- Darryl Kile died at the age of 33 following a heart attack in 2002.
- An All-Star and 20-game winner, Kile had previously undiagnosed heart disease.
- Kile’s family continues to work raising awareness of cardiovascular disease.
It was Saturday morning when the last St. Louis Cardinals team bus arrived at Wrigley Field, but Darryl Kile, the heart and soul of the team, was not on it. It was still early, and he wasn’t pitching this day, anyway, but 9 o’clock turned to 10, 10 turned to 11, 11 turned to 12, and Kile still had not arrived.
The hushed whispers in the cramped clubhouse that fateful June 22, 2002 day, started to spread.
“’Where’s Darryl? Where’s Darryl? Has anyone seen Darryl?” St. Louis Cardinals catcher Mike Matheny says. “That’s what we all started asking ourselves. It wasn’t like him. Darryl was never late. Dave Veres, who was a teammate with Darryl in Colorado, hadn’t heard from him either. He wasn’t answering his cell phone or the hotel phone.
“There were different pockets in that clubhouse with everyone was trying to figure out something.’
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, whose team was on the field for stretching and batting practice, spoke uneasily with GM Walt Jocketty and trainer Barry Weinberg. Kile was scheduled to start the Sunday night ESPN game, but still should have been at the field. It was noon, nearly 1 ½ hours before game time, when Jocketty called the Westin Hotel in downtown Chicago and asked for hotel security to check Kile’s room.
“I started getting worried just because who Darryl is,’ La Russa says. “If you asked who’s the best teammate in the history of baseball, without question, Darryl is in that conversation. In my mind, Darryl Kile was the greatest teammate I ever had. He’s a guy who embraced being the No. 1 starter in the rotation, who never went on the [injured list], who was as competitive as they came, and was always determined to be better. He took genuine interest in every single teammate.
“So for Darryl to be late, for Darryl not to be answering his phone, I knew something was wrong.’
The hotel security staff knocked on Kile’s 11th-floor hotel room door then tried to use a key, but the safety latch was locked. They finally broke down the door. Kile was still in bed lying under the sheets. He had no pulse. Jocketty was immediately called and asked to come to the hotel.
Jocketty arrived, and police and medics were already there.
Kile, the Cardinals’ beloved clubhouse leader and three-time All-Star, who had just pitched the Cardinals into first place in his last start four days ago, was dead.
He was 33 years old.
The autopsy revealed Kile had been suffering from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), with two of his arteries 90% blocked. He died of a heart attack. It was the same disease that killed his father, David, at the age of 44.
“I’ll never forget sitting in the clubhouse, and praying as a team,’ Matheny says, “when Tony walked over with tears in his eyes, telling us they found Darryl. He passed away.
“That’s something you never forget.’
Jocketty informed the Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball. That afternoon was supposed to be the Fox game of the week. The Cardinals, openly sobbing in the clubhouse, knew they couldn’t possibly plae. Cubs catcher Joe Girardi, who had previously played for the Cardinals, walked onto the field at 2:37 p.m. – more than one hour after the game was originally scheduled to start – and addressed the crowd.
‘I thank you for your patience. We regret to inform you because of a tragedy in the Cardinal family, that the commissioner has cancelled the game today. Please be respectful. You will find out eventually what has happened, and I ask that you say a prayer for the St. Louis Cardinals family.’
The aftermath
The Cardinals retreated to their hotel and waited for Flynn Kile, Darryl’s wife of 10 years and the mother of 5-year-old twins Sierra and Kannon, and 10-month old Ryker. Flynn, who had been furniture shopping at the time, boarded a private plane with her father to Chicago. The team chaplains were flown in from St. Louis. The Cardinals spent the evening in a meeting room talking about Kile when pitching coach Dave Duncan, a former Marine who never showed the slightest emotion, began to speak.
“Dunc talked about what an honor it was to work with a pro like Darryl,’ La Russa says, “and in the middle of him talking, Dave started crying. We had never seen Dave cry. Suddenly, the whole room was crying. We all let it out.
