Darryl Kile

Darryl Kile started his Major League Baseball pitching career in 1991 with the Houston Astros. His best year statistically was likely 1997, when he won 19 games for the 'Stros while posting a 2.57 ERA. Kile signed on with the Colorado Rockies in 1998 as a free agent, and two years later was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. He helped the Cards to an NL Central division title that 2000 season, winning 20 games against only 9 losses. A 3-time All-Star (1997, 2000, 2001), Kile also finished in the top 5 in Cy Young Award voting 2 times (1997, 2000) and threw a no-hitter for the Astros in 1993.

Kile died in his sleep on June 22, 2002, in his hotel bed in Chicago, Illinois. His sudden and shockingly unexpected death came just days after the death of legendary Cardinals play-by-play announcer Jack Buck. Team physician Dr. Jim Loomis said there was no reason to suspect the condition, that Kile had no known health problems. Kile died of heart failure caused by coronary atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries; autopsies reported 80-90% blocking of multiple branches of Kile's coronary artery.

"It's something nobody thought could happen, especially healthy guy, a great person. He was a warrior." - Sammy Sosa
"DK was a very special player. He was always the perfect teammate to all the guys who played with him." - Don Baylor
"Our club is just totally staggered, I mean, devastated." - Tony LaRussa

Career statistics:

  G  GS   W   L CG SHO     IP    H    R  ER  HR  BB   SO  BAA  ERA
359 331 133 119 28   9 2165.1 2135 1099 992 214 918 1668 .260 4.12