St. Louis Cardinal pitcher Darryl Kile dead.

KMOX ^

[dennis1x]

As a Cardinal fan this has been an awful week.

[ArneFufkin]

Oneida, I DID meet Darryl Kile once. It was fun, he had a good sense of humor, even when I reminded him that Brewer pitcher Scott Karl hit the only triple that a Milwaukee pitcher ever has ever hit in the NL off him. He was a good natured guy, who was getting a lot of money and brutally PUMMELLED in Coors Field.

But ... he was a 33 year old man when he died today. I think he left a wife and several children. He's a player that all baseball fans know, he's a top 10% guy in the World at his profession. Everyone who knows baseball is reverent for the baseball fans of St. Louis. They're the best, end of story.

I'm sad when any young man, a husband and father dies. Our Freeper friends from Houston, Denver and St. Louis know of, or KNOW, this guy. He was a remarkable athelete, a family man, and there's nothing wrong with feeling bad about the end of his life. There's nothing wrong with feeling good about the priorities of the players, management and baseball fans of Chicago. You either know, or you don't know, that this gesture of tribute to the St. Louis baseball community shouldn't come from any other fans and players than those of Chicago and the Cubs. It's a poignant irony that the two iron maidens don't have the elegance to appreciate.

[BluesDuke]

A prayer to the Kile family, who have lost far more than even the Cardinals, who are too classy an organisation to have to lose a beloved broadcaster and a good pitcher in less than five days. Here's hoping their class continues to include (as I've known them to do in the past) looking out for the Kile family, whose loss of a husband and father is far more important than their loss of a pitcher.

For me, I feel like there's one less class act in baseball. Darryl Kile, from what I knew of him, was a competitor and a gentleman, the kind of guy who would pay just as much attention to the lowest man on the roster as the highest; the kind who'd pitch you tight when he needed but buy you a drink after the game. No prospective Hall of Famer, he, but don't let anyone tell you he was anything less than major league all the way.

[oldvike]

Prayers to the family. Their pain must be unimaginable.

It's been a tough week for the Cardinal Nation.

[BluesDuke]

It isn't exactly easy for Astro Nation, either. I've just learned Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio may have sat their game out today because of their grief over Kile (who was close to both men when he played in Houston).

Above all, it's going to be worst for three small children who have to know their daddy died too young. As a man whose own daddy died too young (mine was 39 when he died), my heart goes to those children. They will need so much.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

Roids?

[waterstraat]

he's a top 10% guy in the World at his profession.

??????In an 11 year carreer, he only won 13 more games than he lost (W:128 , L:115 ). Am I missing something??

[bootless]

A beautiful and graceful post, B.D. Thank you.

[ValerieUSA]

Like I said -- the people who are really hurting are not reading this thread, so offering condolences here is just an exercise in bonding with FReepers who are into judging the public display of grief for someone they never even met. Instead of playing baseball today, they are playing "wake" and keeping score. Okay.

I just wondered why it would be insensitive to play a scheduled baseball game where the fans are already seated and waiting when news of a player's death breaks, while it isn't insensitive to carry on a NASCAR race after tens of thousands of spectators have watched a driver crash and die on the track. Apparently the acceptable level of fan sensitivity to death is gaged by the convenience of scheduling.

[ArneFufkin]

'roids?

No, George Brett was the guy with hemorrhoids.

[eddie willers]

he only won 13 more games than he lost (W:128 , L:115 ). Am I missing something??

In general......a knowledge of baseball.
In particular....a knowledge of Coors Field.

[Archie Bunker on steroids]

'roids?

No, George Brett was the guy with hemorrhoids.

Yes, but his weren't terminal

[HairOfTheDog]

What difference does it make to you? Different people make different decisions on how to handle a situation. They could have played the game, or not. They chose not.

[ValerieUSA]

You have said many unkind, harsh words to me - and I don't know why. I haven't said anything cruel or mean about Kile or his family. But go ahead and consider yourself to be the etiquette police.

[null and void]

To say "how are you?" in Mandrin Chinese:

"Nee how ma". The inflection is the same as the first few notes of over hill, over dale we will hit the dusty trail...

[ValerieUSA]

If it makes no difference, if it could go either way, then why am I such a monster for asking why it went this way? Why must it be taken so personally by any of us?

[LWalk18]

They didn't cancel the game because of the fans, they did it because of the players, who travel and play with each other from Spring Training to September and beyond. The players felt unable to play- they had just learned of Kile's death a few minutes before game time. Baseball is a team sport, where death is rare, while NASCAR is primarily an individual sport, where death is possible at every race. Today is a very sad day for both baseball fans and players.

Why do you keep posting on a subject you clearly are unwilling to understand? If you find this thread not to your liking, DO NOT READ IT.

[Neets]

so offering condolences here is just an exercise in bonding with FReepers who are into judging the public display of grief for someone they never even met. Instead of playing baseball today, they are playing "wake" and keeping score.

Okay.Well, my last comments to you are these Val.....in your previous post you offered YOUR condolences...was that a bonding exercise for you??? maybe that's the reason you go to great lengths to announce your plight then..to bond??? So when you come on to chastize all for public displays of gratuitous emotion and bonding, then tell all that you are a widow, aren't you pulling a the heart strings yourself??

Why do you have to reveal that? It makes your complaints about bonding ring hollow

It has nothing to do with this man, but you trot it out,..... why??

I don't care why, just don't pretend to play at not being a hypocrite

Also, go back and read through a few posts above...some freepers actually HAVE met Darryl Kile. Are they tho the ONLY ones allowed to grieve?

Only a true fan of the sport would understand what happened today...in fact only a TRUE sportsman (not to sound sexist of course) would understand...and if you mattered enough, i'd further question your postings on other baseball related threads..but that is really unecessessary.

[HairOfTheDog]

Because your attitude is not curiosity... That doesn't fly.

It is personal to some here, and indecent to throw sand at people just because you don't think they should be so upset. Jeepers this thread has some horrid behavior on it, yours not the worst... I am sorry I butted in at all... continue as you were...

[ValerieUSA]

Children attend school with each other from September to June each year, year after year. When a classmate or teacher dies, school goes on. We expect kids to carry on even in the face of a sudden loss. They will be shocked, sad, confused and have many questions, but school goes on. Immediate family is excused for mourning, but not the whole class, not the entire teaching staff.
When a co-worker dies, or a team member, it is up to the rest of the team to step up to the plate and carry on in his place with honor.
The comparison someone made about a baseball team being comrades-in-arms was not well thought out. What army goes home when a brother soldier falls?

[ValerieUSA]

I was not being hypocritical - I explained what I was doing when I said my condolences, and I did not contradict myself in the following posts, and I certainly didn't "bond" with anyone.
I said nothing to offend Kile's real family. Their grief is genuine and their lives are going to be deeply affected forever by this loss, as only a family can experience a loved one's death.
I do find it offensive that people here equate their own feelings, and even the feelings of Kile's teammates, with the situation facing his real family. The word "family" doesn't mean baseball.
Just because you may have admired a player doesn't make you a part of his family, entitled to share in the pity and to take personal offense when you don't think someone understands or sympathizes with your "grief" sufficiently. That is highly presumptuous.