“It was the most devastating thing I’ve ever seen.
“I’ll never forget that day. I wish I could.’
The Cardinals would never again stay at the Westin hotel because of the memories. They hung Kile’s jersey in the dugout the rest of the season. They wore ’57’ patches on their uniform. Albert Pujols took Kile’s uniform onto the field when they clinched a playoff berth. And his number and initials, ‘DK57’ still is prominently displayed in the Cardinals’ bullpen.
La Russa and several members of the Cardinals’ 2006 and 2011 World Series championship teams arranged a charity event in July to celebrate the lives of Kile, Jocketty and Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck. They walked on stage and talked for hours about their legacies, with Flynn and her children sitting in the front row.
The Kile kids were too young to remember much about their father but the memories were brought to life through the night, and them know the impact their father made not only in the Cardinals’ organization – but throughout baseball.
“Everyone explained his greatness,’ La Russa says. “They talked about the things Darryl did on and off the field, in the clubhouse, on the back of the plane, and Flynn and the kids were in tears letting them appreciate the greatness of Darryl.
“It’s very important to keep Darryl Kile’s name where it belongs forever.’
Darryl Kile’s legacy: Raising heart disease awareness
Kile’s legacy continues as part of a national heart awareness program that will be launched Friday in St. Louis.
The Kile family, led by 28-year-old daughter, Sierra, are helping launch ‘Playing with Heart’ an educational program with Merck and WomenHeart, a national advocacy group to help address heart disease.
Sierra Kile, along with Cardinals great Adam Wainwright, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Friday, Sept. 19, against the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium.
“Preventing heart disease has been pretty important with my family with my father passing away suddenly from a heart attack, and my grandfather dying too from a heart attack,’ Sierra Kile says. “So, it definitely runs in the family, which is a bummer. But it makes me and my brothers and my mom especially more aware of what’s going on with our family’s risk and history of the disease.
“I think most of the community is not really aware of the importance it is to speak to a doctor and getting ahead of things … I don’t want other families to have to go through what we did, where a major cardiovascular event happens, and then it’s too late.’
If a healthy young athlete can die without ever knowing they had heart disease, what about the rest of us?
And now, more than two decades later, Kile’s family is honored knowing that his legacy lives on with this awareness program. In the words of the great Jackie Robinson: ‘A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.’
They hope that the memory of Kile spreading awareness about heart disease can help save lives.
“I think the biggest goal and the main purpose for me being a part of this program,’ Sierra says, “is encouraging and inspiring people to just speaking with your doctor. I think prevention really just begins with making that appointment, and beginning the conversation.
“People don’t even really know what’s going on in their body until something happens, or until it’s too late. That’s kind of what happened with my Dad. He passed his physicals, but he didn’t know there was a deeper issue.’
‘His presence is still felt in that locker room’
The Kile family will be helping spread the word from coast to coast while living in different parts of the country. Sierra works for a talent agency and lives in Dallas. Kannon, her twin, recently got married and lives in New York. Ryker just graduated from college and lives in San Diego. And Flynn, Darryl’s widow, remarried, and they lives in a suburb of San Diego.
It had been years since the family got together and traveled to St. Louis. They attended La Russa’s charity event in July, meeting most of Kile’s former teammates for the first time.
And, for the first time since her dad’s death, Sierra went to Wrigley Field last year to watch the Cardinals, knowing this is where her father was supposed to pitch in that that Sunday night game. She decided to wear the same jersey her father wore when he was on the 2000 All-Star team, winning 20 games that season for the Cardinals.
“It was so emotional,’ Sierra says. “I was sitting with a bunch of Cardinals fans, and the guy sitting next to us knew who my dad was. The cotton candy guy was actually there the day that game got canceled. It was just so cool meeting people in the community.
“Hopefully, I can be in St. Louis more often now.’
The Cardinals vow to be heavily involved in the awareness program in Kile’s honor, too, with Wainwright planning to personally spread the word. Wainwright was a minor league pitcher in the Atlanta organization when Kile died and never got a chance to meet him. Yet, after spending 18 years with the Cardinals, he felt like he had known him his entire life.
