Josh Hancock

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Joshua Morgan Hancock

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Biography[edit]

Josh Hancock was a right-handed pitcher who pitched for six seasons with four major league clubs, including the Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals. He was a member of the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals team which won the World Series. During college, he had appeared in a College World Series. He once tied for a Triple A league lead in shutouts. Hancock battled injuries and weight problems during his career. He died in a automobile accident during the 2007 season, which was followed by a legal case by Hancock's relatives.

Amateur career[edit]

Hancock was born in Mississippi but moved to Vestavia Hills, Alabama, outside of Birmingham, when he was a child. In high school, he played on three state championship teams, and in his senior season, 1996, he went 9-0 with a 0.92 ERA. He was named to an All-State team, the Mizuno High School All-American team, and was the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Alabama. Hancock was selected by Milwaukee Brewers in the fourth round (103rd overall) of 1996 amateur draft but did not sign, instead opting to attend Auburn University. In his only season with the Tigers, Hancock helped lead the team to the 1997 College World Series, going 2-0, with a 4.75 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 13 appearances, including two starts for a team that went 49-15. He was selected by Boston Red Sox in fifth round (145th overall) of 1998 amateur draft and signed with the club two weeks later.

Minor Leagues[edit]

Hancock started out his professional career with the GCL Red Sox in 1998. He pitched in 5 games for the team, going 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA in 13 1/3 innings pitched, including a start. He held opposing batters to a .196 average with 21 strikeouts to 3 walks. Hancock also started a single game for short-season A Lowell of the New York-Penn League. He went 4 innings, facing nineteen batters, giving up 2 runs (one earned) on five hits, with four walks and four strikeouts. In 1999, Hancock moved to Augusta Green Jackets in the South Atlantic League where he joined the starting rotation. He went 6-8 in 25 starts for the eventual league champions. He led the club with 139 2/3 innings pitched, but was the team's third-best starter behind Greg Miller and Jason Norton, with a 3.80 ERA due to his 154 hits allowed (9.92 per inning) including 12 home runs. He had a respectable 106/46 K/BB ratio but uncorked ten wild pitches.

Hancock advanced to the Sarasota Red Sox of the Florida State League in 2000. He appeared in 26 games, 24 starts, and threw one complete game en route to a 5-10 pitcher win-loss record. His peripheral stats continued to decline. In 130 2/3 innings pitched; he gave up 164 hits (10.27 H/9) and struck out 95 (8.2 so/9). Two bright spots were his walk rate, which dropped to 2.32 (37 walks), and his home run rate per nine innings dropped by a quarter to 0.56. Hancock continued to move up the Red Sox chain to the Double A Trenton Thunder in the Eastern League in 2001. In 24 games, he posted an 8-6 record with a 3.65 ERA. In 130 2/3 innings pitched, he allowed 138 hits and racked up 119 strikeouts with 37 walks.

Reaching the Majors in 2002[edit]

Remaining at Trenton for the start of the 2002 season, at 24, Hancock posted his best season to date. In 15 games for the Eastern League club, he won three and lost four but had a 3.61 ERA; his lowest since his 13.1 inning stint in the Gulf Coast League four years prior. In 84 2/3 innings, he had a 69/18 K/BB ratio with 82 hits. This performance earned Hancock a promotion to Triple A Pawtucket. In eight games for the club, he went 4-2 with a 3.45 ERA in 44 1/3 innings. Hancock won his first three starts with Pawtucket from July 24 to August 3. He posted his lowest hit rate since his rookie year at 7.92 (39 hits) but had a poor 29/26 K/BB ratio. Nevertheless, on September 3, he was called up to the Red Sox when rosters expanded.

On September 10, Hancock made his major league debut for the Red Sox at Tropicana Field against the Devil Rays. Entering the game in the bottom of the ninth of a 12-1 blowout, he first faced Ben Grieve. After two balls and a foul, Grieve hit a fly ball to center field and Hancock retired his first batter. Jason Conti followed and grounded out to third, as did Aubrey Huff, and Hancock's first outing in the majors was over with a line of 1 blemish-free inning. Six days later, he came on in the ninth at the other end of a 7-1 blowout and retired the side on five pitches. On September 26, he made his first major league start against the Chicago White Sox. In 5 1/3 innings of work, he gave up three runs on five hits, including a home run by Magglio Ordonez, but struck out six and walked two. The Red Sox offense was not able to help him out and he was tagged with the loss. After the season, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies on December 15 for Jeremy Giambi.

