Family, friends, teammates pay tribute to Lidle

Updated: October 19, 2006, 8:14 PM ET

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Associated Press

Friends and Family Say Goodbye to Lidle

Cory Lidle pitched for nine seasonsTags: MLB

COVINA, Calif. -- Dark gray clouds gave way to pockets of sunny, blue skies near the end of a memorial for New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle. As the day wore on, laughter and smiles outnumbered tears, too.

AP/Reed SaxonMourners, including Cory Lidle's twin brother Kevin, second from right, arrive at a memorial service for Cory Lidle in West Covina, Calif.

Hundreds of family, friends and teammates remembered Lidle on Tuesday at an emotional 45-minute outdoor service in his hometown. At a reception later, they munched on In-N-Out burgers, his favorite fast food.

"We found out that Cory was there for a lot of people," Joe Torre said about the pitcher he managed for two months with the Yankees. "Friendships that he forged early on before his baseball career were still there, and I think that speaks a lot about someone."

The 34-year-old Lidle and his flight instructor, Tyler Stanger, were killed last Wednesday when the pitcher's small plane crashed into a Manhattan high-rise during an aerial tour of the city. Investigators have not determined the cause of the crash or who was at the controls.

Three planes similar to Lidle's made three passes over mourners during the service at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

"Everybody was doing fine until the planes went over," Randy Wolf, Lidle's former teammate on the Philadelphia Phillies, said later. "It's tragic, but at the same time, he was doing something he loved."

Lidle was an avid yet inexperienced pilot who had been licensed for less than a year. He loved taking to the skies to escape whatever pressures he faced on the ground.

Two of Lidle's longtime friends, Paul Felberg and Warren Reed, took turns speaking at the funeral, calling him by his nickname "Snacks," a reference to the pitcher's habit of devouring candy between innings.

"We were more like the 'Goonies' than the entourage of studs you would expect him to be with," Felberg said.

Saying they couldn't muster enough steadiness to recite it out loud, the men urged mourners to read a poem inside the program entitled "I'm Free."

It concluded:

"My life's been full, I savored much. Good friends, good times, my loved one's touch. Perhaps my time seemed all too brief. Don't lengthen it now with undue grief. Lift up your heart and share with me, God wanted me now, He set me free!"

"Cory would have been so amazed at all the people here who admired him," said Brandie Peters, the sister of Lidle's wife Melanie. "He was a loving husband and an awesome father."

Felberg and Reed promised Melanie Lidle they would always look after her and the couple's 6-year-old son, Christopher.

Among those at the funeral were Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson and a contingent of Yankees: captain Derek Jeter, former high school teammate Jason Giambi, Jaret Wright, Torre and general manager Brian Cashman.

"The nice thing was the way his family and friends spoke of him," Jackson said afterward. "It makes you reflect and appreciate life. He touched a lot of lives."

Jeter added: "It's rough. I feel for the family. I played with him a short time, but it didn't take long to see what kind of person he was."

Since Lidle's death, Torre said he has replayed the same image in his mind from New York's loss to Detroit in the AL division series.

"I go out to the mound and gave him the ball and I went out to the mound and took the ball away for the last time," Torre said. "We play a game and we think how important it is until you face something like this."

Also there were Oakland pitcher Barry Zito, Philadelphia players Pat Burrell and Chase Utley and former Yankees pitcher Aaron Small, who attended South Hills High in Covina with Lidle and Giambi.

"He had a zest for life. It was exciting to be around him," said Giambi, who lives a few blocks from the site of Lidle's crash.

At the reception at Faith Community Church in West Covina, family and friends lined up outside a semitrailer for burgers from In-N-Out, the iconic Southern California chain.

"He was always bugging me to get him an endorsement," said Jordan Feagan, Lidle's agent and friend of 14 years. "I tried to bring him along the finer culinary roads, but he came along reluctantly."

Melanie Lidle briefly addressed reporters, thanking people who had helped since her husband's death. After thanking her sister, Brandie Peters, and the Yankees and Major League Baseball, she dissolved into heaving sobs and was helped away.

"He loved poker, he loved flying and he loved his wife," Wolf said.

Lidle pitched for seven teams during his nearly 10 years in the major leagues, posting an 82-72 record with a 4.57 ERA. He came to the Yankees in July, traded from Philadelphia, where he had signed a $6.3 million, two-year deal in November 2004.

Stanger's survivors include his pregnant wife, Stephanie, and an infant daughter. His service is set for Saturday.

Lidle's family requested that donations be made to Stanger's family.