I thought that this article by Gene Wojciechowski at ESPN was particularly good. Snips:
Hancock was no star. But he was a Cardinal, and better yet, he appreciated being a Cardinal. A night earlier, in a blowout loss to the Chicago Cubs, it was Hancock who pitched three innings of one-run relief. It doesn't sound like much -- garbage time is garbage time -- but it meant something to the men in the Cardinals dugout.
As I was driving to St. Louis on Sunday morning, I heard a guest on KFNS-590 tell a story about Hancock and his World Series share. Hancock, who made $430,000 a season ago, would call his bank's automated phone service just to listen to the computer-generated voice detail his most recent deposit: the $362,173.07 World Series paycheck.
* The death, as we all hope, was instantaeous. Joe Walsh, the team's security director, and a good man, had to ID the body. This had to be his worst day, ever, on the job. I feel for Joe.
* After the accident, the police found papers in Hancock's SUV, indicating that it was his. The STL PD contacted Joe Walsh, who after it was official, called Walt Jocketty, who then called La Russa at 4 a.m. and La Russa called Josh's Dad at about 5 a.m.
I can't imagine what this was like for the people involved. An emotional earthquake.
stlouie_lipp wrote:I obviously didn't know Josh Hancock personally, so it's not like I'm in mourning or anything. But, I am a Cards fan and it is upsetting when someone you cheer for dies in such a tragic fashion.
I was kind of indifferent this morning. Kind of shocked more than anything. Not so much personally sad as I was sympathetic.
Honestly, when I came home tonight from work and started reading some of these articles, I started to cry. In fact, I am right now. I have tears rolling down my cheeks and I'm sobbing. I don't know what it is. I'm not usually like this. Usually deaths of famous people don't bother me, but... this feels different. I know I've never met the guy and thinking I know who he is based on a few quotes is silly, but he seemed like a genuinely great guy.
For whatever reason, I can't cry. I haven't cried today, but I just feel sad. It might sound bad that this bums me out more than the VA Tech shootings, but when you watch these guys on television playing for the team that you love, it hits you in a way that can't really be described. I don't think any of us knew him, yet we all feel like we lost somebody we knew.
Maybe it's sad because we saw this guy go out as an unappreciated relief pitcher and do his job. Or because we found out how close he was to teammates and how excited he was about his World Series payout. There are many pitches like Hancock in this league, and I'm sure fans would take their deaths just as we are taking his. This guy was a Cardinal, and if God had to take him, I'm just glad that he got to go out on a high note and as a champion.
GatewaySnayke wrote:For whatever reason, I can't cry. I haven't cried today, but I just feel sad. It might sound bad that this bums me out more than the VA Tech shootings, but when you watch these guys on television playing for the team that you love, it hits you in a way that can't really be described. I don't think any of us knew him, yet we all feel like we lost somebody we knew.
Maybe it's sad because we saw this guy go out as an unappreciated relief pitcher and do his job. Or because we found out how close he was to teammates and how excited he was about his World Series payout. There are many pitches like Hancock in this league, and I'm sure fans would take their deaths just as we are taking his. This guy was a Cardinal, and if God had to take him, I'm just glad that he got to go out on a high note and as a champion.
++++
Very well put Snayke.....I haven't cried yet today but have been close a couple of times after reading some of the things that have been written about Josh...he will be dearly missed..
GatewaySnayke wrote:For whatever reason, I can't cry. I haven't cried today, but I just feel sad. It might sound bad that this bums me out more than the VA Tech shootings, but when you watch these guys on television playing for the team that you love, it hits you in a way that can't really be described. I don't think any of us knew him, yet we all feel like we lost somebody we knew.
Maybe it's sad because we saw this guy go out as an unappreciated relief pitcher and do his job. Or because we found out how close he was to teammates and how excited he was about his World Series payout. There are many pitches like Hancock in this league, and I'm sure fans would take their deaths just as we are taking his. This guy was a Cardinal, and if God had to take him, I'm just glad that he got to go out on a high note and as a champion.
++++
Very well put Snayke.....I haven't cried yet today but have been close a couple of times after reading some of the things that have been written about Josh...he will be dearly missed..
++ on the not crying but feeling sad, but I would not say that I've taken this harder than VT or Katrina, but I don't think its a bad thing that you do. You have an emotional connection with the team and players. It hits closer to home for you than VT did. Its okay to feel it more when it is closer to you, that's human.
