Lindbergh Reference or ABA Reference?
It seems so outside the bounds of baseball reality, even after the deaths of Josh Hancock and Nick Adenhart, that it’s hard for me to believe it happened, let alone this long ago. SB Nation blog Inhistoric has a long retrospective on the anniversary of Darryl Kile's death.
The Cardinals ran onto the field with a black “DK 57” patch on their hats and uniforms. A moment of silence preempted each baseball game that day; Houston hung Kile’s jersey in their dugout; the flags at Turner Field in Atlanta were at half-mass; Sammy Sosa’s traditional sprint to right field was replaced with a somber jog. At Wrigley Field, the rival Cardinals received a standing ovation from the Chicago fans, many of whom carried signs wishing them well.
Jason Simontacchi filled in for Kile and pitched 4 innings before getting pulled. The Cubs went up 8-0 before winning 8-3. It was clear that the Cardinals’ priorities weren’t on the field.
“This is what we did in showing our respect for Darryl,” La Russa said. “He would have wanted us to go out there and try to win a ballgame.”
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Edited by Dan Moore
Dan Moore has been writing about baseball on the internet since that was a novel thing to do. A graduate of the University of Missouri, he lives in Springfield, Illinois. See my profile
