It has been 10 years since we were all shocked to find out that Darryl Kile had passed away, in his sleep, in a hotel in Chicago.  The St. Louis Cardinals lost another member of the “family”, players lost a teammate, and the world lost an amazing man and father.

All of this is well documented and I do not feel I can bring more to the subject.  I admired him.  I enjoyed his career.  I mourned his loss.  I, much like other fans and pundits, have moved on.  Sooner or later you simply run out of words.

About a month ago, I was co-hosting a radio program on my network, pinch hitting for a host that could not make it.   The show featured former Cardinal reliever Dave Veres, a guy I had watched as I grew up and I was excited to interview.  Before the interview was over, the subject of Darryl Kile was raised, and I could tell there was a bond.

When the United Cardinal Bloggers decided that the June project this year should be to look back at Jack Buck and the man many of us now know as “DK57″, I was not sure what to write.  I sent a few emails and some requests but ultimately was denied or met the common “I’m not sure what more I can say”.  My email to Dave Veres, however, was answered kindly.

 I did reach out to former Cardinal beat reporter, Matthew Leach, for his thoughts.  He told me that he would be running them on his blog, but he did not have a “favorite memory” of Darryl Kile.  Leach has said many times that Kile was “hard to cover” and explained why.  He did come up with a memory, and you can read that story over at Obviously, You’re Not A Golfer.

I asked Veres two questions: 1 – what is your favorite memory, on or off the field, of Darryl Kile and 2 – What can you tell me about that fateful day ten years ago.  What I got back but funny, beautiful, inspiring and sad.

On his favorite memories of Darryl Kile, Dave Veres shared the following
As you have most likely heard about Darryl and his on the field accomplishments and how he was such a great teammate and competitor. My favorite memories of Darryl were more off the field since we spent more time in the winter together with our wives and kids being so close.

One was when we were in AAA with Tucson and I think we were playing Tacoma and we would go fishing in the mornings. So one morning we are out and being in the Northwest they had plenty of rain, so we were hiking back to get to a fishing hole and instead of going through a couple inches of water I decided to go across a muddy area instead because I didn’t want to get my shoes wet. Well, needless to say, what looked like a little bit of mud turned out to be about a 4 foot mud hole. I remember as I was sinking and was asking Darryl to help. He basically said “I’m not going in there”.  Luckily, for my sake, I finally hit the bottom. Then he held out his fishing pole for me to grab onto. Of course then it was funny and, needless to say, I went into the water anyway to rinse of the mud.

So, now we are in the big leagues and both live in Houston and Darryl and I would golf or play “mortal combat” and the wives would go shop or whatever. Of course it was only fitting that they were both pregnant at the same time, too. So on Jan 15th 1997 my wife and I are going to the dentist and I get a call from Darryl and he says he and Flynn are going to the hospital and wants me to go by the store and pick up a camcorder so they can record it. Nothing like going into your best friend’s wife’s room and setting up a video as she’s getting ready to give birth to twins. Thank goodness since it was twins and a high risk delivery there were plenty of doctors in there.  I could set up without having to “see” anything. Later that evening we are at home and my wife is feeling some labor pains, I think it’s just because she watched Flynn deliver. Well about 8 hours after their twins were born we had our daughter. And when Darryl signed with the Rockies the next year they traded for me a few weeks later and we all moved to Denver. So we spent nearly every Christmas and birthday’s together for the 4 years.

On June 22, 2002 – The day Darryl Kile was found in his hotel room
Well, I can say that morning may be the worst day I have ever been through. Since Darryl and I usually lockered by each other and he was always one of the first guys at the clubhouse, it was pretty clear when I arrived at the ball park he wasn’t there yet. So I tried calling him and, when I couldn’t reach him, I called my wife to go to his room and try and wake him up. I knew his brother came to town and just figured he over slept. So she banged on his door and there was no answer.  So she asked one of the maids to open the door since he was late for the game. Luckily for my wife’s sake he had the security latch on,otherwise she would have found him. But, that’s when we knew he was in his room. So they had to get security and I think they called the Cardinals and let them know something was up. As we were out at BP the clubhouse guys came and got me and said there was a “family emergency”.  It was my wife on the phone and told me that Darryl had passed away in his sleep. I didn’t know what to do or say,I just kind of went numb or in a daze. A little while later Tony came in with the team and that’s when they told everyone else.

