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American Morning
Interview with John Marecek
Aired June 24, 2002 - 07:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get now to that very sudden death of baseball player, Darryl Kile. The 33-year-old pitcher in St. Louis was supposed to be on the mound last night in Chicago. He was found dead, however, in his hotel room a day earlier on Saturday.
Brian Palmer this morning live from Chicago, where the medical examiner there has released a preliminary report on the cause of the young pitcher's death -- Brian, good morning.
BRIAN PALMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. Exactly. The last word we got from the medical examiner yesterday was that the suspected cause of death of Darryl Kile was heart disease, a very severe narrowing of two of three branches of his coronary arteries -- very, very severe.
Now, unconfirmed media reports are saying that Kile complained of some shoulder pain the evening before his death, but again, we haven't been able to confirm that yet.
Last night's game at Wrigley Field started with a moment of silence for No. 57, Darryl Kile.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His love and commitment to his family, friends and teammates will be truly missed. At this time, we ask that you please join us in a moment of silence to remember St. Louis Cardinals pitcher, No. 57, Darryl Kile.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PALMER: Bill, the Cubs went on to pretty well pound the Cardinals 8-3. Manager Tony La Russa said before the game, they were going to have other things on their mind, obviously the death of the 33-year-old pitcher, and they just really couldn't get their act together. They managed to score three runs, but they really were, I think, concentrating on the loss of such a valuable team member.
They are back in St. Louis today. They have got the day off. La Russa saying they are just going to take one day at a time -- Bill.
HEMMER: One day at a time indeed. Brian, thank you -- Brian Palmer in Chicago. More reaction now in St. Louis, where feelings certainly run deep. Fans mourning the death of the 33-year-old pitching star. John Marecek covers the Cardinals for KFNS Sports Radio in St. Louis, and John is with us live this morning -- John, good morning.
JOHN MARECEK, KFNS SPORTS RADIO: Good morning.
HEMMER: This man had an incredible health track record, never was on the disabled list in his entire Major League career. Was there ever any indication going back through his history that he may have had a health condition, John?
MARECEK: The only thing you could maybe go back to would be that his father died at a young age of a similar problem with a heart problem, a problem with heart disease at the age of 44. But other than that, there is no other -- nothing else that you could go back to.
HEMMER: Many people have said he was like a businessman on the field, showed up to play and work and work hard. What was he like, not only as a player, but also as a man?
MARECEK: It was funny, because to the media, there were two different Darryl Kiles, really. You saw the Darryl Kile that had fun with the players, had fun with the family and taught the young players and was very -- did a lot of charity work throughout the communities in Houston, Colorado and in St. Louis.
But then there was the Darryl Kile, when a camera was on, and he was very businesslike, and there were very short answers. If he won the game, all he'd have to say is he did his job. And if he lost the game, then he did not do his job. He never complained one time.
Last season, they were shut out three times. He said that those games were his fault, and that he lost the game. That's the kind of guy he was, and that's what made him such a great teammate.
HEMMER: His teammates on Saturday night got together, took a vote, and decided to play the game last night, Sunday night in Chicago, in honor of Darryl Kile. Do you have a sense, so far, of how the team is reacting and feeling now?
MARECEK: I would say that for them to be able to go on the field and perform at all shows a lot of courage and a lot of heart. And there is one thing that we have talked about the last couple of days on the station, and that is that athletes feel comfortable in between those white lines. And that may be the best thing for the team right now is to play and to be a team, and then to have a day off today where they come back to St. Louis, and they will be here for 13 games entering the All Star break. They'll get a lot of time to spend with their family, as they cope with the loss of Darryl Kile.
HEMMER: It has been one heck of a week in St. Louis. Last week, Jack Buck, the legendary broadcaster, passing away, the funeral held on Friday. This news hitting the town on Saturday. As you listen to listeners and folks who call into your radio program, so much of the fabric of the community is defined by sports, especially in St. Louis given the Cardinals' history there. What are you hearing not only from listeners, but also is there a sense that you have picked up on, on what the town is feeling today, given these two momentous stories in just a week's time?
MARECEK: Well, there is a lot of sorrow throughout St. Louis, and I think you can see that by watching what's going on at Busch Stadium right now. And there is -- there has been a memorial since late Tuesday evening, once everyone was alerted to the passing of Jack Buck, outside of his statute -- his statute outside the ballpark. There has been a memorial growing every single day, and as soon as the fans of St. Louis Cardinals baseball learned of the death of Darryl Kile on Saturday, they did the same thing for Darryl Kile, which was very unexpected, especially for a player who has only been in St. Louis for two-and-a-half years, while Jack Buck has been here almost his entire life.
The fans are very sad, and this is going to be a tough season, because the fans in St. Louis feel as though Cardinal baseball is part of their family. And Darryl Kile -- losing Darryl Kile to a Cardinal fan is like losing a family member.
HEMMER: Thank you, John.
MARECEK: Thank you.
HEMMER: John Marecek with sports Radio KFNS there in St. Louis.
Countless medical questions on this story. Our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, live with us this morning in Atlanta -- Sanjay, good to see you on a Monday morning here.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: It is said that he passed a complete physical in spring training this past year. Is it possible for a baseball player or anyone to get a complete physical and have a condition like this go unnoticed?
GUPTA: Yes. You know, certainly as we saw here, Bill, that can absolutely happen, 80 to 90 percent block. The real key is: Is enough blood getting to the heart? Apparently he had very little of any symptoms. Brian had mentioned some shoulder pain possibly, which could have been a forerunner of some heart problems. But it can go undetected, and you wouldn't necessarily get any more advanced testing if he was asymptomatic. He was healthy. He was young. So probably no reason to get any further testing either.
HEMMER: That percentage is extremely high to me, 80 to 90 percent. Is it easy, or is it difficult to gauge that and find out if a person's condition indeed is susceptible to that significant amount of blockage?
GUPTA: Right. Well, it's pretty easy to detect. There are good imaging studies out there to actually find out how blocked a vessel can be; 80 to 90 percent would be actually pretty easy to pick up. The real question here, Bill, is: Would you go ahead and order those advanced tests? And again, in someone who has never had any problems, and he is out there playing baseball. So he is giving his heart a stress test every night or every day and really no problems. He probably would not get any of the further studies that would have actually found that.
HEMMER: Knowing his father died after he suffered a heart attack at a rather young age too, at the age of 44, what is the medical lesson in here knowing there was somewhat of a pattern of history within the family?
GUPTA: Right. Well, I think that is a fair question, and certainly in someone who has a strong family history, there could be an argument made for earlier screening tests. I don't think anybody would have screened him at the age of 33 to try and find out if he had significant heart disease. But I think the message for everyone who has strong family histories or people who are concerned about heart disease is get tested early, and do everything you can to try and prevent this from turning into the tragedy, the rare tragedy in someone so young, but still the tragedy that it was.
HEMMER: Yes. Thank you, Sanjay -- we'll see you a bit later this morning. Dr. Sanjay Gupta in Atlanta with more on this story and a lesson for all of us contained therein -- thanks, Sanjay.
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