Moral of Josh Hancock’s Story: Don’t Drink and Drive

File this story under “What was he thinking?”

The Medical Examiner determined that Cardinals’ pitcher Josh Hancock was drunk with an alcohol level twice Missouri’s legal limit, according to the Associated Press. Cell phone records also showed that he was talking on his cell phone at the time of the collision. Authorities also say Hancock was driving 68 mph in a 55 mph zone and was not wearing a seat belt. Marijuana was found in the SUV he was driving, but it is still unknown if any was in his bloodstream and toxicology results will not be known for several days. Witnesses told police that Hancock was at a local restaurant from about 8:30 p.m. until midnight last Saturday. A news report earlier this week mentioned that the hostess offered to call a cab for him, but he declined. With so many errors in judgment, it’s no wonder Hancock didn’t survive. One wonders if he had a secret death wish.

“No Chance” for Mercy for Reporter

Even before Sunday night’s game between the Cubs and Cardinals was postponed due to the death of Cardinals’ pitcher Josh Hancock, the series had gotten off to a rocky start as early as Friday morning. A St. Louis Post-Dispatch article poked fun at the Cubs’ history of futility and declared that they had “no chance” of ever winning the World Series. Cardinals’ manager Tony LaRussa took exception to the article and refused to answer any questions from the Post-Dispatch reporters during a press briefing later that afternoon. During the war of words that followed, the P-D writer denied any wrongdoing, and instead, put all the blame on his editor. “I don’t assign the stories,” he said. “I’m only doing my job.”

First of all, slamming any team, even if it is meant to be light-hearted fun, is poor judgment. Both the writer and his editor should take responsibility for that. But what bothered me more was the reporter’s snotty and arrogant attitude during the press briefing. I have some words of advice for this guy: As long as your byline appears in the column, you are responsible for everything you write. Wiping your hands clean and putting all the blame on your boss or editor is irresponsible.

Sports reporting is a tough job. So just do what your mom told you to: play nice.

Hancock Death Postpones Cubs-Cardinals Game

It was not a good day for world champions. Not only were the defending NBA champion Heat eliminated from the playoffs, the 2006 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals had their own tragedy to deal with.

Middle reliever Josh Hancock was killed in a car accident early Sunday morning when his Ford Explorer crashed into a tow truck that had stopped on the side of the road to assist another driver. Sunday’s night game between the Cardinals and Cubs at Busch Stadium was postponed while the Cardinals team deals with the tragedy.

Five years ago, a Cubs-Cardinals game was also postponed when Cardinals’ pitcher Darryl Kyle was found dead in his hotel room here in Chicago. It seems odd that these tragedies would link these two teams, not once, but twice. Add the Sammy Sosa-Mark McGuire homerun chase in 1998, and I begin to wonder if there is some karmic lesson to be learned.