Those next few days were so exhausting. The emotional drain on us, if anyone watched the game the next day against the cubs on ESPN it was like a bunch of zombies. I’m not really sure why they aired that game. I think being a father my first thoughts went out to Flynn and the kids,I couldn’t imagine them not having their father any longer.

I still think about him pretty much daily, usually a DK or 57 will pop up or a story will remind me of him. We ran into Flynn and the kids last year in Anaheim at a volleyball tournament that our girls were playing in. Even though we don’t talk as much it was still we hadn’t missed a beat when we saw them,except there was no Darryl in person.

We appreciate Dave sharing such personal stories with us.  After the stories, he included one quote that stuck with me:

He was truly one of the nicest and genuine people you could have ever had the privilege to know. Also one of the greatest competitors, I don’t think he missed a start in 10 years,so that why when Tony got us together and we realized that Sunday night game would have been Darryl’s start,we needed to play it in his honor.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.
Follow him on Twitter here.

Welcome back to the annual Progressive Game Blog.  For the last four years, the United Cardinal Bloggers have come together to tell the story of an entire game from multiple voices on multiple sites.

This year, not only will you find the voices of many members of the UCB, you will also find some of our friendly Mets bloggers describing the game from their own standpoint.  You can read all of the entries by following along through the main “index” post over at the official UCB Site.

I-70 Baseball will bring you the third inning of today’s game as will Mets Fans For Life.

The Cardinals come to the plate in the top of the third down by three runs as the Mets plated three in the bottom of the second (read about the second inning over at Cards N Stuff.  Young centerfielder Shane Robinson will look to get the Redbirds started in front of pitcher Lance Lynn and the top of the order.

A Texas League single to right put the lead off man on board but an all to familiar story unfolded with Lance Lynn at the plate.  On three consecutive pitches, Lynn was unable to push a bunt into fair territory, and the opportunity to move the runner up 90 feet passed the Cardinals by.  Unable to move the runner into scoring position or out of a force play situation proves once again to be fatal as lead off hitter Rafael Furcal grounds into an inning-ending double play.  Give Shane Robinson credit for a solid attempt to break up the double play as Daniel Murphy attempted to make the turn.

A quick aside as we wait for the bottom of the third inning to play out: I don’t think I have seen any other team in baseball represented as well on the road as the St. Louis Cardinals.  No matter what city they visit, there is almost always a strong representation of Cardinal red in the crowd.  Not to be out done in New York, there is a young lady sitting directly behind the plate sporting the familiar bright red cap adorned with the white STL logo.

What Lynn lacks in ability to drop a bunt, he more than makes up for on the mound.  After a rough second inning, he took the mound to face the middle of the Mets’ order, starting with cleanup hitter Lucas Duda.  After falling behind Duda, Lynn battled back to get him to fly out to left fielder Matt Holliday.  Daniel Murphy would follow with a fly ball towards the right-center field gap, but the defensive positioning was in place to make it a routine out for Carlos Beltran.  Young Mets first baseman Ike Davis would fall behind in the count early and yet work a walk out of Lynn.  After falling behind shortstop Omar Quintanilla, Lynn battles back for his second strikeout of the game and keeps the Mets from causing any more damage.

Working deep into counts is hurting Lynn early on in this game and his pitch count is climbing to out of control proportions as he closes the third with 71 pitches, 41 of which are strikes.  At this rate, the game will soon be in the hands of the Cardinals’ bullpen.  It feels strange to say that any game in the hands of this bullpen is a major concern at this point.  If the Cardinals hope to pull this one out, they will need to get some offense going and some efficient innings for their starter.

