RIP Josh Hancock

"Cardinals mourn the loss of Josh Hancock" reads the title of the press release. And, given that Mr. Hancock was a pitcher, my first thought was that the Cardinals need to talk to whichever PR guy works the weekends, because to me that statement just makes it sound as if the team is taking its failure to win a bit too seriously.

But, sadly, the 29 year-old was killed in a car crash last night on Highway 40, and, mercifully, tonight's game against the Cubs has been postponed. In a bit of Alanis Morissette irony, the last time a young Cardinals pitcher died, the Cardinals were also playing the small Bears.

In 2002, when Darryl Kile died in his Chicago hotel room, I remember hoping that he hadn't overdosed or done something similarly stupid. In the same way, I hope Hancock wasn't drunk. It doesn't matter, of course; the death of a young man is always tragic. I just would rather the focus stay there than on lurid details that allow certain types of people to feel smug when they should be feeling sorry.

A young guy died and his people are hurting; that's all that matters. After I read the minimal release, I reflexively Googled and found a little story about Hancock being late to Thursday's game, apparently because he overslept on his nice, new bed. I'm sure it only made the paper because of why his teammates kept calling when he didn't answer his phone:

With righthander Darryl Kile dying before a game in Chicago five years ago, the Cardinals don't take it lightly when a player doesn't show up at the park on time.

Reliever Jason Isringhausen, the only pitcher still on the club who played with Kile here, said, "(Hancock's) phone always shuts off. Everybody was trying to reach him. That's why it's so different here because of what happened with Darryl. So everybody worries. That's got more to do with it than oversleeping.

"We were all a little nervous. We don't care if you're late. That happens. We want to know that you're OK."