RIP Cory Lidle

ShyGuy727 · 10-11-2006, 05:16 PM

That's messed up.

Supposedly he was a punk, but still, 34, damn. RIP

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Buck O'Neil, baseball's charismatic Negro Leagues ambassador who barnstormed with Satchel Paige and inexplicably fell one vote shy of the Hall of Fame, died Friday night. He was 94.

Bob Kendrick, marketing director for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, said O'Neil died at a Kansas City hospital.

O'Neil had appeared strong until early August, when he was hospitalized for what was described as "fatigue." He was released a few days later but readmitted on Sept. 17. Friends said that he had lost his voice along with his strength. No cause of death was immediately given.

Always projecting warmth, wit and a sunny optimism that sometimes seemed surprising for a man who lived in a climate of racial injustice for so long, O'Neil remained remarkably vigorous well into his 90s. He became as big a star as the Negro League greats whose stories he traveled the country to tell.

He would be in New York taping the "Late Show With David Letterman" one day and then back home on the golf course the next day shooting his age, a feat he first accomplished at 75.

"But it's not a good score any more," he quipped on his 90th birthday.

O'Neil had long been popular in Kansas City, but he rocketed into national stardom in 1994 when filmmaker Ken Burns featured him in his groundbreaking Public Broadcasting Service documentary "Baseball."

The rest of the country then came to appreciate the charming Negro Leagues historian as only baseball insiders had before. He may have been, as he joked, "an overnight sensation at 82," but his popularity continued to grow for the rest of his life.

Few men in any sport have witnessed the grand panoramic sweep of history that O'Neil saw and felt and experienced in baseball. A good-hitting, slick-fielding first baseman, he barnstormed with Paige in his youth, twice won a Negro Leagues batting title and then became a pennant-winning manager of the Kansas City Monarchs.

Cory Lidle hoped to use his passion for flying to get away from a most difficult season.

Criticized by former teammates in Philadelphia and attacked in the New York media, Lidle looked forward to piloting himself back home to California once the Yankees lost in the playoffs.

Instead, this Yankees pitcher was presumed killed along with a second person yesterday when his small plane crashed into a 50-story skyscraper in Manhattan. He was 34.

"This is a terrible and shocking tragedy that has stunned the entire Yankees organization," Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said in a statement.

Said commissioner Bud Selig: "All of baseball is shocked and terribly saddened by the sudden and tragic passing of Cory Lidle."

Lidle got his pilot's license before this season, bought his own plane and tried to spend every spare moment in the air.

"Yeah, it's risky, but no more risky than driving a car," he said in August.

A friend of Lidle's said the pitcher had phoned earlier yesterday to say he would stop in Nashville, Tenn., on his way to California.

"He called me about 11:30 this morning ... and said that he was still planning on coming in, that there were some weather cells around Nashville and that he had a flight instructor with him and that they'd be in about 5," Dave Whitis told radio station WGFX.

"He was actually going to take me up in his plane when he got here," Whitis said.

Lidle agreed to a $6.3 million, two-year deal with the Phillies in November 2004. The contract contained a provision saying the team could get out of paying the remainder if he was injured or killed while piloting a plane.

Because the regular season was over, Lidle already had received the full amount in the contract.

For nearly a decade, Lidle put together a successful career as a major-league pitcher by living on the edge. Not the hardest thrower, he worked to the corners.

"Cory was a gambler. He always tried to take chances," Oakland coach Ron Washington said before the Athletics faced Detroit in the American League Championship Series last night.

Lidle went 82-72 with a 4.57 ERA in a career that started in 1997. He played for the New York Mets, Tampa Bay, Oakland, Toronto, Cincinnati, Philadelphia and the Yankees.

Still in the minors, Lidle played one game for the Milwaukee Brewers in a 1995 spring training game while major-leaguers were on strike. That one-inning stint as a replacement player haunted him later in his career, and Lidle was taunted as a "scab" by Phillies pitcher Arthur Rhodes after being traded to the Yankees on July 30.

Then Lidle was dropped from the Yankees' postseason rotation, reduced to a relief role instead of starting in the surprising four-game loss to Detroit. After the defeat, Lidle was quoted as saying the Yankees weren't as prepared as the Tigers.

On Tuesday, aware that he was getting criticized on WFAN radio, he called the station to defend himself. What ensued was a testy interview, with Lidle insisting his comments were not directed at manager Joe Torre.

"All I ever said was that they came more ready to play than us. They won that series. They outpitched us, they outhit us, they outfielded us. They were more ready to play than we were," Lidle said on WFAN.

"I want to win as much as anybody. But what am I supposed to do? Go cry in my apartment for the next two weeks?"

Lidle said he was sure the Yankees weren't happy about his plane, but added that no one in the organization had said anything to him about it.

