns the tragic and untimely death of St. Louis pitcher Josh Hancock," baseball commissioner Bud Selig said. "He was a fine young pitcher who played an important role on last year's World Series championship team."
The Cardinals will wear patches with Hancock's No. 32 on their sleeves for the rest of the season. The team also planned a memorial for the bullpen, which already features a tribute to Kile.
A Cardinals-Cubs game also was postponed nearly five years ago after Kile was found dead in his hotel room in Chicago. Kile, 33, died of a coronary artery blockage.