Head over to Rally Birds to check out the top of the fourth inning.  Thanks for stopping by our corner of the Cardinals web-o-sphere to check out or commentary.  Here’s hoping this game turns around quickly.

Before I get to the schedule breakdown I’d like to digress.

A year ago Bill Ivie Jr sent me a direct message on Twitter asking if I would like to write about the Kansas City Royals for a website called I70 Baseball. I guess he thought I might know something about the Royals based on my tweets. I didn’t have any writing experience beyond tweets and Facebook statuses. I figured I’d write something, send it to Bill, and see what happens. After all, knowing how to cook makes you chef like knowing how to write makes you an author…..ok, at least a blogger.

I’ll be the first to admit that after a calendar year, 49 posts here at I70 Baseball, over 80 posts at my own blog, (I don’t update as much as I’d like.) that I still have a lot to learn about the English language and blogging. However, I think I’ve figured out the hard part: Just sticking with it. Most bloggers don’t get paid to do what they do. They do it because they enjoy it. I’m established in my career, have other obligations that are more important than the Royals, sports in general, or blogging. I have eclectic interests and will admit that my biggest weakness is staying focused on one hobby. During the first part of this month I had to be honest with myself on whether I enjoyed blogging enough to continue.

Since I’ve written this much you might have guessed that I’ve decided to continue. I know there are a lot of other people just like me who have lots of things going on and that sports is their primary form of entertainment. So much so, that there is this constant battle between their reality, and their love of the sports world; whether it’s rational or not. As you can tell this battle fascinates me. I doubt I’ll ever become a part of traditional sports media. That means I’ll never, or will rarely, have access to athletes, locker-rooms, front office personnel, or have sources. I’m not going to pretend to be something I’m not. I’m essentially that guy in the Joe Walsh song Ordinary Average Guy (With the exception of the bowling part). I think part of becoming a better blogger is developing a voice. My hope going forward is that I can further develop into the voice of your ordinary average Royals fan here, and as a sports fan at sportsdrenched.com.

Now that I’ve got my Delilah episode out of the way it’s time to get to write about Royals baseball. This past week has been tough. Injuries to key players, confusing trades, southpaws getting shelled, and general spring training weirdness have put a dark cloud over the optimism that was displayed by Royals fans coming into camp. Not only that, I’m just tired of spring training. The novelty of spring baseball has worn off and I’m ready for some real games. Since I’m ready for real games I figured I’d take look at some real games on the schedule. I’ll keep the look confined to April.

The Royals’ April schedule features 23 games: There is a 10 game home stand sandwiched between two road trips. There are 13 divisional games. As you might have heard the Royals start with a west coast road trip. I like west coast road trips. All the games are later in the day which increases the likelihood that I get to watch them. I’m not thrilled about the Royals and Angels being the last two teams to start their season. However this means I’ll actually be able to pay attention to the opener, and that doesn’t happen very often. It should be noted that the first two games of the season will be televised on ESPN on Friday, and FOX on Saturday. This only matters if you live outside the Royals television market. It’s nice that the networks find the Royals that interesting. Of course, one Albert Pujols would have nothing to do with that.

I know games in April are not thought of as important over a 162 game schedule, but playoff spots are won and lost by one game. If this isn’t apparent after the last day of the season in 2011 I don’t know what is. To me there are two key series in the month of April. The opening series on the road against the Angels; April 6th-8th; and at home against the Tigers; April 16th-18th. Both of these teams are pre-season favorites to win their division. They will be excellent measuring sticks for this young Royals team. If the Royals go 3-3 over these 6 games I’ll consider it a positive development.

Another important series is the home opening series against the Indians, April 13th-15th. I beat this horse into the ground last year and nothing has changed my mind about it. The Indians are at the same point developmentally as the Royals. Their playoff window and the Royals playoff window are the same. For me to ever be confident that the Royals can get through that playoff window they must beat the Indians. If the Royals can’t win their home opening series against the Indians I’ll be in a serious Royals fan funk.

