The big story today – I’ve been hearing the sirens from my office – is a small plane crashing into an apartment complex on 72d and York. Word just came across Fox News that the plane was registered to Yankee (and ex-Met) pitcher Cory Lidle. No word on who was on board.
UPDATES: ESPN says Lidle was on board and is dead:
Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle died Wednesday when a small plane he was piloting crashed into a 50-story condominium tower Wednesday on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
This is shocking, shades of Thurman Munson and then some. Presumably Lidle was on his way home from the end of baseball season. I always liked Lidle when he was with the Mets, and he had some decent years, especially in Oakland. Lidle was 34.
Here’s an article from September about Lidle as a pilot. As you will recall, Lidle was a descendant of Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steamboat; I guess the interest in transportation ran in his family.
Readers at Athletics Nation remember Lidle. Commenters at MetsBlog are talking about a tough interview Lidle did with Mike and the Mad Dog earlier this week.
Bloomberg’s doing a press conference now. He’s basically saying NTSB will have to clear up what happened, nobody knows much else for certain yet, reports are conflicting. Air traffic control lost contact around 59th street as Lidle was heading north. Bloomberg is utterly emotionless.
This obviously casts a very serious pall over tonight’s scheduled games, including two of Lidle’s former teams. The Mets may not play anyway, given the rain (more on the implications of that later).
Via Instapundit, though, a smidgen of humor: Alec Baldwin being . . . well, Alec Baldwin.
Very sad.
It’s a tragedywhen anyone dies like this, but a guy from the Yankees? Holy Crap.
I just read the comments over on MetsBlog, and I may not be able to eat dinner tonight. The people over there are disgusting maggots. 2 men die, and just because one of them pitched for the Yanks, they have to make it into a Met/Yankee thing. Is ANYTHING at all in life sacred to the Met fan? No, they shouldn’t cancel the game, but Mike and the Dog (and probably a lot of other people, too) are of the opinion that they should out of simple human decency, not because he was a Yankee. To normal people, things like this do not enter the discussion. To a certain group of Met fans…good grief, I’m pretty much lost as to what goes through their minds. Pardon me while I go find a toilet to wretch in.
Thom, there are jerks in every crowd, or thread. Your blanket condemnation of met fans, “Is ANYTHING at all in life sacred to the Met fan?” is as ill thought out as anything I read on in those comments. Many of the outrageous/inappropriate comments were condemned; and where clearly out numbered by expressions of condolence.
He leaves a wife and a six-year-old child. Damn.
As a Phillies’ fan I always liked Lidle-he did a lot with fairly limited talent.