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CNN Sunday Morning

St. Louis Cardinals Mourn Loss of Darryl Kile

Aired June 23, 2002 - 10:24   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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In Chicago, they're mourning the loss of announcer -- they were mourning the loss, I should say, of announcer Jack Buck when the St. Louis Cardinals were stunned by the sudden death of one of their star pitchers, Darryl Kile, who was in Chicago to meet the Cubs. CNN's Brian Palmer joins me live from the hotel where it all happened. Brian, good morning.

BRIAN PALMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

Indeed, it's -- it's a second blow for Cardinals' fans. We're in front of the team hotel, The Westin, for the St. Louis Cardinals. This is where Dial -- excuse me, Daryl Kile's body was discovered yesterday, shortly before game time.

We've been in touch with the Cook County medical examiner. A woman we talked to on the phone said that they don't start doing autopsies until around 9:00. It's a little after 9:00 here in Chicago. She told us that, presumably, they'll have some results on the cause of his death today.

As of yesterday, police were saying natural causes. They have no reason to suspect anything else. The assistant team physician said that Kile passed his routine spring training physical, and he wasn't on any medication.

Now, this was a shock to fans who gathered yesterday at Bush Stadium to pay tribute to Kile. And it was also, presumably, a devastating blow to teammates and to the family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALT JOCKETTY, CARDINALS GENERAL MANAGER: He's one of the players that I've gone -- grown close to over the years because of his -- just his ability to be a leader on the club, a guy you can go to to ask questions about the players, and, you know, about the team and so forth. Great father. I mean, if you could see he and his wife, they were very, very much in love. It was -- it's going to be tough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PALMER: This was the 12th season for Kile in the major leagues. He pitched for the Houston Astros, the Colorado Rockies. The year 2000 was acknowledged as his best year with 20 wins, nine losses. Now, yesterday's game at Wrigley Field was canceled. We're told by the Cubs that the game tonight should be going forward, with a moment of silence for Darryl Kile -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Brian Palmer in Chicago. Thank you very much.

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