“As soon as I got traded there in 2003, I learned the incredible impact that he had made with so many players there,’ Wainwright says. “I mean, they hung his jersey in that locker room and they even kept his locker until the last year of old Busch Stadium in ’05.
“His presence is still felt in that locker room because of the mentorship that he put into teaching Matt Morris and Rick Ankiel and those guys what it took to be a winner and professional. He taught them how to be winning players on the field, but also away from the field.
“That’s why I feel very blessed to do this because of his history and what he meant to our organization.’
The Rolex
Kile made such a powerful impact on others that the Cardinals and the Houston Astros, where he spent the first seven years of his career, established the ‘Darryl Kile Good Guy Award’ the following year after his death. It’s an award given annually by the local chapters of Baseball Writers Association of America to the Cardinals and Astros player who best embodies Kile’s traits of “being a good teammate, a great friend, a fine father, and a humble man.’
The first Cardinals player to win the award was Matheny, Kile’s personal catcher. Kile used to tease Matheny for being cheap. He couldn’t believe that Matheny would buy fake Rolex watches on the street when they went to New York, reminding him that he was in the big leagues and could afford an expensive watch.
When Kile won his 20th game in his last start of the 2000 season against the Padres in San Diego, the team returned back to St. Louis for the final weekend. When Matheny arrived to his locker next day, there was a present on his chair. It was from Kile. It was a Rolex.
Yes, a real one.
Matheny proudly wore the watch virtually every day until June 22, 2002.
It was the last time he would wear it.
“When we found out Darryl died, and there was no game, we all stayed in the clubhouse for awhile,’ Matheny says. “There was nowhere to hide. We knew reporters were outside wanting to talk, but we didn’t want to get talk. We were finally about to leave when I looked at my watch.
“I pulled the pin out. I put it aside. And it never ran since. I swore I’d never wear it again.’
The Cardinals had mixed emotions about playing the next day, even though it was the Sunday night ESPN game. Flynn then spoke to the team. She convinced them that Darryl would want them to play, just as he did when he kept pitching after his father passed away.
La Russa called Matheny into his office and asked if he wanted to catch that evening although Kile wouldn’t be on the mound. Matheny had actually been informed by La Russa earlier in the week that he would no longer be Kile’s personal catcher because of his offensive struggles, but Kile wouldn’t have any part of it. He told La Russa, “If he ain’t catching, I ain’t pitching.’
“So, Tony called me into his office that afternoon and asked how I was doing,’ Matheny says. “I said, ‘Tony, I’m telling you, I’m struggling. Man, we need to go home.’ Then, I thought about what Darryl said about me, and I told Tony, ‘If he’s not pitching, I’m not catching.’
“And we both cried.’
It was only two days earlier when Matheny, Kile and Veres were driving to the St. Louis airport together to catch their chartered flight for the Cubs series. They had just attended the memorial service together for beloved Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck.
“I remember that car ride talking about life and death, conversations you typically don’t have,’ Matheny says. “We were young, and for a lot of us, we had never lost anyone. I mean, my grandparents were still alive. Now, we’re saying, ‘Wow, this real.’ We were still navigating that this icon of ours passed away.’
Less than 48 hours later, they were absolutely numb trying to deal with the fact that their best friend was suddenly gone. Kile was the first active player since Yankees catcher Thurman Munson in 1979 to die during a baseball season.
‘Darryl was our inspiration’
The Cardinals, struggling after Kile’s death to even have the desire to play baseball, fell out of first place. They lost seven of nine games and the season was slipping away.
It was Kile who saved their season.
Bernie Miklasz, a columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, wrote a piece about Kile talking about the difficulty of continuing his career after his father suddenly died in 1993.
Kile had told Miklasz, “I don’t think I’ll ever get over it. My father was my best friend. But in order to be a man, you’ve got separate your personal life from your work life. It may sound cold, but I’ve got work to do. I’ll never forget my father, but I’m sure he’d want me to keep on working and try to do the best I can’
La Russa called a team meeting, read the newspaper clipping, and told his team that if they truly wanted to honor Kile, they should abide by his words and keep pushing forward. He reminded them that Kile never stopped, pitching a no-hitter against the Mets and making his first All-Star team that season.
