Cory Lidle

I was in training class when I heard Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle was killed in that plane crash in Manhattan yesterday. A lot of things have been said so I'll keep this brief. That is a tragedy. To think 2 days ago, he had to call into Mike and the Mad Dog's radio show to defend his comments about the Yankees not being prepared to play the Tigers. And 48 hours later, he's dead.

I thought I would post my top 5 Cory Lidle memories

1) The Mets. Cory was in Flushing around 1996. I thought he would be a good young pitcher, but I got the idea that the managers and front office just thought of him as an okay pitcher.

2) The expansion draft. I knew once he was exposed to the draft where Arizona and Tampa Bay entered, he would be gone. Sure enough, Tampa Bay snapped him up.

3) His honesty. He was never afraid to speak his mind. Whether he challenged teammates' desires to win, called out Barry Bonds for steroids, or discussed the state of baseball as a game, he was not afraid to speak his mind. That's cajones.

4) His streak in Oakland. Lidle's best season was 2001 when he went 13-6 with a 3.59 ERA (10th in the American League) for Oakland, helping the Athletics win the wild card. In August 2002, Lidle was named American League pitcher of the month after finishing the month with 1 earned run and an ERA of 0.20. His five wins during that span helped the Oakland Athletics win 20 straight games.

5) The interview. 14 minutes of straight arguing with Mike Francesa and Chris Russo on the radio this past Monday. It's on wfan.com and Lidle came out of it not looking too good. He kept accusing them of twisting his words to serve their own purposes (what media member or broadcaster doesn't get accused of that anyway?) and they were adamanat that by saying the Yankees were unprepared for Detroit, that he had to be blaming Joe Torre, the manager. Lidle said it was the players' fault. It was not pleasant to listen to. From what I've heard, Russo and Francesa sounded very guilty and apologetic after breaking the news of the crash. And the clip of that interview is still on WFAN's website. I really think it should be removed. It does not portray Lidle in a positive manner whatsoever and shouldn't be left for the public to hear.

RIP Cory Lidle