Back-and-forth to AAA[edit]

Hancock started the 2003 season with the Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons of the International League. In 28 games (27 starts), he had a 10-9 record with a 3.86 ERA. His two shutouts tied for the 2003 International League lead and his 165 2/3 innings were third in the league. He struck out 122, walked 46, gave up 147 hits and 14 home runs. He was the league's pitcher of the week three times. In his last eight starts with the Barons, he went 5-0 with a 2.47 ERA to earn a promotion to the Phils. In two games back in the bigs, both against the Atlanta Braves, he pitched three innings. He struck out four, walked none and gave up just two hits and one earned run.

Hancock again started the season at Triple A in 2004 with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He started 18 games, went 8 -7 with a 4.01 ERA and a 65/21 K/BB ratio. On May 22, Hancock was called up to make a start against the San Diego Padres. He threw five innings, surrendering three earned runs via a walk and five hits, and left the game ahead 4-3, but the game was eventually lost, 9-6. On June 3, he made another start against the Braves where he lasted just two innings, giving up 6 earned runs on eight hits and was pegged with the loss. Hancock spent the rest of June and almost all of July with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. In late July, he was called back to Philadelphia and pitched an inning on both July 28 and 29.

On July 30, 2004, Hancock was traded, along with Anderson Machado, to the Cincinnati Reds for Todd Jones and Brad Correll. The next morning, he was the winning pitcher (his first career MLB win) for the Reds in a completed game against the Houston Astros; it was a suspended game that began the day before while Hancock was still with the Phillies. He pitched in two more games in relief for the Reds before being moved into the starting rotation in the second week of August to replace Cory Lidle, who had been sent to Philadelphia for three minor leaguers.

Over the rest of the season, Hancock started nine games, winning three and losing one. In his first five appearances for the Reds he went 3-0, the longest winning streak of his career. He had an ERA of 4.33, slightly worse than league average, over this span. In 52 innings, he gave up 55 hits (including 13 home runs) and struck out 30 while walking 23. His best performance came in his last start against the Chicago Cubs when he went eight innings, giving up two earned runs on seven hits with three strikeouts and two walks.

Injury problems[edit]

Hancock spent most of the 2005 season on the disabled list with a strained right groin, only making twenty-two appearances split between the Louisville Bats and the Reds. He began the regular season on the disabled list and in June made four rehab appearances with Louisville, including three starts. However, he aggravated the injury during his only relief appearance on June 20, and did not pitch again until July 27. He made seven more rehab appearances in July and August, including five starts, and came off the disabled list when rosters expanded on September 1. In his 11 minor league games he had a 1-2 record with a 5.93 ERA in 44 innings pitched while walking 17 and striking out 38.

In his first appearance for Cincinnati against the Atlanta Braves, he entered in the fifth inning and went an inning with one hit and one strikeout. For the season, he had a 1.93 ERA in 11 relief appearances (14 innings pitched), with five strikeouts and a walk. During the winter, he pitched for Magallanes Navigators in the Venezuelan Winter League in five games (18 1/3 innings) with 11 strikeouts, a 0-1 win-loss record and a 8.84 ERA.

Success in St. Louis[edit]

Josh Hancock - press photo

On the first day of spring training 2006, Hancock was released by the Reds for being 17 pounds overweight, violating a clause in his contract. He promptly signed with the St. Louis Cardinals and made the big league roster to begin the season for the first time in his career. On Opening Day, he made his Cardinals debut against the Philadelphia Phillies. He surrendered a double, allowing a run to score, but then retired the next two batters. Hancock had a 4.09 ERA in 77 innings - leading all Cardinals relievers - and 62 games. He walked 23 and struck out 50 while giving up 70 hits. During May, he had an 8-game, 9 2/3 inning scoreless streak from May 1 to May 26. On July 9 against the Astros, he recorded his first career save with a 1-2-3 twelfth inning in a 7-5 win.

