Hancock may have been drunk when killed

[Waldo]

It's just hearsay at this point, but it sounds like he might have been drinking heavily before he got behind the wheel.

Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock was in a potentially serious traffic accident less than three days before the one that took his life Sunday, according to police reports.

Hancock walked away from that early Thursday morning crash uninjured, but he was late for the team's afternoon game a few hours later. The club and several teammates said he had overslept.

But sources say he was late because he was hung over.

Two nights later, after pitching in a Saturday afternoon game, Hancock spent the evening at Mike Shannon's Steaks and Seafood drinking to a point of impairment, according to a couple at the restaurant.

Post-Dispatch

[MusicMan]

"According to a couple at the restaurant"

I'm sorry, that's shitty reporting.

[Phil_in_CS]

Your link didn't mention it, but IIRC I read an item earlier than said the wrecker he hit had its lights flashing.

Very sad

[Fredia]

Your link didn't mention it, but IIRC I read an item earlier than said the wrecker he hit had its lights flashing.

Very sad

i had wondered about that . how he could have failed to see it. tragedy that might could have been avoided if these reports are true

[Foghorn]

Your link didn't mention it, but IIRC I read an item earlier than said the wrecker he hit had its lights flashing.

Very sad

Do the Cards as an orgnaization tolerate this type of behavior?  Drinkin' Dave Duncan, The Tanked Commander, and now this.

Unrelated incidents?  

[Phil_in_CS]

Here is the link that says the tow trucks emergency lights were on:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/3B293F8C2726D713862572CC00534F93?OpenDocument

and (unrelated?) Chris Duncan, son of Drinkin' Dave, gets scratched from the line up for being late, and shows up needing 12 stitches for "bumping into the ceiling"

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/21A289A0310F1B82862572CA0013E964?OpenDocument

[Noe]

It was reported last night in the Monday Night ESPN telecast of the Cardinals/Brewers that the manager of the restaurant offered Hancock a cab ride home and he refused.  The manager refused to elaborate on why the need to call him a cab was necessary.

[Limey]

Here is the link that says the tow trucks emergency lights were on:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/3B293F8C2726D713862572CC00534F93?OpenDocument

and (unrelated?) Chris Duncan, son of Drinkin' Dave, gets scratched from the line up for being late, and shows up needing 12 stitches for "bumping into the ceiling"

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/21A289A0310F1B82862572CA0013E964?OpenDocument

...and they're sponsored by Budweiser and play their home games in Busch Stadium.

[Waldo]

"According to a couple at the restaurant"

I'm sorry, that's shitty reporting.

FWIW, the article also says that the manager offered to call a cab for Hancock but he declined.  And the accident on Thursday happened at 5:30am.  May just be coincidence or circumstantial evidence, but that doesn't seem likely.

[David in Jackson]

It's just hearsay at this point, but it sounds like he might have been drinking heavily before he got behind the wheel.

Post-Dispatch

The Police will do tests for alcohol and until they do everybody ought to shut up.

[TheWizard]

I'm not sure if any of you guys are deadspin readers, but there was a good piece on him there.  For anyone who doesn't read, Deadspin is a relatively famous sports blog that puts somewhat of a comedic spin on the big stories of the day  For Hancock there was a nice story because the author indirectly knew Hancock , and it puts the fan-athlete relationship into prosepctive, take a read if you want:
http://deadspin.com/sports/josh-hancock/rip-josh-hancock-256275.php

Basically mentions how he eats with a couple of fans and was a cool guy.  From most accounts I've read about the guy, he seems like an everyman sort of player, who maybe was a bit lonely in the bigs.  Who knows though.  RIP.

[WulawHorn]

It is always my first thought that alcohol might be involved whenever you have a traffic fatality late at night like that. I posted nothing b/c the tox report isn't in, and one will certainly be done. I think the rush to be first is reprehensible, if for example he was not drunk.

Let freaking events play out and see what happens and then let's go into the postmortem. If he wasn't drunk it is reprehensible reporting. If he was, then you can get into your social commentary as events prove it is warranted (ie tox screen). It's not like that won't be public record soon.

[Astroholic]

Let freaking events play out and see what happens and then let's go into the postmortem.

If the media did this, then they would not have to first "Exclusive" report out.  This country is spiraling down the crapper at an alarming rate.