CHICAGO — St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile was found dead in the team hotel Saturday, Chicago police said. He was 33.
Kile apparently died from natural causes, said Michael Chasen, commanding officer of the police's Area Three Homicide. There were no signs of forced entry and no signs of foul play, he said.
"It appears he died in his bed, in his sleep," Chasen said.
The Cardinals' game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field was called off by commissioner Bud Selig. It will be made up sometime in August.
"Our club is just totally staggered, I mean, devastated," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said, wiping away tears. "You guys know what a pro he is."
The death was the second in the Cardinals' organization this week.
Kile pitched the Cardinals into first place in the NL Central on Tuesday night, the same night longtime broadcaster Jack Buck died at 77 after a long illness.
La Russa said the Cardinals and Cubs would play as scheduled Sunday night, a game Kile was supposed to start.
"My deepest sympathies go out to Darryl's family, his friends and the St. Louis Cardinals ballclub. All of baseball mourns his passing," Selig said in a statement.
Kile and his wife, Flynn, have 5-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, and a son who was born last August.
Police said that at 12:15 p.m. CDT — more than two hours before gametime — several Cardinals realized Kile wasn't at the ballpark and called the hotel and asked to check on him.
The hotel security director and maintenance man went to Kile's room on the 11th floor and had to force their way in because of the safety latch on the door, Chasen said.
Several stunned players walked out of the Cardinals' clubhouse without comment soon after the game was called.
"I couldn't believe it and I still don't believe it," said Cubs manager Don Baylor, who managed Kile in Colorado. "DK was a very special player. He was always the perfect teammate to all the guys who played with him."
Kile was 5-4 with a 3.72 ERA in 14 games this season.
Shortly after the game was supposed to start at 2:20 p.m., La Russa came out of the dugout and walked across the field to meet with Cubs general manager Andy MacPhail and Cubs player representative Joe Girardi. Then all the Cubs came out of the dugout and got behind Girardi.
Speaking in front of the dugout on a microphone, Girardi told the crowd there had been a "tragedy in the Cardinals' family" and asked fans for their prayers.
La Russa, who'd earlier shaken hands with Baylor, walked back across the field.
The Cubs filed back into their dugout and down the steps into the clubhouse runway and then an official announcement was made in the press box that the game was off and will be made up later.
Kile had won three of his last four starts, and had a solid work ethic.
"Once you take the ball, you've got a job to do," he said after his last start.
Kile, who was 16-11 with a 3.09 ERA and threw 227 1-3 innings last year, had arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder during the offseason.
He pitched a no-hitter while with Houston in 1993 against the New York Mets. He was 133-119 in 11-plus major league seasons and known for an exceptional curveball.
Kile's best season was 2000, when he went 20-9 with a 3.91 ERA in his first year with St. Louis -- finishing fifth in NL Cy Young voting. He also helped St. Louis advance to the NL championship series against the Mets that season.
Kile was traded to St. Louis from Colorado, along with pitchers Dave Veres and Luther Hackman on Nov. 16, 1999, for pitchers Jose Jimenez, Manny Aybar and Rick Croushore and infielder Brent Butler.
A 30th-round pick of the Astros in 1987, Kile was called up to the majors in 1991 and went 7-11. He spent his first seven major league seasons with Houston, finishing fifth in NL Cy Young voting in 1997 after going 19- 7 with a 2.57 ERA.
Kile signed with Colorado during the offseason and struggled in his two seasons with the Rockies. He led the league in losses with 17 in 1998 and was 21-30 with Colorado.