Players flying airplanes is a troubling topic for the Yankees. Team captain Thurman Munson was killed flying his own plane in the 1979 season in Ohio, and his catcher's gear still hangs in a special spot in the Yankees' clubhouse.

"This is a terrible shock," Torre said.

Lidle played in high school with Jason Giambi, and they became teammates on the Yankees this season.

"Right now, I am really in a state of shock, as I am sure the entire MLB family is," Giambi said in a statement.

"My thoughts are with Cory's relatives and the loved ones of the others who were injured or killed in this plane crash. I have known Cory and his wife, Melanie, for over 18 years and watched his son grow up. We played high school ball together and have remained close throughout our careers. We were excited to be reunited in New York this year and I am just devastated to hear this news," he said.

Lidle had a 6-year-old son, Christopher.

**Crazyswordsman** · 10-11-2006, 07:43 PM

I wouldn't wish death on anyone, even a Yankee. RIP. -CSM

Maynard James Keenan · 10-11-2006, 08:28 PM

I never heard about him until today, but: RIP.

Lurch1982 · 10-12-2006, 01:14 PM

Well, he was a journeyman scab. Don't expect the players to go all out.

GURU ANT · 10-12-2006, 02:52 PM

Lurch1982 · 10-12-2006, 04:38 PM

I've been too quiet about this, and I just didn't post it last time because of time.

Actually, no. You know what's really fcuking sad? Buck O'Neil gets shafted by the Hall of Fame committee even though his contributions to remembering and documenting the Negro Leagues as well as player-managing and starting the museum in KC AND appearing on the Ken Burns documentary in 1994, became the first black coach in MLB, brought in Hall of Famers like Lou Brock, and was generally one of the greatest ambassadors for the game. The simple fact that the committee inducted two WHITE owners into the Hall of Fame and left Buck O'Neil out is criminal in itself, as was the relatively quiet notice of his death on Friday.

This is the man that has been the face of the historical rememberance of the Negro Leagues, and who has acted as the voice of the players from those leagues. This is the guy who SPOKE on behalf of those inducted. This is the guy who has done more to remember the negro leagues than anyone else, and he gets shafted. This makes Cooperstown even more illegitimate.

It is a blatant slap in the face that the only reason MLB is going to have a "Moment of silence" remotely connected to Buck O'Neil before the Mets game is because a journeyman pitcher died in a plane crash in NY. Yeah, it's really sad that Lidle died, and I'm sorry for his family and friends. But you know what? Compared to Buck O'Neil, Lidle is insignificant.

Keeping Buck out of Cooperstown is more criminal than keeping out the career hits leader. This is yet another instance where Bud Selig, the Hall of Fame, and MLB have dropped the ball.

RIP Buck O'Neil.

GURU ANT · 10-15-2006, 08:38 AM

Bios/Obituaries posted

ShyGuy727 · 10-16-2006, 05:44 AM

Unless this is just to become the obituary topic for whenever someone dies, this really doesn't need to be stickied.

GURU ANT · 10-16-2006, 03:33 PM

Nah, it was stickied about the news of Cory Lidle.

But you have given me an idea.

The King · 10-16-2006, 03:36 PM

Who?
Anyway R.I.P

Pyropunk · 11-01-2006, 03:38 PM

Cory Lidle has a house in the town i work in.... it's really sad that that happened.... apparently he got along with a lot of the neighbours wonderfully and even stopped in the coffee shop a few times =/

