Late St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was reportedly drunk at the time of his car accident, talking on his cell phone. Hancock's blood-alcohol level (0.157) was twice the Missouri state legal limit of 0.08.
Furthermore, a little more than a quarter bag of pot and a glass bowl were found in the rented SUV he was driving. Toxicology tests to determine whether Hancock was high at the time of the crash have not been completed.
According to an accident reconstruction team, Hancock was driving 68 mph in a 55 mph zone when his SUV struck the back of a flatbed tow truck that was stopped in a driving lane. There was no evidence Hancock tried to stop, although he did swerve, obviously too late to avoid the collision.
St. Louis medical examiner Michael Graham said he died "within seconds" of head injuries. Hancock was not wearing a seat belt, but Graham said that would not have prevented his death, as he suffered fatal chest and head injuries.Hancock was driving alone and the truck driver was not injured.
Five hundred players, friends and family mourned his passing at a memorial service in Tupelo, Mississippi. He was buried Wednesday in rural Itawamba County.
Is it completely tactless for photographers to take pictures of baseball players at their teammate and friend's funeral, or is it just me?
[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
5 comments:
Now do people think baseball should inflict stricter penalties for drunk driving within the organization?
Terrible things like this may be preventable. (cough Tony La Russa)
That's a sad reality I think we all knew already.
Stay classy, photographers.
Sooze, I love the blog and certainly don't mean to nitpick, but for accuracy's sake, Tupelo is in Mississippi. Thanks for not making this about anything other than what it is, a young man's tragic, stupid mistake.
My bad, thanks James. Noted and fixed. :)
We all make mistakes everyday. Some are minor (like mistaking Mississippi for Missouri) and some can be fatal (like drunk driving).
It's sad and a young man's death is certainly no opportunity to make condescending comments about him or the organization.
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