In Game 3 of the Division Series against the San Diego Padres, Hancock came on in the fifth with runners on the corners. After striking out Mike Piazza, he walked Adrian Gonzalez, but got out of the inning with a force out to third. In the following inning, he gave up one hit and a walk, but did not allow a run keeping the score at 3-0; however, the Padres won 3-1.

In the NLCS against the New York Mets, Hancock pitched two forgettable games, giving up six earned runs in a third of an inning. In Game 2, he came on in the sixth of a 5-4 game with the Mets ahead. He struck out the first batter he faced but then a walk and a double knocked him out of the game with an earned run allowed. Two days later, he had an even poorer outing, not even recording an out. Entering in the sixth, Hancock gave up two singles in a row, walked a batter and then had two runs score on a double. A walk loaded the bases and he was pulled for Tyler Johnson. Johnson fared little better, giving up a single and double allowing Josh's three inherited runners to score, before retiring the side. Hancock was on the Cardinals' 25-man 2006 World Series roster, but did not make an appearance.

Untimely Death[edit]

Hancock again earned a spot in the Cardinals' bullpen in spring training 2007 and was used regularly in April. He last pitched for the team on April 28, pitching three innings of relief in a 8-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs. The last batter he faced was Ryan Theriot, who grounded out to third base. Hancock also grounded out in his one at bat in the game. In eight games, he was 0-1 with a 3.55 ERA.

On Sunday, April 29, 2007, Hancock was killed when his SUV struck the rear of a tow truck at 12:35 AM CDT. The truck was in the left lane, assisting another vehicle that was involved in a prior accident. The Cardinals' scheduled game with the Chicago Cubs later that day was postponed due to his accident. Three days earlier, his teammates had been worried when they could not reach Hancock after he had overslept and had not shown up to the game on time, likening it to the events leading up to the death of former Cardinals pitcher Darryl Kile in 2002. Hancock didn't answer until the "20th call", having thought the start time was later than it actually was. Hancock expected to be fined by the Cardinals after the incident. A police investigation report released to the media after Hancock's funeral indicated that his blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit and that he was speaking on a cellular phone at the time of the crash; a small amount of marijuana was also found in his vehicle.

Hancock's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the restaurant operated by Mike Shannon, claiming that the restaurant shared responsibility for serving Hancock alcohol. The suit was dropped in late July.

Year-by-Year Playing Record[edit]

Year Team League W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H BB SO
1998 GCL Red Sox Gulf Coast League 1 1 3.38 5 1 0 0 0 13.1 9 3 21
Lowell Spinners New York-Penn League 0 1 2.25 1 1 0 0 0 4 5 4 4
1999 Augusta GreenJackets South Atlantic League 6 8 3.50 25 25 0 0 0 139.2 154 46 106
2000 Sarasota Red Sox Florida State League 5 10 4.45 26 24 1 0 0 143.2 164 37 95
2001 Trenton Thunder Eastern League 8 6 3.65 24 24 0 0 0 130.2 138 37 119
2002 Trenton Thunder Eastern League 3 4 3.61 15 14 2 1 1 84.2 82 18 69
Pawtucket Red Sox International League 4 2 3.45 8 8 0 0 0 44.1 39 26 29
Boston Red Sox American League 0 1 3.68 3 1 0 0 0 7.1 5 2 6
2003 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons International League 10 9 3.86 28 27 2 2 0 165.2 147 46 122
Philadelphia Phillies National League 0 0 3.00 2 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 4
2004 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons International League 8 7 4.01 18 18 1 0 0 107.2 106 21 65
Philadelphia Phillies National League 0 1 9.00 4 2 0 0 0 9 13 3 5
Cincinnati Reds National League 5 1 4.45 12 9 0 0 0 54.2 60 25 31
2005 Louisville Bats International League 1 2 5.93 11 8 0 0 0 44 59 17 38
Cincinnati Reds National League 1 0 1.93 11 0 0 0 0 14 11 1 5
2006 St. Louis Cardinals National League 3 3 4.09 62 0 0 0 1 77 70 23 50
2007 St. Louis Cardinals National League 0 1 3.55 8 0 0 0 0 12.2 14 5 9

Sources[edit]

  • 2007 St. Louis Cardinals media guide

Notable Achievement[edit]

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