10-11-2006, 05:16 PM	#1
ShyGuy727 Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: O-H! I-O! Gender: Posts: 10,061 Thanks: 37 Thanked 62 Times in 46 Posts Points: 32,215.98 Bank: 25,651.08 Total Points: 57,867.06 Donate	RIP Cory Lidle & Buck O'Neal That's messed up. Supposedly he was a punk, but still, 34, damn. RIP KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Buck O'Neil, baseball's charismatic Negro Leagues ambassador who barnstormed with Satchel Paige and inexplicably fell one vote shy of the Hall of Fame, died Friday night. He was 94. Bob Kendrick, marketing director for the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, said O'Neil died at a Kansas City hospital. O'Neil had appeared strong until early August, when he was hospitalized for what was described as "fatigue." He was released a few days later but readmitted on Sept. 17. Friends said that he had lost his voice along with his strength. No cause of death was immediately given. Always projecting warmth, wit and a sunny optimism that sometimes seemed surprising for a man who lived in a climate of racial injustice for so long, O'Neil remained remarkably vigorous well into his 90s. He became as big a star as the Negro League greats whose stories he traveled the country to tell. He would be in New York taping the "Late Show With David Letterman" one day and then back home on the golf course the next day shooting his age, a feat he first accomplished at 75. "But it's not a good score any more," he quipped on his 90th birthday. O'Neil had long been popular in Kansas City, but he rocketed into national stardom in 1994 when filmmaker Ken Burns featured him in his groundbreaking Public Broadcasting Service documentary "Baseball." The rest of the country then came to appreciate the charming Negro Leagues historian as only baseball insiders had before. He may have been, as he joked, "an overnight sensation at 82," but his popularity continued to grow for the rest of his life. Few men in any sport have witnessed the grand panoramic sweep of history that O'Neil saw and felt and experienced in baseball. A good-hitting, slick-fielding first baseman, he barnstormed with Paige in his youth, twice won a Negro Leagues batting title and then became a pennant-winning manager of the Kansas City Monarchs. Cory Lidle hoped to use his passion for flying to get away from a most difficult season. Criticized by former teammates in Philadelphia and attacked in the New York media, Lidle looked forward to piloting himself back home to California once the Yankees lost in the playoffs. Instead, this Yankees pitcher was presumed killed along with a second person yesterday when his small plane crashed into a 50-story skyscraper in Manhattan. He was 34. "This is a terrible and shocking tragedy that has stunned the entire Yankees organization," Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said in a statement. Said commissioner Bud Selig: "All of baseball is shocked and terribly saddened by the sudden and tragic passing of Cory Lidle." Lidle got his pilot's license before this season, bought his own plane and tried to spend every spare moment in the air. "Yeah, it's risky, but no more risky than driving a car," he said in August. A friend of Lidle's said the pitcher had phoned earlier yesterday to say he would stop in Nashville, Tenn., on his way to California. "He called me about 11:30 this morning ... and said that he was still planning on coming in, that there were some weather cells around Nashville and that he had a flight instructor with him and that they'd be in about 5," Dave Whitis told radio station WGFX. "He was actually going to take me up in his plane when he got here," Whitis said. Lidle agreed to a $6.3 million, two-year deal with the Phillies in November 2004. The contract contained a provision saying the team could get out of paying the remainder if he was injured or killed while piloting a plane. Because the regular season was over, Lidle already had received the full amount in the contract. For nearly a decade, Lidle put together a successful career as a major-league pitcher by living on the edge. Not the hardest thrower, he worked to the corners. "Cory was a gambler. He always tried to take chances," Oakland coach Ron Washington said before the Athletics faced Detroit in the American League Championship Series last night. Lidle went 82-72 with a 4.57 ERA in a career that started in 1997. He played for the New York Mets, Tampa Bay, Oakland, Toronto, Cincinnati, Philadelphia and the Yankees. Still in the minors, Lidle played one game for the Milwaukee Brewers in a 1995 spring training game while major-leaguers were on strike. That one-inning stint as a replacement player haunted him later in his career, and Lidle was taunted as a "scab" by Phillies pitcher Arthur Rhodes after being traded to the Yankees on July 30. Then Lidle was dropped from the Yankees' postseason rotation, reduced to a relief role instead of starting in the surprising four-game loss to Detroit. After the defeat, Lidle was quoted as saying the Yankees weren't as prepared as the Tigers. On Tuesday, aware that he was getting criticized on WFAN radio, he called the station to defend himself. What ensued was a testy interview, with Lidle insisting his comments were not directed at manager Joe Torre. "All I ever said was that they came more ready to play than us. They won that series. They outpitched us, they outhit us, they outfielded us. They were more ready to play than we were," Lidle said on WFAN. "I want to win as much as anybody. But what am I supposed to do? Go cry in my apartment for the next two weeks?" Lidle said he was sure the Yankees weren't happy about his plane, but added that no one in the organization had said anything to him about it. Players flying airplanes is a troubling topic for the Yankees. Team captain Thurman Munson was killed flying his own plane in the 1979 season in Ohio, and his catcher's gear still hangs in a special spot in the Yankees' clubhouse. "This is a terrible shock," Torre said. Lidle played in high school with Jason Giambi, and they became teammates on the Yankees this season. "Right now, I am really in a state of shock, as I am sure the entire MLB family is," Giambi said in a statement. "My thoughts are with Cory's relatives and the loved ones of the others who were injured or killed in this plane crash. I have known Cory and his wife, Melanie, for over 18 years and watched his son grow up. We played high school ball together and have remained close throughout our careers. We were excited to be reunited in New York this year and I am just devastated to hear this news," he said. Lidle had a 6-year-old son, Christopher. Last edited by The Member Formerly Known As Andre; 10-14-2006 at 05:54 PM. Reason: Title

10-12-2006, 02:52 PM	#5
GURU ANT What's this what's this a trick with a twist? Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Shhhh, it's a secret right now Gender: Posts: 13,619 Thanks: 1,146 Thanked 757 Times in 438 Posts Points: 25,835.80 Bank: 1,348,323.25 Total Points: 1,374,159.05 Donate	Sad.

