a black armband for cory lidle

in just a few days (five to be exact), it will be the 8th anniversary of yankee pitcher cory lidle's death.  lidle died on october 11, 2006 after the small plane he was co-piloting hit a building in new york city.  back then, topps' update set came out later in november (i believe that this year's release should show up in stores in about a week), and they were able to add an in memoriam card for lidle to the 2006 update & highlights checklist.

that is significant because i don't believe that topps had done this since a. bartlett giamatti died in 1989 and they included a card in the 1990 set, and not for a player since ken hubbs in 1964.  i realize that there was no update set in 1978 or 1979 when lyman bostock and thurman munson died, respectively, but topps didn't do one of these cards for them the following season, either.

anyway, the yankees honored lidle by wearing a black armband during the 2007 season.  this classic combo card from 2007 topps update & highlights shows jorge posada wearing the armband during the all-star game

and here's a card of chase wright from the same set, also displaying the armband

2007 bowman's best was released even later than update - coming out in january of 2008.  this alex rodriguez card from that set

shows the armband, but it kind of gets lost with all of his armor nearby.

obviously, most of the cards with this particular armband come from 2008.  like these 2008 bowman

and 2008 upper deck piece of history cards

of hideki matsui, and this 2008 topps kei igawa card

plus this 2008 topps opening day ross ohlendorf card

and these two cards from 2008 upper deck first edition - bobby abreu

and a really nice andy pettitte

and then there is this 2008 upper deck robinson cano card

featuring double play action!

since the cano is in my double play binder, and the armband on the pettitte card is just a bit too unpronounced, here's the card that represents the cory lidle armband in my collection - it's a 2008 upper deck alex rodriguez season highlight card

the card celebrates arod's 500th career home run, although the photo does not come from that game (that game was not on espn, and if you watch video of the home run, the armband is not this visible).  still, i know that the photo comes from 2007 since this was the first time the yankees had worn the armband since 2001 (when arod was on the rangers), and the 2008 version of the armband (worn for bobby murcer) would have been worn below the final season of yankee stadium patch.

lidle's last appearance came on october 7, 2006 in the final game of the alds series against the tigers.  the yankees were eliminated in that game, and lidle pitched 1.1 perfect innings in relief before failing to get an out in the 5th inning and ultimately allowing three runs to score.  lidle was 34 years old when he died.