Rockies President Found Dead

Colorado Rockies team president Keli McGregor was found dead in his hotel room in Salt Lake City. He was only 48 years old. McGregor did not respond to any of his associates in the morning. When someone entered the room, they found him unconscious. Efforts to revive him were not successful.

The death of McGregor left the team in a state of shock. This man was only 48 years old, and has been with the Rockies since their inception to the league in 1993. 1B Todd Helton has been with the Rockies for much of that time, and built a relationship with McGregor. It must've been awful and hard for Helton once the news was broken to him.

Manager Jim Tracy didn't exactly know how to break the news to his team once he was informed. It is reminiscent of what the St. Louis Cardinals had to go through once P Darryl Kile was found dead back in 2002 in his hotel room before a game. Kile was the first active player to die during the regular season since New York Yankees C Thurman Munson died in 1979 of a plane crash.

The Rockies now have to continue the season with the death of McGregor on their mind. It's not an easy thing to do. The Cardinals made it to the NLCS in 2002, the year Kile died, but lost to the San Francisco Giants. The Rockies have a good team, so they should be able to be in contention this year. Only time will tell if this tragedy has an effect on their performance.