The Cardinals and Their Fans Honor Josh Hancock

Questions still remain about the untimely death of Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock, who died in an automobile accident in St. Louis on Saturday morning when his SUV read-ended a parked tow truck. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, police have concluded that Hancock did not try to brake before hitting the truck, though he may have tried to swerve at the very last second.

As with all car accidents, the natural inclination is to wonder if alcohol was involved. At this point, it's still not clear. Police did say that no alcoholic containers were found in Hancock's car. He dined at a local establishment earlier in the evening and the manager did reveal that he was offered a cab, but she did not confirm or deny if he consumed any alcoholic beverages.

An autopsy scheduled for today might help explain if he was impaired or not, but it won't make accepting his death any easier. Both the Cardinals and their fans have already undergone plans to honor Hancock:

The Cardinals will wear a patch bearing Hancock's No. 32 on the left sleeve of their uniform for the rest of this season. The club lowered flags at Busch Stadium to half-staff and made space for an impromptu shrine established near the park's third-base gate.

The death of a player in his prime has to be one of the most difficult things for a franchise to overcome, and unfortunately this is the second time in the last five years that the Cardinals have had to deal with such a tragedy, with the first being Darryl Kile's death in June of 2002. Be sure to read some of the touching memorials that have already been posted across the blogosphere, including Will Leitch's from Deadspin, the folks at Viva El Birdos and the Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold, who collected memories of Hancock from players all throughout the majors.

Previously on FanHouse:
Cardinals Reliever Josh Hancock Killed in Car Wreck