Sometimes it really is just a game

I make it no secret that I am a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan. When you follow a team day in and day out you create a bond with these players even though you do not know them personally. Sometimes it is forgotten that these players are real people with real families and not just existing to lead your fantasy team to victory. I was reminded of this recently when commentator Shelby who a couple of months ago (who posted at the time under the name East of Oregon) mentioned she is the cousin of a major league player in the comments section after learning that I am a Cardinals fan. I bring all of this up for unfortunate reasons because her cousin she mentioned is Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock who was killed in an automobile accident early Sunday morning.

Any player who plays for the Cardinals is going to be special in my mind, especially any player that wins a world championship. When I heard the news I immediately had flashbacks to 2002 when Darryl Kile passed away in his hotel room also during a series with the Chicago Cubs. I thought of everyone that was involved with both the 2007 Cardinals and the 2002 Cardinals and how they would be able to cope with this again. It also was very upsetting knowing that a guy that by all accounts was universally loved as a great teammate was lost so early in his Major League carer, not to even mention what his loss means to the Cardinal bullpen which seams silly to even think about. I mean, I just watched him pitch on Saturday and now he is gone?!?! Baseball is supposed to be an escape from real life and now Cardinal fans are mourning another tragic loss for the second time in five years.

But here is the deal, everything I have mentioned to this point is coming from a selfish sports fan who will miss watching a guy perform his talent. Not someone who actually knew the guy and will miss him for who he was as a human being. I emailed Shelby yesterday to offer my condolences and told her I would pass along some of her words about Josh:

"It's been a tragic morning... My dad called early to tell me my dear cousin died in an auto accident in St. Louis. He was only 29 years old. He had begun his dream career pitching in the majors. We were all so proud for him last year when his team won the World Series. More than that, we were always proud of him for being an awesome soul and I loved him. It's very kind of you to write something about him. Especially remember to pray for his parents and brother and sister.

Josh just wanted to play ball. And he did. He worked at his game since a little boy. His parents love the game, his grandparents loved the game, all his uncles and aunts love the game, his cousins love the game, and his brother and sister love the game.

His dad played college basketball, his uncle played college basketball, his brother plays college baseball, and his sister is about to play college basketball.

As Brian Kilmeade says and I agree, the games do count. It is a game, but it's part of a bigger game, a bigger family. I'm so proud of Josh's accomplishments and how hard he worked at it - at the game and life.He persevered, he was diligent, he worked hard for his dream and he enjoyed his success.He had a great family and great friends and it was always evident as he continually nurtured those relationships."

For me it will be tough caring about wins and losses after this to the point it seems so unimportant, but I am sure from what I have read that Josh Hancock would still care about wins and losses because he loved baseball. Thank you Shelby for sharing what you did in such a tough time and putting a human face on a guy that I always just looked at as a (World Champion) Major League Baseball player, I can speak for all Cardinal fans that he will be missed. And if I may add one more selfish comment, this guy was part of a 2006 team I will never forget as long as I live. In the NLDS he came in from the bullpen to strike out future hall of famer Mike Piazza with two runners on in a very key situation that was just one of many moments that led to the Cardinals winning the 2006 World Series. Josh Hancock will always be a St. Louis Cardinal and a champion.

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Commentator Rob just posted this in the comments section and I thought it deserved to be read in the main post, very well said:

it's tough to lose hancock. the team and the fan base built up a huge bond last fall. i know the rest of the world who doesn't give a rat's ass about baseball could care less and i know anyone else who is a fan of one of the 29 other teams probably refer to the cards as one of the worst world series winners of all time, but remember this, we didn't think they were going to win either. we didn't think they belonged in the postseason either. and with each october win, a special connection was built between the 06 cards and the fans unlike any other connection built durring the cards string of good years. and hancock was the big, tall, lanky dude soaking it all up and having the time of his life. he appeared to be having as much fun with the whole thing as anyone. throw in the fact that you were just as likely to see hancock in a stadium area bar after a game as you were anyone else, he sorta felt like 'our' representative on the team. when it was all over, he didn't return to his giant home in california or the Caribbean, he stayed right here in town representing the cards at any event, flashing a grin from ear to ear when he was introduced as a champion. i saw him out a couple of times over the winter, once at a blues' game and another time at a restaurant. he was like one of us, just hanging out. only his right ring finger was reserved for a freakin' world series ring! hancock didn't make a kajillion dollars and he never thought he was bigger than any of the folks who paid to watch him play. whenever you thought that athletes didn't care and they were selfish and you wondered why you even bothered with sports in the first place, you'd think of a guy like hancock and think that there was a glimmer of hope more guys were like him than you thought.