Epitaph: Cory Lidle
By Rick Speciale - Feature Writer
10/15/2006
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - It was a sad turn of events yesterday with the death of former New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle in an airplane accident. This makes for a bizarre repetition of history as former Yankee great and catcher, Thurman Munson, met an untimely end in 1979, also flying a private plane.
Lidle was 34 years old and within 2-3 years of retirement. He was a considered an average pitcher by major league standards. His biggest claim to fame beyond pitching is being a relative of Robert Fulton, the inventor of the steamboat (Source: MLB.com). He is survived by his wife (Melanie) and son (Christopher Taylor).
From Wikipedia.org - Lidle was born in Hollywood, California, to Doug and Rebecca Lidle. He had a younger sister named Lisa Lidle, and a younger brother named William (Billy) Lidle. His twin brother Kevin Lidle played minor league baseball primarily as a catcher. They attended South Hills High School in West Covina, California, graduating in 1990, and were high school teammates with Jason Giambi. The Lidle family currently resides in the San Gabriel Valley (West Covina, Covina, and Glendora CA).
Lidle married Melanie Varela on January 7, 1997; the pair had one son, Christopher (born in 2000). Cory, Melanie, and Christopher resided in Glendora, California at the time of Lidle's death.
On October 11, 2006, a Cirrus SR20 plane (reportedly pending registration to Cory Lidle) crashed into the Belaire Apartments complex on York Ave. at E. 72nd Street on New York City's Upper East Side, killing Cory Lidle and co-pilot/flight instructor, Tyler Stanger. All Cirrus Design SR-20 planes have dual controls; therefore, it is currently unknown whether Lidle or Stanger was piloting the aircraft at the time of the crash.
The plane took off from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey and was seen twice circling the Statue of Liberty before it flew up the East River. It was reported to have lost radar contact around the 59th Street bridge and crashed just north of 72nd Street after attempting to make a u-turn. NTSB preliminary reports indicate that a 13 knot crosswind may have been a factor in the crash, requiring him to make a tighter than normal turn to safely avoid obstacles.
Yankees owner George Steinbrenner described Lidle's death as a "terrible and shocking tragedy that has stunned the entire Yankees organization" and offered his condolences to Lidle's wife and 6-year-old son. On October 12, 2006, at the 2006 NLCS game in New York City between the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals which had been postponed from the previous night as a result of the accident occurring in the same city as the game, the teams and spectators observed a moment of silence to honor the memory of Lidle.
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