How will they do? I see a 3-3 opening road trip, 7-3 home stand, before going 3-4 on the second road trip. That adds up to a 13-10 April record. This team is expected to be around .500. You might say my glasses are shaded slightly blue. If the Royals do better than that, be excited. If they’re .500 they would be who we thought they were. If they’re worse than that? Such is spring in Royals Nation.

Old friend Paul F Sullivan takes a look at Albert Pujols and puts things in perspective:

Paul Francis Sullivan
Blog: http://sullybaseball.blogspot.com/
Video Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/sullybaseball
Twitter: @sullybaseball

Old friend Pall F Sullivan takes a look at what a 2011 World Series Movie might look like:

Paul Francis Sullivan
Blog: http://sullybaseball.blogspot.com/
Video Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/sullybaseball
Twitter: @sullybaseball

This Monday night on Blog Talk Radio, I-70 Baseball Radio will make a long anticipated return.

I-70 Radio launched in July 2010 in support of this website. Over the time, it has featured many writers, players, and coaches bringing their thoughts to the airwaves.

In July of 2011, I-70 Radio took a hiatus from the airwaves due to issues beyond the staff’s control. In all honesty, I simply had to step away for a while to tend to real life issues.

Life is in order and I-70 Radio is back. With Bill Ivie (hey, that’s me!) and Troy Olsen bringing you all the news from around Cardinal and Royal nation.

This week, tune in and hear Bill Ivie interview Jon Jay and Lorenzo Cain as we check in on the center fielders from both organizations. Troy will be on hand to talk about Jonathan Sanchez, the new hurler in Royal blue, and Bill will break down the managerial search. Both guys will bring you up to speed on all the rumors surrounding the teams on the eve of the Winter Meetings.

Tune it at our new time, 9 PM Central Time. Join Angela Weinhold in the chat room and talk with some of the writers and fans of the site during the show.

It’s another episode of our favorite Video Blog, The Hot Corner.

In this episode, the big man talks about Colby remaining a Cardinal and the team’s disappointing performance in Cincinnati.

The calendar turns to December 10, 2010 and I find a hand written note, “BBA Day”. Yes, today is the day that around the Internet, various blogs of various shapes and sizes have been asked to talk about their experiences with the Baseball Bloggers’ Alliance.

Photo by Erika Lynn

When I-70 Baseball became a theory of a possible website in the future early in 2010, I began to look for ways to market it and network with other writers and websites. I began to track down different sites that I found interesting. As a member of the United Cardinal Bloggers, I had no problem finding people to help with that end of the site. While I was a fan of some Royals sites, I did not know how to reach them.

Daniel Shoptaw reached out to me and introduced me to the Baseball Bloggers’ Alliance. To this day, when I need help covering a team, a guest for the radio show, a new writer, or some fresh content, I know where to go. I have met people that I consider my friends, some of my favorite writers, and some of my favorite New Media outlets just being part of that group.

If you have a blog, a website, a New Media outlet for baseball and would like to know more about the group, head over to the official website and inquire about membership. Take some time and meet the over 200 blogs representing almost every baseball team. Meet international bloggers from the other side of the world. Meet technical guys, download the iPhone app, check out the various types of websites and mingle with some of the best minds not in the mainstream media.

I’m proud to announce my friend and mentor John Lofflin will be joining the I-70 Baseball family, starting with his first story on Saturday, Oct. 2.

Lofflin, currently a journalism instructor at Park University, has been a working journalist and an avid baseball fan for most of his life. He is also the co-author of “The Abbott & Costello Story: Sixty Years of ‘Who’s On First?’” John and I also co-author The Henry Wiggen Blog.

Lofflin will bring a unique perspective to Royals coverage, and his insights will fit in nicely with I-70 Baseball. We pride ourselves on bringing you Royals and Cardinals coverage that can’t be found anywhere else, and John’s pieces will enhance our mission.

Tomorrow we’ll bring you John’s first article for I-70 Baseball, a wonderful feature about Royals Hall of Famer Frank White.