Update: a small amount of mj was discovered in Hancock's vehicle (St Louis Today)
Sadly St. Louis Cardinal relief pitcher Josh Hancock died in a high speed auto accident on a St. Louis freeway early Sunday morning (12:35AM). Reports indicate Hancock slammed into a stopped tow truck, as he was returning home following drinks at former Cardinal player, current Cardinal broadcaster, Mike Shannon's bar and restaurant. That's late following a pitching appearance on Saturday, and a game scheduled on Sunday, albeit a late start game. The Chicago Tribune says Shannon's wife even offered to call a cab for Hancock.
More interesting, Hancock did not appear on-time for the Cardinals Thursday game. Official word came out, the pitcher slept in, thinking the game was scheduled later in the day. After the accident on Sunday, information on Hancock's involvement in a near-disastrous accident in Sauget Illinois, which appears to be related to his tardiness on Thursday.
Just three days before his death in a freeway wreck, the sport utility vehicle of Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was clipped by a semi rig in what police said could have been a far more serious accident. Officers who talked with Hancock moments after the predawn crash Thursday in Sauget, Ill. - a St. Louis suburb known for factories and strip clubs - found the 29-year-old reliever lucid and not under the influence of alcohol, Police Chief Patrick Delaney said yesterday. No sobriety or breath tests were given to Hancock, and no tickets were issued, according to Delaney. Hancock was killed Sunday in St. Louis when his rental SUV slammed into a flatbed tow truck on Interstate 64. Autopsy results have not been released, and toxicology tests are pending.
That episode occurred very early Thursday morning:
The accident occurred at 5:30 a.m., less than five hours before the Cardinals were due to arrive at Busch Stadium for a 12:10 start against the Cincinnati Reds.
Cardinal manager Tony La Russa, also recently picked up for DWI (ESPN, Mar 22, 2007), sounded very defensive. And well La Russa might be defensive as there is evidence he was aware of Hancock's behavior:
La Russa declined to say Monday whether he had knowledge of Hancock's Thursday accident. "That's not a baseball-related question so I don't think I'll answer it."
The man who sat near Hancock at Shannon's on Saturday night — who asked to be identified only as Vince — said he overheard Hancock tell Campbell that he missed the start of Thursday's game because he had spent the previous night drinking. Hancock told Campbell that La Russa fined him $500, according to the man.
Last fall, the Yankee's Cory Lidle's small plane slammed into a skyscraper in Manhattan in a very weird accident. A recent release from the National Transportation Safety Board faulted a misguided U-Turn from either Lidle or his flight instructor (Baltimore Sun).
New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor did not realize their misjudgment of a U-turn until it was too late to avoid their fatal New York City plane crash, investigators said yesterday...
In presenting their findings, National Transportation Safety Board members said they still didn't know whether Lidle or flight instructor Tyler Stanger was piloting the plane in the Oct. 11, 2006, crash.
Both were killed when the Cirrus SR-20, owned by Lidle, slammed into a high-rise apartment building. The NTSB declared yesterday that the cause was "inadequate judgment, planning and airmanship" by Lidle and Stanger.
In 2003, Oriole pitcher Steve Belcher died of complications brought on from the cardiac toxin ephedra.
St. Louis pitcher Darryl Kile died of sudden cardiac causes in 2002, (according to autopsy), however there are whispers of marijuana found by his body, as well as traces of cannabis in his bloodstream.
Four unusual deaths. A successful manager becoming irritable about his relief pitcher's demise, when he himself was DWI just 5 weeks earlier. Very weird.
Is the pressure building up on the pitchers in MLB, as well as the managers? Are these pressures leading to alcohol overuse, or substance use? Leading to strange stress release outlets? Or are these deaths simply statistically random?
Reminds us of the bizarre attempted murder-suicide of Angel pitcher Donny Moore(ESPN), who either never got over a championship series mistake, or died battling years of drug and alcohol problems.
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