The Cardinals won the next four games, nine of the next 12, finished with a 97-65 record, and won the NL Central by 12 games. When they clinched the title, their young star, Albert Pujols, ran onto the field carrying Kile’s jersey. When the regular season ended, La Russa realized they won 57 games after Kile’s death.
“Darryl was our inspiration,’ says Matheny, who went on to manage the Cardinals and Kansas City Royals. “This guy was so unbelievable. I had never seen somebody so intentional about wanting it to be about somebody else. The selflessness. He was so locked in. Darryl Kile was always about making people better.
“When you move on, and you still have people talking about you and the impact you had, that’s the ultimate example and template.’
Kile’s family wants to help educate others, making sure they live a full life, and being able to watching their own kids grow up.
They know the excruciating pain of losing a parent too soon.
“This campaign is very special for all of us,’ Sierra Kile says. “Obviously, this hits close to home. But seeing what we’re doing, and trying to help, this would make my Dad proud.’
Around the basepaths
– Atlanta manager Brian Snitker, who has spent 49 years in the organization, said this week that he remains undecided whether he will retire as manager. Yet, it would be a surprise if he returned after telling friends and peers since last season that this would be his final year, no matter how the team fared.
– Meanwhile, several teams may have already made the decision to fire their managers once the season ends and wil be quietly lining up potential candidates for interviews.
– One of the keys to the Giants’ dramatic turnaround was Buster Posey, president of baseball operations. He had heart-to-heart conversations with several of their top players, subtly reminding them of his expectations.
– Cubs GM Carter Hawkins has already interviewed with the Washington Nationals and is a finalist for their president of baseball operations vacancy following the dismissal of Mike Rizzo.
– Now that Aaron Judge passed Yogi Berra and Joe DiMaggio to move into fourth place on the Yankees’ all-time home run list with 362 homers, the question is whether he can hit 600 career homers.
Judge turns 34 in April, and of the nine players who have hit 600 or more homers, all had at least 410 homers by the end of their age 33 season.
Also, only seven players have hit at least 200 homers from their age 34 season until the end of their career:
- Barry Bonds: 351
- Hank Aaron: 274
- Rafael Palmeiro: 255
- Babe Ruth: 244
- David Ortiz: 224
- Albert Pujols: 211
- Willie Mays: 207.
– Now that Phillies late-inning reliever Jose Alvarado’s season is over, going on the IL with a strained left forearm and ineligible for the postseason because of his PED suspension, it will be interesting if the Phillies completely cut ties with him.
Alvarado has a $9 million club option for 2026, but considering how much he let them down this season, it would make the most sense to buy out his $500,000 option and say good-bye.
– There’s no doubt that Justin Verlander, 42, will come back for at least his 21st season next year after the finishing kick with the San Franciso Giants. He has yielded a 2.44 ERA in his last 10 starts, including seven dominant innings Friday when he gave up just one run to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
– The Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks could be kicking themselves all winter if they miss out on the posteason. Both teams surrendered and waved the white flag at the trade deadline.
The Giants traded All-Star closer Camilo Doval to the Yankees, reliever Tyler Rogers to the Mets and outfielder Mike Yastrzemski to the Royals. The Diamondbacks unloaded third baseman Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor to Seattle, ace Merrill Kelly to Texas, DH Randal Grichuk to Kanas City and reliever Shelby Miller to Milwaukee.
Oops.
Then again, who would have known that the Mets would go into a complete collapse and leave the door open for a second-half turnaround?
– Kyle Schwarber made one of the shrewdest business decisions of the 2025 season when he bet on himself and rejected the Phillies’ offer for a contract extension this spring.
He promptly has gone out and hit 50 home runs.
He should command a four-year deal in excess of $120 milloom.
