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CNN Sunday Morning

Cardinals Pitcher Kile Dead at 33

Aired June 23, 2002 - 09:09   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: All right, back now to the story of the death of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile at the age of 33 at the peak of his career. Brian Palmer is in Chicago with more on this tragic story. Brian, good morning to you.

BRIAN PALMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles. The latest information we have comes from the Cook County medical examiner. We're told that the autopsy on Kile's body should take place sometime this morning.

This wasn't an official spokesman, just someone who told us that this should happen this morning. The results should be available soon after that. Now, the body of the 33-year-old St. Louis Cardinals pitcher was discovered just a little bit before game time. He was supposed to take the field here in Wrigley Field here in Chicago.

Police say they feel it's natural causes. We'll know more after the autopsy. The assistant team physician says that Kile was in good health. He passed his spring training physical and he wasn't on any medication that the physician knew of. Now, this was the 12th major league season for Darryl Kile. His death a shock for teammates, for fans, and presumably for his family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALT JOCKETTY, ST. LOUIS CARDINALS GENERAL MANAGER: You know it's been a very difficult week with the loss of Jack Buck and now the loss of Darryl Kile. There's going to be a real tough mourning period for the Cardinal organization, for the fans of St. Louis, the citizens of St. Louis.

It's just -- what we've got to, you know, we all have a job to do. We got to be strong and try to battle through this and find a way to go on.

TONY LA RUSSA, CARDINAL'S MANAGER: Our club is just totally staggered, I mean devastated, and we guys know what a pro is and he's always one of the first guys in the clubhouse. And when he wasn't the first guy and then it got later, we started putting out calls, where is he? You know, cell phones and go back to the hotel, and everybody's, you know, kind of hoping and praying that he's OK, and then the news. I mean, it just devastated our club.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PALMER: Now the game at Wrigley Field was canceled last night, but the game tonight, as far as we know, is scheduled to go ahead -- Miles.

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

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