iFroggy
04-01-2001, 11:17 AM
http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2001/0331/1165368.html
SNEADS, Fla. – Brian Cole, among the top prospects in the New York Mets' farm system, was killed in a car crash Saturday in the Florida Panhandle.
Cole, a 22-year outfielder, was driving home from spring training in Port St. Lucie, Fla., to Meridian, Miss., to drop off his truck, Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said in Pittsburgh. Cole was to fly Sunday to Binghamton, N.Y., to join the Mets' Double-A team.
Florida Highway Patrol officials said the one-car accident occurred just south of the Georgia border, about 45 miles northwest of Tallahassee, Fla.
The accident happened on Interstate 10 near State Highway 286 at about 3:30 p.m. CT, said John Zappone, a duty officer with the Florida Highway Patrol in Panama City.
Zappone said officers were still investigating the accident, and that no other details were available.
The Mets were at a team dinner following an exhibition game against the Pirates at PNC Park when general manager Steve Phillips received a telephone call with the news.
Phillips told the team and some of the players, who knew Cole from spring training, started to cry.
Cole went to Meridian High School and was Baseball America's junior college player of the year in 1998 at Navarro Junior College in Texas. He was selected by the Mets in the 18th round of the 1998 amateur draft and turned down a football scholarship to Florida State.
Cole had a combined 19 homers, 86 RBI and 69 steals last year for Class A St. Lucie and Binghamton. He hit .312 with 54 steals for St. Lucie and .278 with 15 steals at Binghamton.
He had a .306 average in the minors with 135 steals, 42 homers and 193 RBI. Cole was 5-foot-9 and Baseball America wrote that "if Cole were a couple of inches taller, he would have been a much higher draft pick."
Cole was optioned by the Mets to Binghamton on March 17. He batted .182 (2-for-11) for New York during spring training this year with no homers, two RBI and three steals.
This kid sounded pretty good, kinda strange, one car accident with no details, suppose we'll find out later. Meridian, Miss. is 40 minutes away from me.
SNEADS, Fla. – Brian Cole, among the top prospects in the New York Mets' farm system, was killed in a car crash Saturday in the Florida Panhandle.
Cole, a 22-year outfielder, was driving home from spring training in Port St. Lucie, Fla., to Meridian, Miss., to drop off his truck, Mets spokesman Jay Horwitz said in Pittsburgh. Cole was to fly Sunday to Binghamton, N.Y., to join the Mets' Double-A team.
Florida Highway Patrol officials said the one-car accident occurred just south of the Georgia border, about 45 miles northwest of Tallahassee, Fla.
The accident happened on Interstate 10 near State Highway 286 at about 3:30 p.m. CT, said John Zappone, a duty officer with the Florida Highway Patrol in Panama City.
Zappone said officers were still investigating the accident, and that no other details were available.
The Mets were at a team dinner following an exhibition game against the Pirates at PNC Park when general manager Steve Phillips received a telephone call with the news.
Phillips told the team and some of the players, who knew Cole from spring training, started to cry.
Cole went to Meridian High School and was Baseball America's junior college player of the year in 1998 at Navarro Junior College in Texas. He was selected by the Mets in the 18th round of the 1998 amateur draft and turned down a football scholarship to Florida State.
Cole had a combined 19 homers, 86 RBI and 69 steals last year for Class A St. Lucie and Binghamton. He hit .312 with 54 steals for St. Lucie and .278 with 15 steals at Binghamton.
He had a .306 average in the minors with 135 steals, 42 homers and 193 RBI. Cole was 5-foot-9 and Baseball America wrote that "if Cole were a couple of inches taller, he would have been a much higher draft pick."
Cole was optioned by the Mets to Binghamton on March 17. He batted .182 (2-for-11) for New York during spring training this year with no homers, two RBI and three steals.
This kid sounded pretty good, kinda strange, one car accident with no details, suppose we'll find out later. Meridian, Miss. is 40 minutes away from me.