Josh Hancock, 1978-2007

Sunday, April 29, 2007

For some reason, I still remember when Josh Hancock pitched for the Boston Red Sox.

He made his major league debut for the team in September 2002, a late-season call-up for a team that disappointed its fans by missing the playoffs for the third consecutive season. Given the unimpressive nature of his stat line that year (0-1, 3.68 in three games) it's hard to see why he was so memorable. The only thing I can come up with is that as a homegrown Sox pitching prospect, his reputation was hyped up to a point beyond his talent level at the time, and I eagerly drank the Kool-Aid (I listened to a lot of WEEI at the time).

Hancock's trade to Philadelphia three months later was perplexing: wasn't this a kid who was supposed to become a key member of the pitching staff in 2003 and beyond? Didn't they get the wrong Giambi in return?

Hancock slid from Boston to Philadelphia, Philadelphia to Cincinnati, and (finally) Cincinnati to St. Louis, where he became a key member of the Cardinals team that won the World Series. He appeared in 62 games, one of four different relievers on the team to do so, helping pick up the slack from a starting rotation that only featured three starters with more than 100 innings pitched.

I was sad to see the news on ESPN this morning that the 29-year-old pitcher had been killed in a car accident in St. Louis earlier in the day. Details are sparse right now, but a statement is expected from the team and St. Louis Police Department at 3 o'clock Central time that should shed more light on the situation.

Hancock is the second active Cardinal to pass away in mid-season in the last five years. Pitcher Darryl Kile died in his Chicago hotel room in 2002; the cause of death was later attributed to an almost complete blockage in his coronary artery.

I hope everyone's thoughts are with Josh Hancock's family and the St. Louis Cardinals. The team's Sunday night game against the Chicago Cubs has been postponed.

(One relatively minor thing that really bothers me: Yahoo! Sports doesn't have the foresight to alter the text that appears on the bottom of every news article in cases like this. It reads, "Use what you learned in this article to dominate at Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Baseball '07". The inclusion is mildy amusing in some cases, such as when the accompanying article has nothing to do with baseball, but it's not appropriate for it to be there now.)

Posted by One More Dying Quail at 11:53 AM

6 Comments:

As a Cards fan, I'm sick to my stomach about this; I cannot believe this is happening again.
R.I.P. Josh...

Anonymous said...
Apr 29, 2007, 1:05:00 PM  

I can't believe he isn't with us anyone. It seems so unreal. I can't believe is happened.
R.I.P Josh Hancock
You will be missed by family, players, and especially FANS!

Anonymous said...
Apr 29, 2007, 6:26:00 PM  

Josh Hancock and I had been dating for several months prior to his terrible accident. I feel like I have lost my soul mate. I have been late on my period for a couple of weeks and assumed it was related to my nerves and stress. I was wrong - my little piece of Josh will be here around mid-December. It was the last Christmas present he gave me - I couldn't have asked for it to be any better - unless I could wake up and this have all been a bad dream. I love you Josh and I always will. Your child will know everything there is to know about you and how much we loved each other and how he/she was conceived in beautiful love. RIP babe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...
May 18, 2007, 1:00:00 AM  

lol, if your having his kid , you better watch out. his dad is gonna sue you too for stealing josh's sperm. hey dad, add her to the list, if he hadnt been dating her he might not have been drinking that night. and sweetie, maybe you should hit up his dad for some child support, rumor has it that hes gonna get money off his sons death soon. dad your pathetic.

Anonymous said...
May 25, 2007, 1:21:00 AM  

you are a psychopath ms anonymous. you know thats not the truth.

Anonymous said...
Jun 1, 2007, 1:23:00 AM  

nice post, it's really interesting for me today, thx

Anonymous said...
Jun 27, 2007, 2:27:00 PM  

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