Struggling with their loss
MILWAUKEE – A day after the death of Josh Hancock, the St. Louis Cardinals tried to move on. They had a game to play.
But for Scott Spiezio, it was too much to handle. He told manager Tony La Russa to pull him from the starting lineup Monday night.
With Hancock’s jersey hanging in the bullpen and Milwaukee fans observing a moment of silence, the Cardinals tried to focus on the task at hand.
“It’s just one more thing that we have to deal with that people don’t want to,” center fielder Jim Edmonds said. “But this really doesn’t make any sense.”
The Cardinals lost to the Brewers 7-1, struggling at the plate and in the field.
But former Cardinals pitcher and Hancock teammate Jeff Suppan (4-2) was stellar for Milwaukee, giving up only one run and eight hits in his 16th career complete game.
Cardinals right-hander Dennis Dove, called up from Triple-A Memphis to fill Hancock’s roster spot, made his major league debut in the seventh.
“I hate it happened like this, but it’s a dream come true for me,” Dove said before the game.
The Cardinals will wear patches with Hancock’s No. 32 on their sleeves for the rest of the season. Pitcher Tyler Johnson held one of Hancock’s jerseys during the national anthem.
La Russa did not open the Cardinals’ clubhouse to the media before the game. He warned his players to be wary of the “insincerity” of media members who “have their own agendas.”
“The first time I hear insincerity, man, I’m going to start swinging this fungo,” he told reporters.
Hancock, 29, was killed shortly after midnight Sunday when his SUV struck the rear of a flatbed tow truck on a St. Louis highway. The Cardinals’ scheduled home game against Chicago on Sunday night was postponed.
Around the majors, Hancock was remembered.
Atlanta Braves ace Tim Hudson pitched Monday night with the letters “JH” ironed onto the left chest of his jersey. Hancock was a former college teammate at Auburn.
The Mets and Marlins observed a moment of silence at Shea Stadium and the Angels and Royals remembered Hancock before their game in Kansas City.
“Obviously, everybody’s grieving and sad about the loss that we have,” Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter said. “Josh was a great player, a great teammate, a great guy in the clubhouse.”
Edmonds and a few others in the Cardinals’ clubhouse have experience playing under such difficult circumstances. Nearly five years ago, St. Louis pitcher Darryl Kile was found dead in his Chicago hotel room. Kile died at 33 of a coronary artery blockage.
“Those of us who were here in ‘02 remember how difficult it was,” La Russa said. “But I think the best approach is: There are a lot of people who aren’t in professional baseball” who suffer the loss of family and friends. “That kind of suffering and sadness is part of life.”
Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan said dealing with Kile’s death did not make it any easier to handle Hancock’s loss.
“I don’t think it helps me,” Duncan said. “Maybe understanding you will get through it, it will pass in time. But it never goes away.”