Cory Lidle - I need to get my two cents in about this terrible accident. I really haven’t seen much of the TV coverage about what happened or how it happened. I only know the basics: a Yankees pitcher and one other man were flying along the East River, for some reason got off course and crashed into a Manhattan building. It’s unbelievable really, and that’s all I keep hearing from people who are close to the story. How could this have happened?
I would never have called myself a Cory Lidle fan. I’ve never been a fan for any of the seven teams he played for in the nine years he was in the majors. In all that time I’m not even sure he was even on one of my fantasy teams. But there’s just something strange about this story. I can’t put my finger on it, but I really care about it. I’ve been looking up various different writers on news sites and sports sites. So far the best one by far is by Alan Schwarz on ESPN.com.
I had this thought last night, and I think it either makes me an awful person or pretty insightful. Or both. I’ll let you decide. ESPN was covering the story since it broke that the plane was owned by Lidle and was getting reactions from everyone and their grandmother. They came to Brian Cashman, the Yankees GM, and he was a wreck. Nearly in tears, he could barely make a statement to the media. Now if you’re not familiar with baseball you might not think that’s too much of a stretch. After all, they worked together, right? Only thing is, Lidle was only with the Yankees for a couple of months. He came over in a trade back in July. So my question is, how well could Cashman have known him? Please keep reading; I know this is where I start to sound like a terrible person but I do have a legitimate point here eventually. So here’s Cashman crying over the death of a man he probably doesn’t know that well. The first two possibilities that came to mind led me to conclude that either [a] the loss was hitting him hard because it’s someone he didn’t expect to lose (possibly reminding him of his own mortality), [b] Lidle and Cashman hung out more than I know and they were good friends. Pretty standard conclusions.
But what if it was something a little more gut-wrenching? Cashman, as GM, is responsible for bringing in the players that will fill the Yankee roster. He’s taken heat from Yankee fans because they’ve not made it out of the first round of the playoffs the last two years with the team he’s put together (not to mention that whole ‘04 ALCS fiasco). So what if Cashman was starting to put two and two together? If he had brought together a better team, the Yankees would still be in the playoffs. If the Yanks were in the playoffs, do you really think Lidle would have had the time to be out flying?
This, of course, ignores the fact that I have no idea what caused the crash. It could be that whenever Lidle went up in that plane next it would have gone down. But it could also have been due to something like the weather or another condition that would have been present only on this particular Wednesday afternoon. But regardless, what a terrible feeling to walk around with.
In any case, be praying for the Lidle family. He left behind a wife and six-year-old boy. And I don’t know the name of the other person who was in the airplane, but be praying for his family as well. Tragedy has a way of putting the divine choice we make every day, so often subconsciously, right out in the open: draw closer to God or turn away from Him. If nothing else, pray for the former.
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