10-11-2006, 07:43 PM	#2
Crazyswordsman RPG Mod Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Booyaville (yeah!) Gender: Posts: 8,584 Thanks: 633 Thanked 471 Times in 311 Posts Points: 167,267.15 Bank: 77,775.54 Total Points: 245,042.69 Donate	I wouldn't wish death on anyone, even a Yankee. RIP. -CSM

10-11-2006, 08:28 PM	#3
Maynard James Keenan Cooler than you and you **ing know it. Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Somewhere, being **ing awesome. Gender: Posts: 12,537 Thanks: 690 Thanked 1,144 Times in 770 Posts Blog Entries: 15 Points: 4,193.56 Bank: 36,453.89 Total Points: 40,647.45 Donate	I never heard about him until today, but: RIP.

10-12-2006, 01:14 PM	#4
Lurch1982 Senior Member Join Date: May 2000 Location: Katrinaland, USA Gender: Posts: 9,278 Thanks: 122 Thanked 253 Times in 140 Posts Points: 36,411.03 Bank: 338,725.11 Total Points: 375,136.14 Donate	Well, he was a journeyman scab. Don't expect the players to go all out.

10-12-2006, 04:38 PM	#6
Lurch1982 Senior Member Join Date: May 2000 Location: Katrinaland, USA Gender: Posts: 9,278 Thanks: 122 Thanked 253 Times in 140 Posts Points: 36,411.03 Bank: 338,725.11 Total Points: 375,136.14 Donate	I've been too quiet about this, and I just didn't post it last time because of time. Actually, no. You know what's really fcuking sad? Buck O'Neil gets shafted by the Hall of Fame committee even though his contributions to remembering and documenting the Negro Leagues as well as player-managing and starting the museum in KC AND appearing on the Ken Burns documentary in 1994, became the first black coach in MLB, brought in Hall of Famers like Lou Brock, and was generally one of the greatest ambassadors for the game. The simple fact that the committee inducted two WHITE owners into the Hall of Fame and left Buck O'Neil out is criminal in itself, as was the relatively quiet notice of his death on Friday. This is the man that has been the face of the historical rememberance of the Negro Leagues, and who has acted as the voice of the players from those leagues. This is the guy who SPOKE on behalf of those inducted. This is the guy who has done more to remember the negro leagues than anyone else, and he gets shafted. This makes Cooperstown even more illegitimate. It is a blatant slap in the face that the only reason MLB is going to have a "Moment of silence" remotely connected to Buck O'Neil before the Mets game is because a journeyman pitcher died in a plane crash in NY. Yeah, it's really sad that Lidle died, and I'm sorry for his family and friends. But you know what? Compared to Buck O'Neil, Lidle is insignificant. Keeping Buck out of Cooperstown is more criminal than keeping out the career hits leader. This is yet another instance where Bud Selig, the Hall of Fame, and MLB have dropped the ball. RIP Buck O'Neil.

10-15-2006, 08:38 AM	#7
GURU ANT What's this what's this a trick with a twist? Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Shhhh, it's a secret right now Gender: Posts: 13,619 Thanks: 1,146 Thanked 757 Times in 438 Posts Points: 25,835.80 Bank: 1,348,323.25 Total Points: 1,374,159.05 Donate	Bios/Obituaries posted

10-16-2006, 05:44 AM	#8
ShyGuy727 Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: O-H! I-O! Gender: Posts: 10,061 Thanks: 37 Thanked 62 Times in 46 Posts Points: 32,215.98 Bank: 25,651.08 Total Points: 57,867.06 Donate	Unless this is just to become the obituary topic for whenever someone dies, this really doesn't need to be stickied.

10-16-2006, 03:33 PM	#9
GURU ANT What's this what's this a trick with a twist? Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Shhhh, it's a secret right now Gender: Posts: 13,619 Thanks: 1,146 Thanked 757 Times in 438 Posts Points: 25,835.80 Bank: 1,348,323.25 Total Points: 1,374,159.05 Donate	Nah, it was stickied about the news of Cory Lidle. But you have given me an idea.

10-16-2006, 03:36 PM	#10
The King Newbie Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: In hell Gender: Posts: 11 Thanks: 8 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Points: 2,727.36 Bank: 0.00 Total Points: 2,727.36 Donate	Who? Anyway R.I.P

11-01-2006, 03:38 PM	#11
Pyropunk Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: "whore"lando, FL Gender: Posts: 157 Thanks: 37 Thanked 7 Times in 6 Posts Points: 3,619.16 Bank: 765.49 Total Points: 4,384.65 Donate	Cory Lidle has a house in the town i work in.... it's really sad that that happened.... apparently he got along with a lot of the neighbours wonderfully and even stopped in the coffee shop a few times =/