October 11, 2006: The Cory Lidle Crash

October 11, 2006: Cory Lidle, newly acquired by the Yankees as pitching help for the stretch drive and the postseason, dies when his single-engine plane crashes into an Upper East Side apartment high-rise. He was 34. Killed with him is his pilot instructor, Tyler Stanger.

Cory Fulton Lidle was born on March 22, 1972 in Los Angeles, and grew up in nearby West Covina, California. He both began and ended his career in New York, reaching the major leagues with the New York Mets in 1997. After spending 1998 in the minor leagues, he was with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1999 and 2000, and helped the Oakland Athletics reach the postseason in 2001 and 2002,

He pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2003, the Cincinnati Reds in 2004, and the Philadelphia Phillies from 2004 until July 30, 2006, when the Yankees got him as a throw-in along with hard-hitting right fielder Bobby Abreu. They gave up 4 minor-league players, who, between them, had played 26 games in the majors, and would finish with 67.

The trade was a steal: Abreu gave the Yankees sold help the rest of the way, and was a good hitter for them in 2007 and '08. Lidle went 4-3 down the stretch, albeit with a rather high 5.16 ERA. The Yankees won the American League Eastern Division, but lost the AL Division Series to the Detroit Tigers in 4 games. Lidle made 1 appearance in the series, allowing 3 runs in 1 1/3rd innings in Game 4. It would be his last major league appearance, with a career record of 82-72.

Four days later, on a day when the Yankees, rather than the Tigers, could have been playing in Game 2 of the AL Championship Series, Lidle and co-pilot/flight instructor Tyler Stanger were flying a Cirrus SR20, a propeller-driven monoplane, when it crashed into the Belaire Apartments complex, at 524 East 72nd Street, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. A strong wind from the East River caused the plane to be blown into the side of the building. There were no other deaths, but 26 people were injured, about half of them New York firefighters.

Lidle was survived by his wife, the former Melanie Varela, and their son, Christopher Taylor Lidle, who had recently turned 6.

October 11, 2006 was a Wednesday. Earlier in the day, the Tigers had beaten the Oakland Athletics, 8-5 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the McAfee Coliseum), to take a 2-0 lead in the ALCS. That night, the New York Mets were scheduled to open the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Shea Stadium, but the rain that fell shortly after Lidle's crash got the game postponed. It was just as well.

This was the only season between 1988 and 2015 in which the Mets were still playing after the Yankees were eliminated.

Football was in midweek. The NBA season didn't start for another 20 days. There were 5 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the Anaheim Ducks, 5-4 in a shootout at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-1 at the Wachovia Center (now the Wells Fargo Center) in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Thrashers beat the Boston Bruins, 4-1 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Florida Panthers beat the Carolina Hurricanes, 6-3 at the BankAtlantic Center (now the Amerant Bank Arena) in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 9-2 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Mathieu Schneider had a hat trick.