Yesterday was an extremely sad day for sports. In particular, the St. Louis Cardinals organization who once again lost a pitcher to death.

Five years removed from Darryl Kile’s stunning death, they were hit hard again when reliever Josh Hancock perished during a car accident Sunday morning in which his sports utility vehicle slammed into a tow truck helping out another motorist.

Hancock was just 29. The tragic news struck his Cardinal teammates hard along with manager Tony La Russa.

Here were some former teammates’ thoughts courtesy of an AP article via Yahoo:

“He was quiet, kind of soft-spoken, but definitely a good guy,” said Brewers pitcher Jeff Suppan, the NL championship series MVP with St. Louis last year. “It’s a sad day. Your feelings go out toward his family and his teammates now.”

Atlanta Braves ace Tim Hudson played with Hancock at Auburn. They helped lead the school to the 1997 College World Series.

“It feels like being punched in the stomach right now,” Hudson said. “Josh was such a good person. I saw him a few times a year going back to Auburn for football games. It’s really a shock.“

The awful news forced St. Louis to postpone their Sunday Night baseball game against the Cubs. They will wear No.32 patches in tribute to their fallen pitcher the rest of the year and also honor him by planning a memorial in the bullpen, which already includes one to Kile.

Anytime you hear or read news such as this, it really makes you think about how precious life is. Our prayers and thoughts go out to the Hancock family.