Yankees Pitcher Cory Lidle Dies in NYC Plane Crash

Yankees Pitcher Cory Lidle Dies in NYC Plane Crash

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Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle has been killed in a plane crash today at or around 2:42pm EST, when his small fixed-wing aircraft flew into a building at 542 E 72st.

At first, understandably, panic rode through the city, as flashes of 9/11 played through every New Yorker's mind

(sorry, but fuck the rest of the country). Mayor Bloomberg told us in a press conference his people have determined there was absolutely no connection to terrorism. Reports of a huge fireball and debris raining down on the streets began flooding the 911 call centers shortly after the crash. Then, not too long ago, a report on ESPN News told everyone that the FAA told them the plane had been registered to "a member of the Yankees organization". Later a NYC police source confirmed the person in question was 34 year-old pitcher Cory Lidle. Apparently, him and his flight instructor were the only people on board. Reports say his passport and luggage were found on the street by passerbys.

Lidle came over to the Yankees July 30 in the Bobby Abreu trade with the Phillies. He played for 7 different teams (including coming up through the Mets system) in his 10 year career, and had just gotten his pilot's license in this past off-season.

- I was preparing to go to game one of the NLCS when I heard of this report. Normally a small plane crash is no big deal, and wouldn't disrupt my travel time within Queens. At that moment, the weather was my biggest and only concern. I was wondering if they would cancel this game, and if they did, when the hell would they tell us. In the previous ALDS series last week at Yankee Stadium there was a rain delay and they didn't tell everyone in the stadium until 10pm! Now according to sports shows and various news sources, we're waiting to see if commissioner Bud Selig would consider cancelling this game just because it's in New York, and we've lost a MLB player in this city.

I hate the Yankees, don't get me wrong. I would usually rejoice and hope one of them would die. But it's different when it actually happens, and I think everyone's condolences and prayers should be with the family and friends of Cory Lidle and his instructor.

**Update - NLCS Game 1 has been postponed. Tickets for Game One are good for Friday. Game 2 ticket holders still go tomorrow**