– Any speculation on the fate of Orioles GM Mike Elias was silly considering that he was quietly promoted to president of baseball operations before the season started.
– The Yankees have dominated the Red Sox at Fenway Park in pennant races since 2019, going 15-5 in the months of August and September.
– Remember when the Astros boosted their offense at the trade deadline, bringing in Carlos Correa?
Well, they have scored MLB’s fewest runs since Aug. 1, averaging 3.74 a game, while scoring three or fewer runs in 20 games since the trade deadline.
– Father Time is catching up with Mike Trout, 34. He went a career-long 125 plate appearances before ending his home run drought in what has become the worst season of his career. He entered Saturday hitting .233 with 21 homers and 58 RBI with a .787 OPS, while striking out at an alarming 30.8% of the time.
Trout still has five years remaining on his 12-year, $426.5 million contract.
– Trea Turner, who’s expected to miss the rest of the regular season, could win the NL batting title with a .305 batting average, the lowest by a hitter in either league since Boston Red Sox Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski’s .301 average in 1968.
– Congratulations to Anthony Rizzo, who announced his retirement this week and wore a Cubs’ jersey Saturday with all of the autographs of kids he visited over the years.
– Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe, who has been playing with a partial labrum tear in his left shoulder, never once used it for an excuse during his struggles this season. He leads the league in errors, hitting .197 with a .626 OPS since May 4, and .125 with 29 strikeouts in 72 at-bats in his last 21 games.
– Josh Naylor not only has been huge for the Mariners during their fabulous run down the stretch since being acquired from the Diamondbacks, but he may have earned himself a fat contract with Seattle in free agency.
Naylor is hitting .338 with five homers and a 1.032 OPS in 20 games at T-Mobile Park, usually a graveyard for hitters.
If the Mariners make the playoffs, and go deep, Naylor should earn the biggest contract by a free-agent position player in GM Jerry Dipoto’s 10 years, eclipsing Mitch Garver’s three-year, $24 million contract, according to MLB Trade Rumors.
– Injuries are a part of every season but this year has been absurd. Take a look at the key injuries affecting contenders:
- Phillies: All-Star starter Zack Wheeler; All-Star shortstop Trea Turner; third baseman Alec Bohm; reliever Jordan Romano.
- Cubs: All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker, starter Justin Steele, closer Daniel Palencia, catcher Miguel Amaya.
- Blue Jays: All-Star shortstop Bo Bichette, outfielder Anthony Santander, starter Alek Manoah; reliever Yimi Garcia.
- Padres: All-Star reliever Jason Adam; All-Star starter Joe Musgrove; shortstop Xander Bogaerts.
- Tigers: All-Star reliever Kyle Finnegan.
- Rangers: All-Star infielders Corey Seager and Marcus Semien; Cy Young candidate Nathan Eovaldi; starter Tyler Mahle; outfielders Adolis Garcia and Evan Carter.
- Astros: All-Star closer Josh Hader, starters Spencer Arrighetti and Luis Garcia; third baseman Isaac Paredes; reliever Lance McCullers Jr.
- Red Sox: Outfielders Roman Anthony and Wilyer Abreu, infielders Triston Casas and Marcelo Mayer; starting pitcher Dustin May.
- Yankees: Starters Gerrit Cole and Clark Schmidt; relievers Jake Cousins and Jonathan Loáisiga.
- Dodgers: All-Star catcher Will Smith. Starters Roki Sasaki, Gavin Stone and Tony Gonsolin; relievers Evan Phillips and Brock Stewart; catcher Dalton Rushing.
- Brewers: All-star closer Trevor Megill, relievers Shelby Miller and Nick Mears; outfielder Garrett Mitchell.
- Mets: Starting pitchers Frankie Montas, Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning; reliever A.J. Minter; catcher Luis Torrens; outfielders Jesse Winker and Tyrone Taylor.
– Just how much has Mariners starter Bryan Woo impacted the pitching staff this season with his 175 ⅔ innings with 20 quality starts, second-most in MLB?.
The Mariners’ bullpen is yielding a 3.83, but the day after Woo pitches when he gives his bullpen a breather, the bullpen’s ERA is just 1.82, according to ESPN.
