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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??

A three-time All-Star who once threw a no-hitter, Kile was 5-4 with a 3.72 ERA during his 12th major league season and third with St. Louis. One of his best seasons came with the Cardinals in 2000, when he went 20-9 with a 3.91 ERA. That was the first time in fifteen years that a Cardinal pitcher had won 20 games.

His overall stats might not look so hot because his curve ball was pretty ineffective when he was in Denver playing for the Rockies. His career with the Cardinals was much different. He lead the team to post season play two years in a row. He was a mentor to Matt Morris who is the hottest pitcher the Cardinals have right now. Just this past Tuesday night his victory put the Cardinals in first place in our division.

Exactly Dave, Mike Hampton didn't turn into a bum overnight either. Colorado starters don't get decisions - they play in a gravity-absent bandbox with one of the worst defensive teams in baseball history. His 2 years there were a flat tire. Darryl Kile would be the top starter on 1/2 of the teams in the majors, a number 2 on another 1/3, and number 3 on Arizona, Boston, Atlanta, Minnesota and the Yankees. Roughly. His style would have served him well for another 5-6 years. You'd want him in a crucial late season pennant race game, and he'd have been the opening game Cards pitcher in the Playoffs or WS if they started on the road. That's your experienced weapon. It's a terrible loss from a human standpoint, and a crushing blow to the Cards. And ... I can feel sad about it and compassionate for his family, friends, teammates throughout the league and the St. Louis community. Dammit! ;^)