Cory Lidle

Cory Lidle
New York Yankees – No. 30
Starting pitcher
Bats: Right Throws: Right
debut
May 8, 1997, for the New York Mets
Career statistics
Record	82-72
ERA	4.57
Strikeouts	838
Former teams
New York Mets (1997) Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1999-2000) Oakland Athletics (2001-2002) Toronto Blue Jays (2003) Cincinnati Reds (2004) Philadelphia Phillies (2005-2006) New York Yankees (2006)

Cory Fulton Lidle (March 22, 1972 Is a American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. He played for seven different teams in his ten-year career, last playing for the New York Yankees [1]. Only a few days after the team's 2006 season ended, Lidle was killed when his personal airplane crashed into a 50 story residential building on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Biography

Born in Hollywood, California, Lidle was a descendant of Robert Fulton. He attended South Hills High School in West Covina, California, graduating in 1990. During this time, he was a teammate of Jason Giambi. Lidle married Melanie Varela on January 7 1997; the pair had one son, Christopher.

Baseball career

Lidle was signed in 1990 by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent. After his release in 1993, he was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers. Lidle was then traded in 1996 to the New York Mets, and made his Major League debut for the Mets on May 8, 1997. Lidle was one of the few Major League Baseball players who was not a member of the MLB Players Union. As a replacement player during the 1994 baseball strike, he was not eligible to join the union. Lidle later appeared for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, Cincinnati Reds, and Philadelphia Phillies. On July 30, 2006, Lidle was traded along with outfielder Bobby Abreu from the Philadelphia Phillies to the New York Yankees for minor league shortstop C.J. Henry, the Yankees' first round pick in the 2005 draft, along with left-handed reliever Matt Smith, minor league catcher Jesus Sanchez, and minor league right hander Carlos Monasterios.

Controversies

After being traded by the Philadelphia Phillies in July 2006 at the trade deadline, Lidle criticized his former team: "On the days I'm pitching, it's almost a coin flip as to know if the guys behind me are going to be there to play 100 percent." He noted he was joining a Yankees team that expects to win all the time.

"That's why I'm most excited about it," Lidle said. "Sometimes I felt I got caught up kind of going into the clubhouse nonchalantly sometimes, because all of the other guys in the clubhouse didn't go there with one goal in mind."

In response former teammate Arthur Rhodes said, "He is a scab. When he started, he would go 5 1/3 innings and (the bullpen) would have to win the game for him. The only thing Cory Lidle wants to do is fly around in his airplane and gamble. He doesn't have a work ethic. After every start, he didn't run or lift weights. He would sit in the clubhouse and eat ice cream. ... He shouldn't say that, he shouldn't say anything like that because he is a scab. He crossed the line when guys like me, Flash and Lieberthal were playing. He is a replacement player."

Death

Main article: October 11, 2006 New York City plane crash

File:Coryaircrash.jpg

Cory Lidle with a Cessna airplane

According to the Associated Press, the plane that crashed into a building on New York City's Upper East Side on October 11 2006 was registered to Lidle. According to CNN, his passport was found on the street below the Belaire building which was involved in the crash.

See also

• Thurman Munson
• List of people who died in aviation-related incidents

External links

• Career statistics from Baseball Reference
• MLB.com profile