– If the Rangers make the playoffs, they’d love to avoid playing any games at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.
The Rangers are 14-43 in Seattle since 2019, and 1-6 this season.
– The Phillies not only lowered their magic number from 13 to 3 in a matter of just five days this week, but they all but locked up one of the top two seeds in the National League.
– Considering the Mets’ rotation mess in which they’ve had to rely on three rookies who just got called up, Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen, a New Jersey native, could be the perfect fit for their needs as a free agent.
– Mariners infielder Jorge Polanco gave himself a nice little present when he made his 450th plate appearance, not only earning a $500,000 bonus, but the vesting $6 million option for 2026. He also will pick up another $500,000 for reaching 500 plate appearances, entering Saturday needing just 25 more.
– Giants shortstop Willy Adames is two homers shy of becoming the first Giant to hit 30 home runs since Barry Bonds in 2024. He has hit 23 of his 28 homers since June 10.
– The Milwaukee Brewers have now won at least 90 games three consecutive years. If they play just .500 the rest of the way would give them a franchise-record of 98 victories.
– Remember when the folks in Chicago were campaigning for center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong to be an MVP candidate and lobbying the Cubs to sign him to an extension?
Well, he’s hitting .171 with one home run and an MLB-worst .495 OPS since Aug. 1.
– Phillies boss Dave Dombrowski had a great sumer, now watching newly-added closer Jhoan Duran save 11 games, reliever David Robertson produce seven holds, and outfielder Harrison Bader hit .320.
There will be a plaque one day in Cooperstown for Dombrowski, who has won two World Series titles and five pennants with four different teams.
– While the Dodgers have yet to get on a sustained roll, they are ecstatic by their starting rotation that has pitched the second-most innings in baseball since Aug. 1, yielding a 3.31 ERA. Their starting rotation of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani, Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Glasnow is now the best in baseball heading into October.
Now, if they can only fix closer Tanner Scott, who signed a four-year, $72 million free-agent contract last winter.
Scott has blown nine games, has a 5.01 ERA, and has given up 11 home runs, equaling the combined total from the past three years combined.
– Remember the 20-year-old who fell over the 21-foot right-field wall onto the field at PNC Park in April?
Well, Kavan Markwood is back attending baseball games, telling “Inside Edition’ that he’s still in pain, and doesn’t have feeling in two of his fingers, but, hey, he’s alive.
– The Toronto Blue Jays can’t pop the champagne yet, but they can certainly put it on ice with a three-game lead and owning all the tiebreakers in the AL East. They have only three games left against a contender in the final two weeks and this would be their first division title since 2015.
– Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman – who may be working his way towards the Hall of Fame – faced 50 consecutive batters without giving up a hit. He had gone 17 consecutive appearances dating back to July 23 without giving up a hit until Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers ended the streak this past week.
– There have been some close calls of late, but only two weeks remain for this to be the first season without a no-hitter in 20 years. It would be only the fifth season without a no-hitter since 1960.
– Congratulations to the talented Reynolds family, who gathered in Corvallis, Ore., during the weekend to watch the celebration of Don Reynolds, 72, whose baseball jersey was retired from Corvallis High School. Don, the older brother of Larry Reynolds and Harold Reynolds, was a two-way player on the University of Oregon’s football team, leading Oregon in rushing three consecutive seasons, while being an all-conference baseball player. Reynolds, who played two seasons for the San Diego Padres, was inducted into Oregon’s Hall of Fame in 1993 as a football player.
Larry Reynolds, who’s now a baseball agent, was inducted into Stanford’s Hall of Fame as a football player and baseball player.
And Harold Reynolds, the MLB analyst, spent 12 years in the big leagues as a two-time All Star and three-time Gold Glove winner.
– The memorial service for beloved Jim Marshall, the oldest living Met who passed away at the age of 94, will be held Thursday at the Scottsdale Bible Church in Scottsdale, Ariz., where his wife also had her service in 2016. They were married 64 years.
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